El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-03-08

ley car, and in the next breath condemn
the strikers for tying up traffic
There is no crystaliZed public opin-
/ ion respecting the merits Of the strug-
gle The prevailing sentiment, how
ever. is that the contentious and excuses
| of neither side have any real merit And
certain 1T is that it would take a strong
! magnifying glass to enlarge any of the
bones of contention enough to make il
appear a sufficient excuse for inflicting
such great loss and hurt upon the
public.
The two chief causes which underlIe
| the present trouble are the artificial set
Element forced upon the company and
the men last June as a political expe-
dency and the almost universal hatred
which the public bears toward the trac-
ton company"
Not only the trouble itself. but also
| the inability Of the police to cope with
it. are chargeable to corrupt politics,
for. continues the North American:
The widespread disorder arises from
the impote1cy of the city police As
, individuals. the men who compose the
police force Of Philadelphia are made
Of good stuff as those of any other
city in the land. They are not fools
And they know upon what their posi-
tons depend in the last analysis. II is
not their ability TO check incfpient riots
or to protect property that counts in
votes that tnsures them their position
1t is the height of folly to ask police
men to quell disturbances by force
among the very people whom they led
to the polling places two weeks ago
and four months ago. and whom they
will be called upon to lead into the polls
again three months from now. The po-
lice force has been made virtually worth
less for an emergency like the present
one
Outside of Philadelphia the press are
more ready to discover the seeds OF the
difficulty in what the New York Even
ing Post calls the unholy alliance be-
tween the traction company and the
powers that rule the city, which. on a
former occasion, drove the men to strike
because a corporation that had watered
It's stock to buy the politicians could
not afford to pay decent wage Re-
viewing past history and present ext
gencles In the editorial already quoted,
the New York Tribune says:
"A few months ago there was a strike
similar TO the present one PHILADELPHIA
applauded and walked, giving a good
mutation OF a community IN an up
heaVal of civic virtue The ring quaked
and the traction interests trembIed.
And then Philadelphia voted to continue
the same politicians In power. Today
there Is another strike, with somewhat
the same manifestations
philadelphia has about the same rea-
sons for not loving it's traction COM
panies that every other big city has or
has had The relations between the
companies and the political ring that
rules the city have not been dissfmilar
10 the relations that have prevailed else
where between the traction interests
and the bosses except that they have
been longer undisturbed in the Penn
sylvanfa city than elsewhere. To pro-
mote peace and anity-so that the trae-
ton company could borrow more readf-
on the directorate OF
the traction company was given to the
public a few years ago. The bosses.
OF course, select the Representatives Of
the public. SO that the plan seems to
nave been well conceived TO make every
one happy and to lull the people into a
sense OF having their interests thor
oughly protected
But their interests are not we'll pro-
tcted, and Philadelphia although moth
ing can persuade Ii to lift hand against
hair on the head Of it's bosses. is
stirred to its depths with sympathy
whenever the unions come to a clinch
with the bosses allies. the traction men.
Strikes. therefore. in Philadelphia are
poiitical, and in seasons when the NUM-
cipai conscience IS not working labor
leaders run for Office on reform tickets
and get soundly beaten. Presenting on
these sound defeats perhaps the DO
alliance attempts to fol-
low UP Its advantage against the labor
leaders and encounters the public NOR
atty of Philadelphia seeking it's usual
indirect outlet 1t IS idle TO guess when
the city viii begin to fight its own enc
mics itself and not be content merely
to applaud some one else for fighting
a friend Of its enemies