The Washington herald., 1913-09-07
lEW YORK POLICEMEN NOT BAD, SAYS ROOSEVELT

Riis, to see for myself what the condi-
tions were. It was largely this personal
experience that enabled me while on the
health board to struggle not only zeal
ously, but with reasonable efficiency and
success, to improve conditions. We did
our share in making forward strides in
the matter OF housing the working peo-
pie Of the city with some regard to de-
cency and comfort
A Tragic Week.
The midnight trips that Riis and took
enabled me to see what the police de-
partment was doing, and also gave me
personal insight into some OF the prob
lens OF city life. 1t is one thing to lis
ten in perfunctory fashion to tales of
overcrowded tenements, and II is quite
another actually to see what that over
crowding means, some hot summer night
by even a single inspection during the
hours of darkness. There was a very
hot spell one midsummer while I was
police commissioner, and most of each
night I spent walking through the tene-
ment-house districts and visiting police
stations TO see what was being done. 1t
was a tragic week. We did everything
possible to alleviate the suffering. Much
OF II was heart-breaking, especially the
gasping misery OF the little children and
OF the WORKOUT mothers. Every resource
OF the health department, of the police
department. and even the fire depart
ment (Which flooded the hot streets was
taxed in the effort to render service. The
heat killed such multitudes OF horses
that the means at our disposal for re-
moving the poor dead beasts proved quite
inadequate, although every nerve was
strained to the limit. In consequence
we received scores OF complaints from
persons before whose doors dead horses
had remained, fostering in the heat, for
two or three days. One irascible man
sent us furious denunciations, until we
were at last able to send a big dray to
drag away the horse that lay dead before
his shop door. The huge dray already
contained eleven other dead horses, and
when it reached this particular door II
broke down, and il was hours before II
could be moved. The unfortunate man
who had thus been cursed with a granted
wish closed his doors in despair and
wrote US final pathetic letter in which
he requested US to remove either the
horses or his shop, he didn't care which.
Wealthy Owners of Bad Tenements.
I have spoken before OF my experience
with the tenement-house cigar factory
law which the highest court Of New York
State declared unconstitutional. Ny ex-
perience in the police department taught
me that not a few Of the worst tenement
houses were owned by wealthy individ-
uals, who hired the best and most ex-
penslve lawyers to persuade the courts
that it was Unconstitutional TO insist
on the betterment OF conditions. These
business men and lawyers were very
adroit in using a word with fine and noble
associations to cloak their opposition TO
vitality necessary movements for indus
trial fair play and deceucy. They made II
evident that they valued the Constitution,
not as a help to righteousness, but as a
means OF thwarting movements against
unrightsousness. After my experience
with them 1 became more set than ever
in my distrust of those men, whether