Promoted For Gallantry

Hon. Theodore Roosevelt writes an article entitled "The Roll of Honor of the New York Pólice' ' f or The Century. Mr. Roosevelt says: Early in our term we promoted a patrolman to the grade of roundsman for activity in catching a bnrglar under rather peculiar circumstances. I happened to note his getting a bnrglar one week. Apparently he had fallen into the habit, for he got another the next week. In the latter case the burglar escaped from the house soon after midnight and ran away toward Park avenue, with the policeman in hot chase. The New York Central railroad runs under Park avenue, and there is a succession of opening s in the top of the tunnel. Finding that the policeman was gaining on him, the burglar took a desperate chance and leaped down one of these openings at the risk of break - ing his neck. Now the btirglar was running for his liberty, and it was the part of wisdom for him to imperil life or limb, but the policeman was merely doing his duty, and nobody could have blamed him for not taking the jump. However, he jumped, and in this particular case the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the tinrighteous. The burglar had the breath knocked out of him, and the "cop" didn't. When hisvictim could walk, the offlcer trotted him around to the station house, and a week afterward he himself was promoted, it appearing upon careful investigation that he was sober, trustworthy and strictly attentive to his duty. Here again it seems to me that we followed the eminently common sense plan of promoting a man who had earned his promotion by faithful and distinguished service and by proved superior capacity. We cared no more for the policeman's views on the tariff or the currency than we lid for those of the burglar. Our interest and the interest of citizens generally was to have the offlcer catch that burglar and otherwise do his duty. If he did his duty, we were for him ; if he did not, we were against him. In neither event did we care whether the officer had or had not the backing of the congressional delegation of the city or the central committee of the county. Of course, as before, this exposed us to wild outcries from the local political bosses and heelers and much sneer ing at ' ' civil service reform, ' ' but all the outcries and sneers meant was that we were doing our duty as decent men and as public officials, with some slight appreciation of what was implied by the words honor and uprightness. Political organizations are eminently necessary and useful, but when they are seized by professional spoils politicians of low morality, who run the "machine" in their own interests, who clamor against honesty and defy decency and rail against that device for obtaining clean goverument which is known as civil service reform, then it is time for all citizens who believe in good citizenship to rise in revolt.