Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-07-21
IN BED WITH A RATTLE
SNAKE

FTNHE Mayor cannot help It and Mr..
a Wilson cannot help t. They have both
been suclsled at the breast Of the System
and never weaned. They are the acci-
dents of the System at work In one
decade It is Quay, Durham, English and
Ashbridge, in another the Wares and
Smith, but always II is the same System
pitiless, conscienceless and without re-
morse. II picks its puppets in their youth
and molds them to It's will. 1t rewards
them with yellow metal, with high office,
with power and authority, and It re-
auires in payment absolute obedience. 1t
countenances no betrayal. This man II
elevates and that man It throws down.
Whom the System delighteth to honor the
public can with confidence dlstrust. For
no matter what a mans hopes, no matter
what his dreams and his ideals, when he
runs counter to the System he finds that
there is collar about his neck and
rattlesnake in his bed.
From whatever source the System
thrives, It's power lies primarily in the
votes II can cast. 1t cannot harness
enough good citizens to assure 1t majori.
ties. It must depend, therefore, on the
dishonest, on the loathsome bowels of
the underworld, for that chicanery and
theft which spells victory on election
days. And the underworld demands in
turn its pound of flesh. 1t must be given
what It pays for; 1t must have return
ballot boxes. Who ever heard Of the dis
orderly district hoping for a reform vic.
tory7 Others may waver in their allie
glance, but always and forever the dis.
trict is for the System and the System
Is for the district. The underworld is
never fooled. 1t diagnoses a political sit
uation with unerring accuracy. 1t is its
bread and butter its wine and it's shame,
to do SO, and 1t never fails to know who
II
1t has something to celebrate, and It never
has anything which 1t celebrates so vocif.
erously as a machine victory. The soul
of the System is the underworld, and
never will the System be guilty of such
cannlballsm as the devouring of it.
Mayor Smith declares that he proposes
ito make Philadelphia the cleanest city
In the country" 1t was that year ago, II
the comparison is with large cities only
Yet we do not doubt that in the deep re-
cesses of his heart the Mayor means
what he says. We do not doubt that he
would like to do what he says his police
will do. We do not doubt that the
manhood OF a man rebels at the iniquity |
of political subordination. So when the
Mayor says, I'VE stand ready to be judged |
by results" we venture an amen to the |
sentiment and wish him we'll. We wish |
that hs could rid the city of criminals |
and of crime" Surely this newspaper |
would exert It's energies to the fullest in |
the achievement OF so desirable pro-
gram.
But we are under no delusions. Mayor |
Weaver. in revolt. tried to buck the tiger |
and the beast hibernated with him in its |
belly. If Mayor Smith is a Hercules. |
nightly muscled In his moral stature; II |
there is in him purpose no threat or |
subtlety can shake. then and then only |
will the district really be cleaned. He |
says that he has that purpose. But |
wherever the rays OF publicity turn |
they md the sneaking. snarling System. |
They find II in the underworld that laughs |
at the protestations that come from City |
Hall. They find 1t in the winks with
which tho district speaks OF the great |
raid. They find It In the assurance with
which the section to be cleaned Views the
promise OF the cleansing. To the district
the Mayor is but creature OF the System
and the System belongs to the district
Therein is the key to the vice situation
in Philadelphia. just as It is the key in
New York. in Chicago. in Cincinnati or in
any other large city OF America.