OCR Text |
Show I IS LOGAN IMMORAL I Premlneiit Salt Laker Says It l Is Even Worse Than That. Hr . HLj Evidence ti tke Contrary as Shown by Facts H Regarding Actual Coneitlons. Compares H- More than Favorably with eastern H Cities of the Same Population. Hj A certain high church ofllclal of H Salt Lake is credited with having said HJ to tho general public in a loud voice IHl "Logan is a bad, bad little town fully as far gone as Ogden. There's a harlot har-lot on every corner, the billiard halls are pitfalls for unwary feet, and tho liquor dispensers have more business aWI ft tllan tnevcan attend, to" or words K J tothateffect. Such statements as that HJ R t i mado in a public way are calculated to B "AK , do immeasurable Injury if not success- HJ; I fully refuted, and certainly demand Hit I an investigation. Is Logan a moral Htn city? To the citizens of Logan who IkV desire a healthy moral atmosphere Bjt for themselves and their families this H Tf" question is of vital Importance; to the HJ 1 different educational institutions HJ I located in this city, all of which de- H I pend upon contiguous communities Hi" for a large scholarship it is none the HJL , less so; and to parents in the various Hi I , communities who send their children Hlr-, to Logan for educational advant- HiJ'f ages it is a question that will not be Hf passed lightly. HMf In the mind of the writer Logan is HHR'i far above the average town of its size HJ as regards moral tone and it Is the dc- HB sign of tliis article to prove by com- HM parison that we are not mistaken in HJj our estimate. That which has given HHlij; rise to adverse comment is, probably, Hr' the rapid increase in the number of HHj , saloons in our midst. At the begin- HHj i ning of the year Logan possessed but HJ two liquor houses today,elght months HHji later, the city has four. Cities do not, HH1 as a rule, double their population in HBt ten years, and tho doubling of the HHV number of saloons hi eight months HH J may present a rather unsatisfactory HB , v appearance to many, but pray tell us KHHH H -jM why the atarm. Docs the doubling of JHb the number of saloons mean that twice f HI as many men have fallen into the drink rHV habit? Does it mean that the patrons tHJ of the two original saloons have taken IHJ to drinking twice as muchV Either HH proposition is ridiculous, of course, HH and about the only reasonable solution HHr of the matter is tliat the business of H the two original saloons is now being HK " divided between four; with the addl- HV ( tion of a yearly business amounting to HH , a thousand dollars or so simply because HHv the article sold is easier to get at. H) ; However, it is not our disposition to HA attempt to prove that liquor is not HV sold here, nor do we sanction the idea HH of four saloons in Logan, but we do HH offer a few statistics to prove that HM Logan has ever been exceedingly fort- HH unate as regards saloons and is still so. HH I Bedford, Indiana, a town of 5,500 pop- HK ' ulation has at present twenty-three HH saloons; Bloomington, Indiana, a town HJ of 0,000 and tho seat of the State Uni- HH i verslty, has twenty; Frost burg, Mary- HH ' land, a town of 0,000, has thirty-four; HH Orleans, Indiana, l,:i00, a farming HH community, has three or four saloons HB and two drug stores; Mycrsdalc, Penn- SH sylvanla, 3,500, has eleven; Ficdmont ,Hj -V. Va., about 350, has live; and Lin- ,HJ ton, Indiana, 5,000, has eighteen sa- HJ loons. These are instances with which jHH 'Vwc are perfectly familiar and know flHi Cwhereof we speak. Logan with four 'H Y saloons may bo bad enough, but com- jH paved with cither of the above places, HH or any other town of tho east, our lit- HH tic city seems fit for tho millcnlum. HV As regards billiard halls we have HJ two,nelthcrofwhichadmltsboysundcr HJ sixteen or eighteen years of age. Lo- HJ gun has not a slnglo house of ill-famo HJ and wo aro led by the police, oftlcials to HJ believe that street harlotry is practl- H cally an unknown evil. Drunkenness, HH street fights, and bar-room brawls are H' of very infrequent occurrence, and HH Judging from the well-tilled houses of HH worship at each service, and the dally IHJ walk of the communicants we aro led IHLv to believe that Logan citizens as a HHj wholo aro as moral as any this sido of H glory. Adverse comment coming from H any scource is merely tho result of Hfl lack of knowlcdgo of tho true condl- Hl tions and is an injustice to our city. H Parents who send their children to H this city for an education want to feel 9 certain that they aro sending, them to HHJ a placo whero tho moral intluences arc H such as they would have in their own H homes and that this is tho true con-H con-H I dltlon can hardly bo doubted by any H I who ivill make an investigation. HM0 ti Every citizen should believe n the town he lives in, and if he doesn't think it is a little better inmost respects re-spects than neighboring towns then he should move out. "When away from home, do not neglect to give those with whom you come in contact to understand that you live in a live town, populated by enterprising, go-ahead go-ahead progressive people, and one that is advancing Instead of retrograding. If you can truthfully speak In commendation com-mendation of the ability of your professional pro-fessional men, the square dealing methods of your merchants, the superiority sup-eriority of your schools, etc., let nothing noth-ing prevent you from exercising that privilege. It will not be necessary to mention tho drawbacks, If thero aro any. Strangers seeking a location aro always greatly inllucnced in favor of any place where tho citizens arc enthusiastic In Its praise. Unless Its Inhabitants appreciate the excellence and virtues of each other and will collectively spread abroad thelrfalth in tho prosperity and future greatness of their own locality lo-cality no city or town can expect to attain prominence over its rivals. AVhcn rightly utilized, talk can bo made effective In many directions, and this is one of them. |