Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-09-28
HAVEN'T THEY THE NERVE?

II Asst night thousands upon thousands
Of Philadelphians assembled to pro.
fest against government by murder. The
vigor OF their denunciation was pro-
nounced and yet that meeting last night
demonstrated beyond cavil and beyond
dispute why Philadelphia is politically the
pariah of cities and why graft, vice, muir
our city government and men such as
Smith and his associates can with virtual
i1npunity degrade the city and hold it up
20 the scorn of the nation.
What we mean to say was said better
than we can say it two years ago, when
'TBillly" Sunday was conducting his cam.
paign in this city, and It appeared in the
editorial columns of the Public Ledger
on January s, 1915, under the caption,
HAS BILLY Sunday the Nerve" We
quote it in part:
Faith without works Is dead" And
not only dead, but 1t stinks. Can BILLY"
Sunday turn the fervent amens and the
ecstatic halelujahs of his tabernacle
crowds into clean. honest and righteous
ballots? If he cannot do that he cannot
do what Philadelphia needs most. If he
can do 1t. IL he does 1t, he win merit the
noblest monument that this city has ever
erected. II is all very well to talk In a
general way of lighting booze all the
way to hell and back again, and then
some" but the phraseology is as vague
as It is striking. And it is all very we'll
20 smash Pennsylvania for graft and
damn Philadelphia for rotten bipartisan
machine politics, but who gives the
Erafters and the machine politicians a
clean bill of health at every election?
Without doubling the evangelist's
courage, we may inform him that there
are some things he does not seem to
know or realize about this city and this
Commonwealth. In a blanket sense he
is right in charging the bipartisan ma
chine with greed, graft and an alliance
with booze But if there is one thing in
the world that is horribly true it is that
the bipartisan machine could not keep its
stranglehold upon the people if it were
not for the whitewash of respectablity
II gets every year from the class of men
who form the committee to run the Sun
day campaign. BILLY" Sunday
may be sincere. earnest and courageous
but has he the nerve to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the
conspicuously supporting him? Dare he
tell them that they sold civic righteous
ness and honor to be raped by the
whisky ring for thirty pieces of high
tariff money? He need not fight booze
and graft ITO hell and back again. and
then some he only needs TO fight them
TO the door Of Philadelphas churches In
which their prOtectionists find sanctuary.
If billy" Sunday can put spine and grit
into the "amen" and "hallelujah" crowd
miracle.
That scathing denunciation caused
sensation at the time. But BILLY" Sun
day remained, and for weeks he con-
tinued to preach his crusade, yet never
once did he answer that editorial by turn
ing on the hands that pulled the strings
and exposing the real cause, source and
Inspiration OF the rottenness that has be-
come shame to this community. Let
truth be truth only so long as it does
not touch respectability, but hide it and
cover it with blackness whenever it be-
gins to shed it's rays on those whose
social and business standing is so high
that they must be protected!
The diagnosis of the situation made
more than two years ago is the correct
diagnosis now. The conspicuous explana-
tion Of why bad government survives in
Philadelphia is found in the names of
prominent and well-known citizens who
took no part in the meeting last night It
Is found in the fact that many men, hon.
orable men, are afraid, for business or
other reasons, to participate in such meet
ings. 1t is found in the fact that some
leaders Of business play with the gang,
get special privileges from the gang. ac.
cept Smiths as candidates for Mayor and
actually contribute money to have men
such as Smith elected
Tens OF thousands of voters are yearn-
ing for militant leadership. There are
ten men in Philadelphia-ay ten would
be enough-who by putting the power Of
their influence behind the demand for
Food sovernme~4 could end bad govern,
ment here forever Why do they not
come forward? They must, for the spirit
OF the age is about to drive them into
action.