NEW YORK'S TEN THOUSAND 461 



NEW YORK'S TEN THOUSAND 



By WILLIAM J. ROE 



NEWBUEGH, N. T. 



FOR many years periodicals which make a point of entertaining 

 timeliness have printed articles concerning the police force of 

 New York City. Very few of these have been flattering, although at 

 times, especially when some novelty of legislation has been inaugurated, 

 or a new and more or less distinguished chief of the department entered 

 upon his duties, they have expressed a guarded hopefulness of better 

 things. But for reasons that to the initiated are sufficiently clear, few 

 of these expectations have been realized; and of late the articles have 

 been either in the nature of reminiscences, or what has come to be 

 called " muck-raking." 



The object of this paper is neither to relate incidents — historical or 

 scandalous — and such interest as it may have will be solely of that sort 

 which citizens having the welfare of the city at heart may take in what- 

 ever tends towards the establishment and maintenance of permanent 

 good government. 



Under our federal system republican principles of representative 

 government are in full force, not only among and between the states, but . 

 in counties, townships, villages and school districts. In all these local 

 interests are directed by local authoritj^, representative government 

 being the prevailing rule. Outside of the large cities authority touches 

 the average citizen but lightly ; in fact, in most rural neighborhoods the 

 presence and pressure of legality is felt only once a year when the col- 

 lector of taxes makes his official existence manifest, or when occasion- 

 ally some local issue (in this state usually a question of " wet or dry") 

 arises. 



But in New York City, a very different condition of things exists. 

 Here a constant need for the law's efficient maintenance surrounds and 

 presses upon both householder and visitor. Eules and regulations, un- 

 known because unnecessary in smaller or thinly settled communities, 

 are here imperative. Questions of common rights, or mutual duties, 

 of order, of sanitation, of the preservation of equality in some direc- 

 tions and of the equitable permission of privilege in others; these, and 

 many more problems in utmost perplexity continually arise, demanding 

 not only cheerful acquiescence from the law-abiding, but the constant 

 strain of that eternal vigilance which is the price that must be paid 

 for liberty. 



