Evening star., 1924-07-11
THIS AND THAT
BY c. E. TRACEwELL.

Man, proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant Of what he's most
His CLASSY essence, like an angry
ape,
Plays such fastastic tricks before
high heaven
AS make the angels weep"
So Shakespeare. He did not have
in mind some Of the members of the
Washington police force when ht
| wrote it, of course, but 1t apple:
| somewhat to some of them. 1t ap'
plies to all of US, from time to time
as far as that goes. Truly, we are
all human.
Recent events have called to at
of the local police use rather high
handed methods in dealing with the
public.
Now this is no new thing. 1t has
been going on for a long time. anc
thority in the police department sees
No one is expecting the cops to
turn into teachers of etiquette.
Policing a great city is not parloi
job.
1t is a business that requires rough
and ready men, men OF stamina, meH
who are willing to plunge into a dark
hole after a vicious fellow who may
be lurking there with a gun.
That the police of Washington, 1T
general, are such men is something
Of which the whole city is proud. 1T
innumerable instances they have put
their heads down and gone into the
jaws of danger in the dark night
when there was nobody around to see
and afterward praise. They knew
their duty, and did 1t. That's the
essence of a man, nor is 1t CLASSY.
bard.
1t takes two-fisted bird to handle
criminal
This being granted, there yet re-
mains the fact that policemen have
to do daily with the general public as
well as the crooks.
For every low-brow with a mental
twist that makes him try to get a
living out of the world in what he
thinks is an easy manner the police
men meet daily hundreds and thou
sands of men and women who are
honest upright, square shooters" in
every sense of the term.
The government service is full of
them, the streets are filled with them,
automobiles carry thousands and
thousands of them. Everywhere you
go you meet honest people.
So does the policeman.
Now the sad part of II all, from the
officers standpoint, is that he is un-
able to tell an honest man from a
crook.
No, you can't do it by looking at a
man. Maybe a $4,000 a year psy-
Chnln0igf q 10 ,0t
ting $4,000 year salary.
Old Socrates once admitted that his
face bore the marks OF all sensua1ity
and crime, but that ne had something
in his head-his brain-that over
balanced his appearance.
So, not being a psychologist, nor
yet mind reader, the policeman
owes something, certainly, to the
thousands of decent and respectable
men and women he meets each day.
He owes them courtesy, respect and
normal civility.
There isn't a cop in Washington,
reading this, who will not agree to
every word of it
Yet the next time he gets "out
among them" here is the way he is
likely to act.
Mrs. Jones owns a fine home on the
corner.
She has thousands of rose bushes
and plants of all descriptions
Along one side of her grounds she
has a hedge.
Coming along the other day, she
noticed couple of boys drinking out
of a bottle. They were leaning back
into the hedge, crushing its branches
Alongside stood an officer, laugh
ing with the youths.
Officer, will you please make those
boys. get off the hedge?" asked the
woman.
Il suppose you own this house?'
he retorted-
1T just happens that 1 do" she
replied.
Il guess you own this bottle OF
hootch, them" inquired the officer
These boys found it under your
hedge"
The above incident which hap
pened in northwest Washington re-
Gently, reminds one of the f1ippan,
conversation attributed to a Judge
in the west. He fined a young man
for some offense and the fellow
reached into his pocket.
Il have that in my jeans" he said
proudly.
And two years in 'prison." re-
torted the judge, nettled. Have you
got that in your jeans?"
Such incidents must make the blood
of the angels boil, as it does that OF
every decent man and woman who is
bent on doing the right thing and ex-
poets to get similar treatment from
others.
There is probably no man used to
going around the city who has not
at some time or other, ran into police
inciviIity.
During the funeral of the late
President Harding officers in the vi
cinity of the Capitol were unneces-
sarily rough toward women in the
crowds.
Newspaper men carrying police
tremendously swept off the streets
by policemen who thus would not
honor the signature of their own
chief.
1 saw a police captain run and
shove colored men and women like a
mad creature, when he could have
accomplished much more by putting
them back more quietly.
These things are instanced to call
attention to something that can be
| corrected as easily as it can be al
lowed to run on unchecked.
Authority intoxicates
And makes mere sots of magistrates;
The fumes of it invade the brain
And make men giddy, proud and
vain"
The poet, with poetic stretching of
the case, has made that a bit strong