The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-06-30
NEW BOOKS OF TE N[EK
COMMITTEE OF FIFTY MAKES I'M
PORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO So
GEOLOGICAL LITERATURE
SALOON AS A SOCIAL CENTER
Until Some Substitute Cnn Be
Found for 1t, 1t VIII
Remain In Opera
ton.

NJ Sloane, by Raymond Calkins. 12mo.
Boston, HoughtOn, Miffiin & Co; ST.
Paul, St. Paul Book and Stationery
company.
The present volume is the third issued
by the committee of fifty for the investi-
cation Of the liquor traffic, and is val
liable contribution to the sociological lit
e:ature of the period. The scope and pur-
pose of the work are distinctly stated
in the foreword, from which the following
extract is taken:
The present volume does not
propose to cover any general view OF
the drink habit, or TO answer any funda-
mental question of politics or ethics. 1t
deals with the single aspect of single
problem. The problem approached Is
that Of the saloon. and the single as
pect of that problem which is considered
is the contribution of the saloon to so
ciability. = Whatever else the sa-
loon may be, or may fail to be, 1t is,
at any rate, the poor mans CLUB. Its
hold on the community does not proceed
wholly from its satisfying the thirst for
drink. 1t satisfies also the thirst for
sOCiability. The number of patrons of
the saloon who are slaves of the drink
habit is by no means so great as the
nUmbe- who feel the natural cravings of
the social instinct. Club life has become
an important factor of increasing import
ance in all modern society. 1t meets a
need felt by women as wei as by men.
A very large proportion Of those people
VINO nave the most resources III LnelF
homes row spend many of their leisure
hours in social clubs. The poor man,
however, hndS no resource of recreation
snG change so convenient or so perSua-
sive as the saloon: and the saloon, by
every possible device offers itself for the
satisfaction of the social instinct 1t is
not only a place for drinking. but the
agreeable center Of gossip, curiosity and
excitement.
The inquiry now undertaken begins at
this point. Tt assumes that no attack
upon the saloon can hope for permanent
effectiveness which does not take into
account this satisfaction of the social
Instincts 1t inquiries whether there is
any considerable competition with the sa-
loon as a means of sociability. 1t asks
whether ANYTHING can be learned by eX-
p"rienCe or by observation to effective
methods of this social substitution.
IT is not an academic. or technical but
strictly utilitarian and practical in
CURRY We imagine q philanthrOpic citi-
zen IN some American town considering
the possibility of some offset to the sa-
loon. lie proposes to himself the estab-
llShment of a boys club. or gymna-
SUM, or a coffee house; but he does not
know how far such undertakings have
been successful elsewhere or what their
risks may be or on what lines they should
be developed Might it not be greatly to
his advantage if he could know what had
been done Of this nature in Baltimore in
Chicago, in San Francisco and in a
hali- doZen other communities? Might not
the scrUDulOus collection Of this evidence
from various communities give iudicious
direction to his new enterprise and save
him some of the mistakes of precip-
tancy, ineXperience. and Unregulat ID
zeal?
Beginning. then. with the consideration
of the saloon as a social center, 1t is point
ed out that in none Of them is the poor
man excluded; that on the contrary he IS
made welcome. and that this welcome
Is extended as long as he has money
with which to purchase the beverages
that are exposed for sale behind it's bar
1t is there he meets those who are his
friends and neighbors. and discusses the
questions that are of paramount inter
est in the community to which he be-
longs. 1t does not matter that the fit
tings are tawdry and often mean; they
are better than anything he finds at
home, and they apDeal to whatever aes-
tEetic faculty there may be in MIN At
any rate. there are warmth, and COM
panionshin and the cheer that comes
from an indulgence in intoxicants In
many of them tables are provided at
which the patrons Of the place may in
dulge in cards. the stakes usually being
the price of the drinks. Oftentimes they
are the resorts of men employed in the
several lines Of trades. sucn as stone
cutters, plasterers. carpenters and the
like. Each of these different callings has
perhaps some particular place where it's
members are wont to pass their leisure
hours. and to these come the unempIoy-
ed in search of information that will en-
able them to secure work Moreover. in
many Of them an appetizing luncheon is
served at different intervals throughout
the day, better in quality and as great
in quantity as can be obtained in two
thirds of the restaurants and these are
included in the cents which pays for a
glass Of beer. These and other features
OF the saloon are dwelt upon at length,
and the theorem with which the author
starts. viz. that the saloon is a social
center. is demonstrated with as much
rightly as though it were proposition
of Euclid
AS the next step in the inquiry the vari-
oCs substitutions that have been tried
are taken uD and considered. Under this
head the successive chapters are deyot-
ed to the experiments that have been
made in different cities. and the conclu-
sion is reached that nothing that will
not give the toilers the social advantages
that are connected with the saloon stands
any chance Of driving it out of existence.
Places like the Mills hotel. of New York
city. have done much to supply this want,
and they have proved a paying invest
ment to the man who was bold enough
to invest the amount of money that was
needed to set them in operation In the
reading and smoking rooms connected
with them is to be found the compan-
ionshiD for which men crave and the re-
suit is that few of those who lodge there
laeve the place after their work is done.
Literary societies, night schools Young
Men Christian associations and other
similar ORGANIZATIONS are taken up and
their work discussed in an intelligent and
common sense manner. The better hous-
ing Of the Door is also given attention.
and tenemeDts with rooms set apart for
and devoted to social intercourse are ad-
vocated.
The tables and the appendices to the
book are not the least interesting part
Of the work and are worthy of careful
study.
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=