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Show Published Every Saturday BY GOODWIN8 WEEKLY PUBLISHING CO.. INC A. W. RAYBOULD, BUSINESS MANAGER SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: Including postage In the United 8tate, Canada and Mexico, $2.50 per year, $1.50 for six months. Subscriptions to all foreign countries, within the Postal Union, $4.50 per year. 8ing!e copies, IQt cents. ; be should Check, by Money Order or Registered Letter, made, Payments j payable to The Citizen. v Citizen.' The to communications Address all " Entered as second-clas-s matter, June 21, 1919, at the postofflce at 8alt Lake City, Utah, under the Act of March 3, 1879. 8alt Lake City, Utah Ness Bldg. Phone Wasatch 5409 311-12-- 13 WEST SIDE NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS ' Civic organizations of the west side contemplate many improvements in the spring in landscape and beautifying certain portions of the city which have been neglected. Efforts will be. made to construct a Jordan river boulevard, take out some of the crooked river, banks to be replaced by gradual curves and the present unsightly banks to be sodded and otherwise improved in general appearance. Such contemplated improvements will add greatly to the appearance of the west side and ought to be made. However, there is another improvement to be made, the most essential of all. The Jordan river has.-- !een nothing more or less for the past twenty-fiv- e open sewer. Several citizens years than at various times have, attempted to correct this evil have even presented the matter to, the state board of health but without the desired remedial results. This large stream flowing through the western portion "of the city ought to be kept as sanitary as possible for "the good of public health. But it has been a receiver of garbage and dead animals. Everything from a dead cat to a horse has been dumped into the river, and these decaying carcasses would lodge in the bends of the river in the northwest part of the city and beyond. Commissioner T. T. Burton has started to dredge the river from the Great Salt Lake towards the city and he says that it would be a beautiful water course for pleasure, but who would want to cruise down a stream which is a sewer. We have a' state law which is very explicit and emphatic on pollution of our streams, and the Jordan river is one stream where the.law should be brought into force, because of its course through a part of the city. . If the river was dredged to a navigable depth and the stream cleaned up and no filth allowed to be dumped into it, it would add thousands of dollars to the value of the real estate bordering its banks, the health of the city would become more secure, and the attractive-n3- s of a clear and beautiful stream would doubly add to the scenic attractions of the city. Let us have a nice stream of water flowing through the west side of the city instead of an open sewer. The Citizen hopes that the civic organizations will complete the present intended Improvements. The board of health can easily clean up the stream and has the law to back it up in its work. This improvement is essential to the welfare of Salt Lake City. , . . - FREAK LEGISLATION. We have among us a class of people who do nothing but think up. freaks, and as a general rule those who do the most thinking have the least to do as far as any work is concerned to make their living. People who have to w'ork hard for their living have, as a rule, their hands full minding their own business and allowing their neighbors to attend to their business. ...... Reforms have been preached for thousands of years. There are good reforms and there are bad reforms, but resorting to law or making laws to force reforms upon the people is bad business. When some freak reform is advocated there is generally some willing tool or a politician who for the sake of a few. votes is willing to aid in placing upon the statute books all sorts of freak legislation. He should worry about the subsequent result. He gets the office and his little pay check and for that he is willing to do anything within or without reason. In the United States a man is a criminal if. he takes a drink of intoxicating liquor. If he is caught with the liquor in his possession he is arrested and heavily fined. Reformers told the people that if they would vote for prohibition that crime would decrease at least ' one-hal- f. These people who made the promise had nothing at stake. They did not put up any bond to make good. What has been the result? The saloons killed its hundreds, but prohibition is killing its thousands. Instead of dismantling the jails, we are building extensions to take care of the increase of our criminals. Our present prohibition law was intended to make every soul of this country an abstainer from liquor, but what is the result? The nation is fast becoming a nation of distillers and brewers. But a few years ago stills were confined to the hills of Kentucky, now there are probably more stills operating in this city than there were in the entire state of Kentucky before prohibition. Jesus Christ did not think it was a crime to make wine, and in the second chapter of St. John, beginning with the sixth verse we read where the wine He made was highly praised by the ruler of the feast. Surely if we have people living today who are better than Christ was, The Citizen would like to meet them. Then why this fad, for fad it is. The promised reforms promised by prohibitionists have not materialized and now we hear that the motion picture companies are to blame for most of this crime wave. Already certain leaders in the east are preaching for the suppression of picture shows, or a. certain class of films and are advocating a federal pure film act. Under this act it is said that the people will be taught better morals, and if the leaders have their way we will all go to heaven. There appears to be an amania in this country for freak legislation Whether the government has ever attempted to trace its origin is not known, but to the ordinary man it appears that European propaganda is working to disorganize this nation. We have an election coming up. next fall. Why not send men to the legislature who will delve into the statute books and weed out all freak laws. Stop trying to find some new method of raising taxes, but let us repeal laws to reduce taxes. Have we any men left in the country who would do this for the people ? Let us keep our government free from freak legislation and also keep it out of business. Are we a poorer grade of people in this nation than are the people of other nations? If we are not, why is crime more than double of S' I s' |