The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-03-12
MUNICIPAL PROBLEMS.
SPIRITED DISCOURSE BIZ HON.
SAMUEL b. CAPEN.
Address Before Mems Club of United
Passing Through Period or civic Neg

|
Church-spenlscr Says Country is
Passing Through Period or Civic Neg
| lect.
At the regular service of the Mems
club of the United church last evening
| the speaker was the Hon. Samuel y.
Capen of Boston. president of the
American Board OF Foreign Missions,
| who spoke on the subject, 'Munlcipal
J Problems and How to Solve Them" His
/ discourse was in part as follows:
The first great question settled IN this
| country was our independence as ma
| tion, which was settled at Yorktown
more than a century ago; the next bat
| tie was over the integrity Of the nation,
ard was settled at Appomattox court
| house by Lees surrender more than
thirty years ago; the third question is
over the purity Of our municipal units,
and it is this struggle in which we are
now engaged We have been passing
through a period of civic neglect. Dur
! ing the Civil war, patriotism was at
the front; every family, almost had
some one in the army and
the heart of the nation was there. When
the war was over, the pendulum swung
to the other extreme, and the majority
of our citizens have been interested in
their own selfish interests. One of the
reasons for this condition is because Of
the enormous increase in wealth Sew
enty citizens of the United States are
said to be worth twenty-seven hundred
millions, an average of forty millions
each; there are thirty more worth over
four hundred millions This rapid in
crease in wealth is due largely to the
introduction of machinery and in a cot
ton factory now, a girl working ten
hours a day can do one thousand times
as much work as a man could at the
beginning of the century working
twelve hours a day"
Mr. Capen then dwelt upon some of
the perils that had grown up coming
partly through the inferior quality of
many of our emigrants during the past
few years, and the increased power of
the saloon, etc. In the country dis
tricts Sc per cent. Of the population own
their homes; in cities of one hundred
thousand or less this is reduced to 36
per cent; in cities of one hundred
thousand or more, 30 per cent; in Bos-
ton, Is per cent; in New York, 6 per
cent. We thus find in our cities a
large majority of people who have no
homes of their own, and we miss the
steadying force which always comes
when people own their own homesteads.
Mr. Capen showed how rapidly the
cities were gaining in population at the
expense of the country and at the pres
ent rate of increase in 1920 the cities
will have a larger population than the
country. With this problem before us,
how shall we solve our difficulties?
First-Every person should have an
intelligent opinion upon the matters
concerning the city where he lives.
There is more ignorance to the square
inch in municipal matters than in any
thing else.
Second-All good citizens should at
tend the caucus; the government of
America is shaped in the caucus and
the primary Is the pivot Of reform.
Third-Men ought aways to vote In
the wards of our cities where the we'll
to-do citizens live. it is often true that
one-third Of the voters stay away from |
the polls. Such neglect makes a man
only one step removed from criminal.
The ballot box ought to be as sacred as
the Ark of the Covenant and the man
who does not do his duty there, as has !
well been said "shoud be drummed out |
of society to the tune of the Rogue's |
March"
Fourth-We ought to scrutinize more |
carefully the character of the men for !
whom we vote. 1t is not so much better
we want. as better men.
Fifth--Our best citizens ought TO be |
ready, at great personal sacrifices, to |
accept positions Of public trust. We
ought to create public sentiment, that
it is as honorable to be an alderman of
ones city as to be deacon in church /
or member Of the Yale corporation.
We ought to organize in our cities mu-
nicipal leagues which shall act indie
pendent of national party politics.
city government is a corporation and
should be managed as all other corpor-
atoms, without considering the distlnc-
tons of national parties. To quote from
Professor Fisk: st is as absurd to
elect a man to office along national par
Iy lines as it would be to choose him
because he is a homeopathic or be-
cause he has a taste for chrysanthe-
NUNS We must meet combina tions
Of evil in our cities with combinations
Of good. The essential things are to be-
ieve that we can conquer such evils
and then get together and do it,