Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-02-11
INDUSTRIOUS ExAGGERATIoNs.

The paper read before the Ministerial
Association on Monday by Secretary
John y. Axton, Of the Y, M. c. A. on
Social Forces in Society" and pub
llshed In the Deseret News was aimed
no doubt at evils existing in this city
which ought to be suppressed as far as
possible But It contained a number OF
gross eSaggera,ions which we cannot
rightly pass by without correction,
The number Of legaI2ed saloons Civ
en- by him IS greater than the actual
figures show. II fuctuatcs somewhat
from time to time According to police
Statistics It has never exceeded eighty.
That Is many more than there ought to
be IN such a community as ours, but Il
does no good to magnify an evil be-
yond its true proportions. However,
that ~ but q small matter compared
with his statement that There are
more prostitutes and common street
walkers IN Salt Lake city than there
are Sunday school teachers"
That IL most extraordinary asser-
tion. There are about one hundred
Sunday school teachers among the var
lous UNCONVENTIONAL churches, There
are at least six hundred in the city
wards Of the Church of Jesus Christ Of
Latter.day Saints This aggregates
about seven hundred Sunday school
teachers in the city, The police author
tiles, when questioned an to the num-
Der of the class which Mr. Axton as
sumes to know so much about reported
that there were elghty-nIne In the city
In The month of January, Towards the
close OF last year the number was
nfty-four. The average is placed at
seventy
Perahps Mr. Axton Is more familiar
with that class Of persons than are the
police. Be that as II may, we do not
believe his assertion, and we see no
sense in blaokenng the moral character
Ni liia Oil1 Wy amy hNSh WIZ ufb 0'H'"
tional remarks There may be many
more immoral persons than are nclud-
ed in the number named by the police
But the Y NJ, G. a, secretary spoke
Of that class alone and therefore he
has multiplied the actual number
great many times Such statements
are used abroad, and they are as unre-
liable as the anti-polygamy effuslons OF
the preachers who listened to his IT,
Iade.
We believe that a far greater eyll
than the notorious places and people al
ready mentioned, Is to be found in the
'ioomng houses which are resorted
to as we are Informed by a great num-
Der Of men and women, some quite
young and probably for immoral pur-
poses, We consider the executive de-
partment Of this city responsible to
large extent for the continuation Of this
great cyil, We do not believe that UNI
N'I tAl0sHH 'AlNhlHNtillNNNi WIN wv
mixed population residing here, It can
be extlrpated. But that It could be kept
down to a great extent as we'll as gam
bling and other unlawful Vices, Is ey-
ident to every thinking lnhabitant
We are with every person and So
ciety that sincerely endeayors to pro-
mote morality and upnft the Masses
but we deprecate those Wild and mon
strous stories that originate with ex-
cited people, because they accomplish
no good and may do a great deal Of
harm, Respectable people would not
desire to dwell in a place so corrupt
incorporate and immoral as this city
was represented to be at the meeting Of
the Ministerial Association on Monday.