St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-05-12
MINNEAPOLIS MORALS.
Rev. d. E. Wells Concludes the
Present Administration Is an
Improvement.

Present Administrator Is an
Improvement.
The paper read before the Presbyter-
ian ministers at their meeting yester-
day morning upon The Present Con-
ditiOn of Municipal Morals" by Rev.
d. E. Wells, of the Franklin Avenue
Presbyterian church, at least had the
merit of candor, and was marked by a
common sense treatment of topic upon
which ministerial orators are apt to go
into Mysteries, besides showing that the
statements made were based upon in
qulry.
The paper tool; up the liquor traffic first.
| The writer had been able to find a more Wig
orous enforcement of the law than existed
under the Babb administrations The dance
house feature. where girls and women were
congregate dthree and four nights per week
much TO the annoyance of the communities
in which they existed, he found had been en-
tirely suppressed. In the matter of drunk
enness the administration was as lenient as
possible. In many instances this course
proved wise one. He found that if the
first Offense was not too violent the officers
either took or sent the citizen and his first
ofense home. Under the old administration,
the paper stated, drunken man was always
locked up and either fined or Jailed.
In the case of habitual drunkenness he
found the officers very careful to arrest no
one unless the case was q very clear one, as
the courts dealt very severely in these cases.
Then, he found. the police did not like to
take the risk of arresting unless they were
able to make a case beyond a doubt
In the matter of Sunday liquor traffic the
writer hadn't ascertaiued that any orders had
been given to the police 10 strictly enforce
the law. He learned that back and side en-
frances had been used during the previous
administrations, and if they were used now
a mn lprainr,nv of q naxrfNr
sumed upon and abused beyond the mayor S
Knowledge. He was Of the opinion that
side and back doors had been open Sunday,
at least until the recent appeal for the en-
forcement of the law, backed up by q threat
of legal proceedings. He was of the opinion
that the police officers had not received
thorough instructions in the matter of sun
day closing. and didn't care to make arrests
etc, until acting under direct Instructions
He knew that liquor was sold Sunday during
the previous administration; also that under
neither regime had any effort been made to
arrest the proprietors and bartenders of the
West, Nicoliet and other hotel bars where
liquor is dealt out every Sunday. The law,
the paper stated, was explicit III the matter
of taVernS.
In the matter of Sunday theaters he
| thought the law ought to be rigidly enforced,
as it was means of teaching the people who
attend to become habitual laWbreakers by
losing respect for the day. by opening Sun
day he was sure the tendency of high class
! theaters was turned downward. He had let
| ters i'll his possession from actors and act
resses deploring the slavery they were com
! PEELED to undergo on account of the greedi-
ness of managers. These evils" he read,
''are becoming so marked that the mayor S
only course is to adhere TO the law strictly by
| closing them up
The speaker read q letter from Rev. S. G.
/ Smith, of st. Paul, which stated that the ST.
Paul ministers were going TO bring about an
enforcement of the law there if possible
| Rev. Smith framed a bill last winter to make
| the simple opening of theater doors on the
| Sabbath an offense punishable by $500 fine
| McHale, the anti-tights man, took pains to
| see that the bill was defeated for the reason
| that his bill was thrown under
In the matter of houses of ill-fame, Rev.
| Wells didn't acquiesce in the punching sys-
| TEN. He thought they ought to be scattered
| then the communities into which the houses
drifted would see to it that they were soon
put out of existence. He discovered that
the designation houses were about all out OF
existence. Two had been closed up in his
neighborhood. OF the gambling he said
THE writer finds thatthe present admins
tration is vigorous in the matter of closing
up gambling, in fact much more vigorous
than was ever known before in this city,
| The paper was favorably commented
| upon. AT the meeting next Monday reso-
| lutions relative to DR.. BurrellS departure
will be passed.