Pleasantville weekly press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1890-1911, 1897-01-13
A Letter FROM THE
CITY BY THE SEA.
The Summer Amusement
Question a Seasnoable Topic.
WHAT THE COUNCIL OUGHT 70 Do.
ARGUS" WRITES OF SUMMER ADJUSTMENTS
IN MIDwINTER, AND THINKS THE COUN
CILs SHOULD DECIDE UPON SOME POLICY
AND SERVE ALL ALIKE.

selves, the people, and all who come
here, to define at an early day just what
is to be the status of those who cater
to the amusement of heSummer visitor?
Heretofore there has been no fixed policy,
and no equality of consideration, and
everything has been avoided, or let
alone, just as it happened. In one block
a man would be unmolested for violat-
ing law, and in the next one ne would
be prosecuted for much lesser offense
The City should pursue a broad and
liberal policy in regard to Amusements-
especially what are known as Sunday
amusements, and when the line is drawn
let it be done impartially. There is
neither reason nor ustice in a policy
that makes fish of one and flesh of
another. If it is wrong to have
perfectly harmless amusement it is
certainly wrong to run hundred OR
two ginmills wide open on Sunday. At
lantic City is different from nearly all
other cities in that it depends almost
exclusively upon its visitors for its
support. 1t has no manufactures, no
shipping of any consequence. and no
great establishments employing thou
sands of men. Cut off the Summer travel
to all intents and purposes.
1t has millions of dollars tied up in
big hotels. cottages, boarding houses,
stores railroads, piers and places of
amusements. What would any of this
property be worth if the railroad tracks
across the meadows were torn up and
communications cut off? What differ
ence would it make if the railroad tracks
oil b.
forbidden to ride over them? Would
there be any substantial difference if no.
body wanted to ride over them, or, in
other words, if Atlantic City was con-
Quoted in such way that nobody
wanted to come here? This is, of course
only an extreme supposition toillustrate
point, and the point | wish to en-
phasize is simply this-that every
dollar invested in and around
Atlantic City is made more valuable
when the whole place is conducted in a
manner that invites an increasing
number of people to visit it. A certain
number will come here anyhow, whether
we have a "Blue Law" Sunday or
"wide open" one, only it would not be
the same class ofpeoplein both instances.
Now we may just as well look the situa-
ton squarely in the face and not mince
words about it. Atlantic City must
rake in ten or fifteen million dollars a
year from the people who come here or
it must go to the wall. 1t must get
that money from people who are willing
to spend 1T or else it wont get it.
Furthermore, the people who come here
must get fair summer equivalent for
their money, and be treated in such a
way that they will want to come again.
Otherwise Mr.. Visitor and wife, and
their more or less numerous family, will
forget to return and go somewhere else
to blow i'm their shekels. This brings
US down to the main question of what
class of people our visitors are. There
are several. First the goody-goOdy
people, or the "rigidly righteous" as
Robert Burns called them, the people
who would Danish all smiles from the
human face, and have everybody sit
around and groan. This class is not
very large They won't do any particu-
lar damage ii they eomT' the :
spend any money. Go to .-a~---
extreme and there is another class who's.
idea of good time is skin full of bad
whiskey and opportunity to work it off
in fight. This class should be handed
over to the police and severely dealt
with. Between the two is vast throng
of orderly, well behaved people who
don't want to get drunk or fight and
who have no particular desire to listen
to sermon or be treated as if they were
regarded as savages. They want to
take bath, stroll along the strand, sit
in the pavilions, walk along the Board
walk, listen to music, eat their lunch or
buy their dinner, stay day or a week,
and depart without the slightest inten-
ton of knocking anybody down or
stealing anything. They pay rouudly
for all they get, and they leave a vast
sum of money here between June and
September. This is the the great class
that Atlantic City must please or be
crippled or made bankrupt. They can
go home happy and want to come again
or they can be made to regret that they
ever came. The problem to be solved
is to make this unequalled resort decent,
or derly, safe and desirable. To that end
our City government should bend all
it's energies. have faith to believe that
it will do it and that, too, without
pandering to vice on the hand, or listen
ing to fanaticism on the other.
Politicians are crawling out of Their
hiding-places as the Spring election ap
proches.
Pete Tucker is trying to persuade bis
brethren that he is their Moses, and
advises them to stick right here and eat
snowballs until the ''good times arrive. y
Joe Sharp is figuring out where he is
to be cat" in the grand round up under
Mckinley.
Levi Albertson, it is said, sleeps in al
arm chair, with a telephone attached tc
his ear, listening for a call from some
one Of McKinley's close friends who has
big appointments to give away,
Other candidates have been consulting
the fortune tellers to see where they are
| to come in.
The friends of Councilman Long ar,
insisting that he is bonafide candidate
| for the Post Office and that he stands 6
good chance to win.
1