St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-29
ARE WE PUBIIC-sPIRIrED ?

Are we any longer a public-Spirited
people? Or have we sunken so low in
the depths of a gross and deciviliZing
materialSm that we have become OBJ
livIouS to public and community rights?
These are serious questions for st.
PaulS citizens to discuss. but recent
occurrences have suggested them, and
the sooner they are disposed of the bet
ter it will be for the city. 1t is a topic
that is being talked over at the fireslde,
in the counting room, at the social
gatherings, at business meetings, on
the street corners, and wherever st.
Paul'S citizens cOngregate together, so
there can be no improperly in calling
attention to the fact through the press.
There are those who urge that the puO-
lic-spiritedness of our people is on the
wane, and in proof of it they refer to
wat was being done in this community
few years ago and what is not being
done now. There are others who insist
that we nave only reached that period
nf steady conservatism which is essen
tial to the permanent prosperity OF all
cities, and that the crOakers have merely
mistaken the signs of the times. 1t is
important for us that we determine,
and determine speedily, which side is
right. If the time has come for us TO
settle down upon the bedrock OF con-
sprvatism, it is important that we should
know it, and adjust ourselves accord
inGly. If that theory be correct, the col
lapse of the boom period is not to be
considered a misfortune. Blooms and
boomers have no place in a community
under the reign of municipal conserv-
atiSm. Yet it is not so much the
absence of bOoms and boomers that has
created an apprehension in the minds
of some of our people that we are mis-
taking materialism for conservatism,
as it is of other evidences of decline
of public-SpiritedneSs in this commu-
nifty. The most alarming indication Is
that the men of wealth, the men who
have made their money here IN
St. Paul and ought to be prompted by
a sense of gratitude to manifest
a pride in the local growth and pros
perity of the city, are wholly Indifferent
interests. As gentleman expressed it
in a speech at the Twilight club the
other evening, our rich men seem to
think they have performed their duty
to the city when they build fine man.
sion, then close it up, and go off to
Europe or to California to spend their
money, and leave the rest of us here
supplicating some Minneapolis million
aire to come down and build our theaterS
and other needed public buildings. An
other gentleman criticised our local
Crnsuses who manifested disposition
to help us out of the mud for betraying
an inclination to speculate OH their gen.
erosity by first getting corner on
ali the adjacent property before they
would put their money into any thing or
any enterprise that would be of public
benefit. The GLoRE repeats these criti-
cisms merely to show the tenor of public
discussion, and without any intention of
indoIsing their correctness. Our own
opinion is that we owe more 10 our
wealthy citizens than we have ever ac-
corded them credit for; and in some in
stances, at least, our mOneyed men have
never relaxed in public spirit and en-
terprise, Notwithstanding we have
failed to appreciate their efforts. At
the same time candOr compels US to say
that a sort of malaria or dry rot has
struck the public spirit of this city, and
yet we are unable to locate the cause.
The carnival directors made formal
complaint of it; those who have the edu
cational convention in hand find uphill
work to secure the guarantee fund: the
projectors of an auditorium building
are dumfounded by the lack of enthu-
siasm over the project; and so it is with
almost every enterprise of public con-
Germ. 1t was not so five years ago, or
even three years age. Then every
body was ready to chip in, and every
body ready to put shoulder to any en-
terprise that interested the whole COM
munity. Again we ask, is our public
spirit on the wane, or are we simply
Iapsing into a healthy conservatism?
1t is important that we should know,
and know right away, the true state of
affairs.