The Cairo bulletin., 1909-11-17

ial grand jury to punish those guilty
Iof Thursday night awful work.
Had he called upon grand juries Of
the past two years for aid TO purg,
/ his court OF jury packers and of pro
eurers and peddlers of pc: iured ties
| limony, Justice" in his court would
not have become a common strumpet
| in the eyes OF law-abiding people and
Cairo would not have aad its Thurs
day night.
II Sheriff Davis had exercised his
authority under the Jaw and as an
lofficer of the cour; 10 prevent his
underlngs from betraying the peo-
pie and becoming lacheys in the ser
vice OF criminals and their pals, il
would have gone a long way toward
keeping the cob-webs from gathering
on the gallows in this city, the num-
Der of lying yerdicts OF Not Guilty
would have been less and there would
have been fewer death shrieks from
innocent victims of 'lurderous hands,
iewe widows and Orphans mourning
for dear ones and protectors torn
from them without moments notice,
And what Of the city authorities!
Did not the people have a right to
expect good government from Mayor
Parsons? Was he not elected, orig
inally,. upon one Overwhelming issue
that the vicious element in the city
which had been allowed too { ee a
reign for several years. should be
curbed and held ia check? Did he
not permit his friends to promise the
people, in his name, that this would
be dones
Mayor Parsons has been in many
respects an ideal public official; he
is generous. public-spirited. a royal
entel tainer, he has vigorously pro-
Isaeted public improvements--he has
given the people OF Cairo good
government in every respect taye
one. his police department
II may be claimed by the thought
less that his reelection twice proves
popular endorsement Of all mis- policies
and makes the people party to what
ever evils of government may have
existed under his administrations. No
one knows better than Mr.. Parsons
himself that this claim cannot be sus-
tanned for a moment He must know,
as everyone does and as The Bulletin
took pains to point out to him at the
time. that his reelection was accom-
plished or permitted in spite of his 20.
lice policy. and only because the good
he had done In other directions was ac-
cepted in partial ex;enuation Of his
grievousgy faulty administra aion so
far as the vicious element of the city
was concerned. He was la. gely in
terested in the city's welfare; he had
done much toward tne physical bet
terment of the city and the people
had a right to hope that he would,
under their repeated endorsement on
this account, give heed also to their
demands, many times expressed, for
bette. moral conditions
His Honor needed the demands of
the really strong men o. the city only
to a very limited extent He yielded
as little as possible. He seemed to
believe that he was under obligations
to the lawlessly inclined; he was am
bilious for further political prefer
ment; he regarded the vicious ele,
ment in the community as power to
be leekoned VITA and permitted his
police department to play with it.
to dicker with it, to pander to it. to
make comprises with ita species If
political graft more demoralizing
and more dangerous If possible than
that which is prompted by purely
mercenary motives. Gambling places
and resorts for dissolute characters
white and black especially the lat
i
times and on these occasions il had
been apparent that the mayors police
department has placed itself in po-
sition where it dared not interfere
either acting the part of pol
troons or openly espousing the cause
OF the offenders, as in the case of
Dive-Keeper Bourgeois who has -four
of the mayors police officers on his
list of witnesses. to testify in his be.
half and against the people, at the
trial set for the 18Th inst, in which
he is charged by the states attorney
with running series of bace games
to rob the unwary strangers on Taft
Day
/ BUT the offense most conspicuous
as q prolific breeder of murder in the
city has been the manner of disposing
of the cases of men, black and white,
who had committed murdef Gus as
Esaults upon others-Dy paltry fines
ION charges of "disorderly conduct, =
No other result could follow this
practice than that which has follow