OCR Text |
Show Distress In The Cities LOOKING from, a distance the situation in the cities of the east seems just now to he very dangerous. All the accounts agree that those cities are filled with money; the same accounts agree that in each one of them there are thousands thou-sands of people on the verge of starvation, which makes us know intuitively that there are thousands thou-sands of delicate women and little children, who atn ight go half supperless to bed. That is the situation which swiftly converts naturally kindly men into half wild beasts, which in a breath are converted into incendiaries, and which needs but a cry, to usher in a reign of violence. Those cities ought to move in self defense. Their officers, of-ficers, their boards of trade, all their quasi-public bodies should move in concert- to prevent the violence which is imminent over them now. There should be superintendence in every ward in the I city. There should be a house to house patrol in every block, every case of destitution should be sought out, reported and relieved. It would no doubt be a costly business but it would be much cheaper, than to wait a little longer until in an excess of suffering the wild beast in the breasts of the poor is aroused and the city is given over to plunder and to flame. To meet emergencies of that kind, in every state, is what the income tax should have been devoted to, but no matter, the call is upon those cities, all the property in those cities is in jeopardy, jeop-ardy, and it will be cheaper for them to move at once than to take the risk of what will be in case the wild beast in human nature breaks its chain, and starts out to prey on the property of all indiscriminately. In olden days in the cities, before gas was invented, or electricity was tamed, the watchman called the hours, proclaiming proclaim-ing through the night that all was well. That is what peaceful citizens want to hear now through . the hours, that all is well. There should be a block patrol in every city. There should be a court to hear their report every morning, with power to relieve the distressed. It would not only protect the poor, but detect the depraved who prowl at night. There would be extra cost k to provide for the worthy or the helpless. There would be reduced cost in watching and prosecuting prosecut-ing the depraved. There would be an increased sense of security to the peaceable citizen, and I this close walk would inure to the public good. |