Life — April 12, 1906 — page 6: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“While there is Life there's Hope.” VOL. XLVIL APRIL 12, 1906 No. 1224. 17 West Tinety-Frest Sraner, New Yous HE condue- tor of astreet carin New York took the motor man’s place for a moment whil the was busy motorman with somethin; and ran into a mail wagon, knocking the driver off the he driver was killed by the fall. Last month the conductor fault the dent happened was sentenced to ten State’s prison. It whose acei motorman. by years in seems an enormous sentence in a case where no Where would any of us be if we had justice real criminal intent was shown served out to us in such measure as that? A sixteen-year-old boy, a few days later, took a cent away from a little girl. He to a reform school for three doubt the magistrate thought was sent years it would be profitable for him to spend three years in a reform school. On any other theory the sentence would be in comprehensible. Let all of us who have not yet been found out in our crime our sins, our omissions, our errors and our inadvertencies, rejoice softly, but thankfully, to ourselves, and be glad that nobody knows how bad we are. Mr. Jerome intimated in public dis. course the other day that there seemed to him to be almost too much current en- thusiasm about fastening crimes on folks and bringing them to justice. He insisted that there were still some decent people alive in this country and in positions of trust. He reproached Mr. Phillips for imputing treason to the United States. Senate; he intimated that Mr. Steffens has developed a nose for civic corruption that had gained in acuteness at the cost of discrimination; he demurred to the declaration of somebody else that every -LIFE- rotten. We have sympathy with the feelings that Mr. Jerome expressed A work of enormous value to the country has been done in the exposure of corrup tion of manifold sorts and in various places, but it has been so well done in certain quarters and with such remark- able results, as to make it somewhat too much the fashion and to breed imitation which seems more bent on sensation and its fruits than on reformation. If accusation and exposure run too wild a race we shall have a reaction in favor of crime. We would have the reformers moderate their enthusiasm enough to keep the sympathy of the public and to hold what they win. If we are all rascals there is no use of trying to send us to jail. The jails won’t hold us. At least keep some of us for jury duty. R. JEROME is much derided and censured bysomeof the more urgent reformers (Mr. Hearst’s papers and the World especially) for reluctance to prose- cute George W. Perkins and others for larceny in making campaign contribu- tions out of life insurance funds and for not prosecuting Mr. Comelius Bliss and Mr. Cortelyou as receivers of stolen Mr. Jerome thought the statutes. did not warrant Mr, Perkins’ indictment Judge O'Sullivan thought otherwise, and the Appellate Court is to determine which is right. It is more satisfactory, since the matter has been discussed with somuch fervor, that the decision should be authoritative. If the court decides that Mr. Perkins may be tried for larceny it will undoubtedly be a great surprise to Mr. Perkins, who did not suspect, we are pretty sure, that he was stealing the money that the New York Life sub scribed to help elect our present President As to Mr. Bliss and Mr. Cortelyou, if it is found possible to send them to any of our establishments for the restraint of erim- inals, there is no doubt that they will raise the tone of the society in whatever prison they go to. There is no doubt that many men, and methods, and stand- ards and institutions that have been lately overhauled and arestill in process of puri- fication needed attention very much in- deed. We applaud good work of great ithportance that has been done, and hope tosee it go on. Nevertheless we do think that a good many of the men that some men seem in a hurry to send to jail are considerably more trustworthy and honor- able, and much safer company, than some of the rustlers for virtue who want to send them there N THE strength of a report of the International Waterw Commis- sion which has been considering the prob- lem of the preservation of Nig Falls, the President has invited Congress to pass a law restricting the diversion of water from the Niagara River on the American side to the amount required by works now under construction, the opera tion of the law to be contingent on similar legislation by the Government of Canada. The Federal Government has authority over boundary rivers which will enable it to save gara Falls if it sees fit. The saving will have to Le done by cooperation with Canada, and probably 1 treaty for a term of twenty-five or thirty years. The question whether Falls is more valuable to human- acle, or transmuted into elec trical horse-powers, will have to be settled by cach generation for itself, but, beyond question, our generation has got all the horse-powers out of it that it is entitled to. We hope the diversions of water will be limited, and that the Canadian Gov- emment and ours will come to an agree- ment by which the Falls will be wisely dealt with in the future. = . “ I' IT was expedient that Colonel Bel- lamy Storer, of Ohio, should relinquish the distinguished duty of being Ambas- sador to Austria, it seems a pity that his detachment from his job could not have been accomplished with less precipitation and less public So many rumors are in print about the causes of Mr. Storer’s withdrawal that the facts will probably have to come out. No doubt they will be interesting, but we could have spared them. Why not deal diplomatic- ally, even with diplomats? rssip comicbooks.com