Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-12-06
: WHAT SHALL. WE DO
. WITH


From the Boston Transcript.
Several large cities are -reawakening to
the fact that they are maintaining nests
of vice, with the alleged or apparent paid
connivance of the guardians OF virtue
whom they employ for self-protection. In
New York the police are on trial before
the court Of public opinion. for at least
pretending not to see the escape of the
murderers OF u gambler who. had begun
to betray the men of his own trade and
had accused policemen of giving protec-
ton for a share of the gains. In Pitts
burgh, last week. Il policeman swore OH
the witness stand that he had taken
money from women on his beat to wink
at their trade and asserted that his super
io~us-captains and inspectors-were in the
habit OF taking money from them. In
deed he asserted, with AN air OF wonder
at the innocence of those who doubted,
that 1t was the custom OF the force in
general. Someone asked how he could
be willing to take dirty money" He
nonchalantly answered, "Ah, but when
We take dirty money we wash it and 1t
becomes clean"
We must reckon In all cities with what
We have come to call the underworld
The phrase Is. l believe. an American i'm
v%ention, it at least reflects a slight Ameri-
can tenderness of conscience, for In Eu-
rope THE Half World" gives an %altogeth-
er different proportion to the outlook on
life. That we are inventing phrases, pic
turesque or ctrcumlocutionary, to avoid
the direct calling OF a spade q spade. be-
longs to the tolerant and responsibility
avoiding spirit Of the time. There has al
ways been an underworld. 1t existed in
the cabin of the Mayfower, where Cover
Bradford saws of an llnrnlv family.
IL and some OF his had been often pun
lshed for miscarryings before, being one
of the profanest families among them.
They came from London. and 1 know not
by what friends shuffled into their COM
pany." The head of this family was after
wards tried and executed for deliberate
murder. of one of his own kind, apparent
ly. There was a tendency toward this
underworld In Cain-a member of the very
first family and, curiously enough. his son
was the first to found a city. There was
also a low-minded person in the Ark
and a Judas among the Apostles.
We have to deal then, with the under
world as a fixed fact in all our social
reckonings. The very existence of the po-
lice is testimony to It's presence, as the
alleged "vice-blinking" In Pittsburgh and
the proved partnership of members of the
force in New York in former years are
~ " wv NV NAV AAh0Sl
world together IN unregarded corners of a
great town. Let 1t organize itself for self
protection. Put into its hands the weapons
Of money and power. Cine clear profits
OF managing harlotry in Chicago for a sin
gle year after all bills are paid a been
reckoned at SIG. OOO, OOO.) Let the upper
world reach the conclusion that the
under world is an inevitable condition of
organized Civilizations monster TO be fed
as an Indian village feeds a tiger with
calves or as the Cretan king fed the Mino-
taur with maidens. Then you have created
all the conditions so painfully familiar
In modern cities. 1t Is commonly asserted
THAT New York has become an unsafe
place for solitary walking by night or by
day because of the danger Of highway
robbery. Burglaries are said to have be-
come so common that the police do not
take the pains to consider them when
reported. l do not say that these as
%sertions are true. What concerns us all
is that they. are made openly and not
denied with the Indignation such charges
merit il false.
For such beliefs on the part of a large
proportion OF the population of any city
mean that our civilization has broken
down; that the guardians Of our public
peace-or many of them-are believed to
be the agents of the underworld and not
the upper, maintaining a smooth surface
of apparent order under which their part
ners work, charging the evil at the cx-
pense of the orderly world, making money
and securing power for their partners in
uniform. They mean that the real rulers
OF cities are the heads of the underworld;
thai God is dethroned and all power and
authority are given into the hands of the
Evil one. That this result is due to the
preoccupation and ihattention of the lead
ers of the upper world does not alter the
fact in the least. The Devil is quite as
ready to reign under one title as another.
so long as we let him reign.