The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-10-06
LET THE WORK GO ON.

The movement inaugurated for the
suppression Of the smoke nuisance in
st. Paul was not regarded favorably
by the majority of the thoughtful cit
liens at the outset. The conviction pre-
vailed quite generally that the attempt
to put an end to the emission of heavy
smoke from the chimnies of indus
trial establishments or other large
buildings, public or private, involved an
attack on the business prosperity Of the
city. The exceptional purity of the
Minnesota atmosphere; the absense of
humidity from that atmosphere; the
height Of most of the chimnies of such
establishments; the wide extent of
space covered by the offending con-
Germs, all went to promote the convic-
ton that there really did exist no such
thing as a smoke nuisance in any such
sense as that the public health or COM
fort would be seriously affected by it.
This view Of the situation has ma
terially changed within the past year
or over. The courts have recognized
the right of municipal authority to reg
ulate the emission of smoke In the
manner undertaken through the city
ordinances. Punishment has been
meted out to those engaged in the per-
Torrance of the labor involved in the
production of such smoke in unneces-
sary and offensive quantity. The sub
stantial nature Of the public wrong
involved to citizens, especially in the
immediate vicinity of offensive CHM
MES, has now passed beyond all dis
pute.
There has been a persistent and uni
form effort made through the city
health department to put an end to
the so-called smoke nuisance. Since
the inauguration of that movement it
must be said that the evil has been
greatly lessened. The huge emissions
of heavy black smoke visible at ev-
cry point, In the past, at which boilers
were in the process Of being fired are
no longer observed, at least to any
thing like the same extent.
an end to the movement against the
owners Of those firing plants which
are recognized as having offended
against the city ordinances. Should
that movement prevail? The Globe,
while never impressed strongly with the
seriousness of the evil, thinks that the
work of the health department should
be sustained, against all attacks, from
whatever source. 1t has many rea-
sons for urging that conclusion.
The principal reason in this behalf
is that no injury, and no substantial in
convenience, to the proprietors of man
ufacturing and other establishments
affected. or to the city or it's people, has
been done by the movement to abate
excessive smoke. Another and an
equally sound reason is the one that
the health department has made it
plain that the remedy Of careful firing
themselves a serious mitigation of the
evil complained Of. If we look at the
actual results accomplished it really
seems plain folly to start now on the
other tack. Take, for instance, the
inhabited territory bordering the rail-
road tracks. Scores of houses have
been deserted within such territory be-
cause Of the smoke from locomotives,
and property in such localities has be-
come materially reduced in value. This
phase Of the evil has been greatly les
sened of late, and it has been made
plain that if punishment is assured to
can be wholly ended. A return to the
inaction Of the past will inevitably re-
store the old conditions.
The present fuel situation has moth
ing whatever to do with the problem.
When coal was plentiful certain Of
tenders against the law were notorious
for their use Of fuel bought for a trifle
and utterly unfit for the use to which
it was applied, and which could not be
used without inevitably polluting the
surrounding atmosphere. This class
will disregard the law in any and every
event until the application to them of
its penalties assures respect for it. If
the health department secures the ne
cessary authority and resources, it
will. T h e G. o b e believes, without do
ing any hardship, protect the conmu-
nifty against the spread Of the smoke
nuisance.