FIGHTING THE SPOILS HUNTERS AND RASCALS 49 



needed strenuous labor on the part of the Commission to overcome 

 this, as in the case of various other vicious practices. 



All we can say here is that during the two years of Mr. Roosevelt's 

 presidency the Police Commission did much toward clearing the atmos- 

 phere. The number of arrests and convictions for misdemeanor 

 largely increased, the citizens had better protection than they had had 

 for years, and the reign of corruption largely ceased. Mr. Roosevelt 

 had the faculty for organization strongly developed. Honor and 

 reward came to the men who did their duty, discredit or dismissal to 

 those who shirked it. A police force should be a military force, and 

 this is what Roosevelt made of the men under him. He was not the 

 chief of police, but when he came into police headquarters, his quick 

 nervous stride and alert eyes affected every policeman in sight as 

 though he had felt an electric shock. There was an involuntary 

 straightening up, both physical and mental. Disorder and bad admin- 

 istration prevailed before he entered the Board. When he left it New 

 York had an admirably trained and effective military force of blue- 

 coated public protectors, men who had won the esteem of respectable 

 citizens and whose honesty was beyond question. 



There is a story of his dealing with strikers who had trouble with 

 the police which reminds us of that of the Western sheriff. It is thus 

 told by Jacob Riis : 



"Roosevelt saw that the trouble was in their not understanding 

 one another, and he asked the labor leaders to meet him at Clarendon 

 Hall to talk it over. Together we trudged through a blinding snow- 

 storm to the meeting. This was at the beginning of things, when the 

 town had not yet got the bearings of the man. The strike leaders 

 thought they had to do with an ambitious politician and they tried 

 bluster. They would do so and so unless the police were compliant; 

 and they watched to get him placed. They had not long to wait. 

 Roosevelt called a halt, short and sharp. 



" 'Gentlemen,' he said, 'we want to understand one another. That 

 was my object in coming here. Remember, please, that he who 

 counsels violence does the cause of labor the poorest service. Also, he 

 loses his case. Understand distinctly that order will be kept. The 

 police will keep it. Now, gentlemen !' 



