The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-01-10
TELLS HIS REASONS
DR.. MINIoK DISCUSSES THE OUR
FEW ORDINANCE. ~
Explains That the Sole Object of the Meas
tempt to Enact One Similar to it Two
Years Ago by the Chief OF Police-Tells
of the Operation of the Law in Other
Cfties-Discusses the Matter Disposition
ately and Uses no Personalities Concern
Ing Anyone.


Citiss-Discusses the Matter Disposition
ately and Uses no Personalities Concern
ing Anyone.
When the next issue of the Eagle comes
Out it will contain the result of the city
councils action upon the curfew ordin-
ance which lies now before that body to
be acted upon, if nothing unforeseen &C.
ours TO prevent. The matter has been
widely discussed among all classes of
people. 1t has been TO some extent
tight between the doctors, several OF
them having been mixed up in the affair.
DR.. Shuts has been the foremost of them
all who were upon the opposition and has
been ready TO argufy the matter with any
one who was in favor of it at any time.
DIR. Minick is the father of the measure
and he was seen yesterday by an Eagle
reporter and asked TO freely unbosom
himself upon his measure. He seemed TO
know just what TO say and strung his
sentences along like story. He is
heartily in favor of the law, and spoke
upon it as follows:
THE way | look at it is this way:
There are three important principles con-
nected with municipal government under
which heading comprises nearly all ques-
tons usually considered by city officials,
namely health, finance and crime or i'm
morality. 1t is the duty of the mayor and
council to give to the board of health the
power to abate all nuisances whereby the
health of the people are endangered; and
il is the duty of the officials to so control
the finances of a city that taxation VIII
not become burden. If so. then a rigid
system of economy should be established
by cuTiailing expenses in all departments.
'.As to crime, every city well regulated
should have ordinances covering the
whole category and police force suffi-
Gent to see that they are executed. In
our city we have all these laws, but we
have none that will prevent growing evils
that will lead up to crime. The present
so-called curfew ordinance is one which
tends in that direction. Had this ordin-
ance been introduced simply as IAN act
10 prevent children of a certain age from
being on the streets after certain hour
There would not have been much, if any.
opposition to it, Had the ordinance said
the whistle at the power house should
blow, instead that the fire bell should
ring' to give warning, then the curfew
would have cut no figure,
My motive in presenting this ordin-
ance was not TO work a hardship on any
person, as / conScientiously believed 1t
TO be once that would eventually lessen
the number of criminals and crime in our
city. / as well as others could not help
but notice young boys from 10 TO Is years
of age and young girls of tender age at
ali hours of the night promenadng our
tnoroushfares without being accompan-
led by an elderly person. The police talk
ed with me of the matter and said the
council ought to pass an ordinance TO
give them the privilege to make or advise
them to go to their homes They had no
power 10 act unless they caught them
committing depredations. And that for
lack of this power boys were growing
up criminals and girls were becoming de-
graded. The chief of police two years ago
had an ordinance written to send 10 the
council to empower him to send the boys
and girls to their homes, but ii was never
presented for some reason as yet uneX-
planned.
IL is claimed by some that this ordin-
ance is another prohibition move. Now
i would be the last man to vote to
abridge the rights of any American citi-
zen il / thought it would work no good TO
the community All laws and ordinances
ere prohibitory. If we use profane Ian
guage e5can be arrested. If we hunt
or fish on Sunday or out of season we are
confronted by prohibitory law. And so
prohibition is the menace that stares us
in the face whenever we attempt to Vio-
late law. This ordinance would be OPP
erative on white as we'll as colored peo-
De It would be for the rich as well as
the poor, and for the good as well as the
bad. if il were violated: but ii would NOT
be for the masses against the classes as
come have asserted. 1t seems 10 me that
tSle good people, white or colored, rich or
poor. would be willing TO sacrifice a lit
tie somethig TO try and save from dishon-
or some of the girls of our fair city, and
II redeem from crime many of the boys
who would end UP in life of shame and
disgrace The history of the courts OF
record shows that all the children who
have been sent 10 the reform school from
this city have been those who were let
run loose at night. The law is for ALL yet
the police know who the vicious and
criminal are. and its weight would be felt
along that line.
1T is true that many good people OPP
eose this ordinance as well as that many
who are called bad favor it. A prominent
Sunday school teacher in one of our
churches said TO me that parents alone
had the right to control their children.
Another man who was slightly intoxicat-
ed and who had large family said The
children OF the city ought TO mob you;
yes. even murder you for approving such
an act I go where / please and when 1
please, and / want my children 10 go
when and where they please at any hour
of the day or night" OF course such
cases are rare where parents lose all in
terest in the wei being of their children.
But when such cases occur, and are nu-
merous, where parents permit their chill
dren TO grow up in a life of crime, in my
opinion it is the duty of the authorities
where the public welfare is at stake 10
pass such laws as vii. check these evil
influences.
Tho argument the opposition mostly
uses is a reference TO the "curfew' cen-
turtles ago in the dark ages. Any school
boy 10 years of age can refer 10 his en-
cyclopedia and write a dissertation on
the subject and find out that ii does not
have any reference whatever to the pres
ent ordinance. Their main plea is that
the innocent children are the ones that
viii have to suffer. The law has been in
force in Kansas City. Kansas. more than
q year. Only two arrests have been
made and they occurred shortly after the
law was passed. and they were boys who
were in the habit of being on the streets
after night"
The doctor ran along smoothly without
this far He then referred
TO the editorial in the Eagle of December |
l9. which said:
"All that is necessary is the ordinance,
the bel and vigilance for a short time on |