Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-11-23

altogether a misnomer Tor when the
home Is dead, citizenship Is dead also
He told how a few years ago 100000
people were hudded together In the
tenements Of the metropolis. surrounded
by all the varied influences that make
f0r indebtedness. The speaker came
across the sea 10 take part iu the strug,
gle for reform, and he had lived TO
see many OF the conditions complained
Of changed, ana the poor placed upon
q higher plane
Referring TO conditions In Utah Mr.
Ris said he had heard many things
about the people OF this state that he
had unlearned since coming into their
midst The brotherhood Of God, said
he means the brotherhood OF man, ana
the man who sits IN his easy chair ana
sings Of the mansions In the skies ANA
at the same time does nothing to uplih
and elevate his fellow man. may have
10 take his turn In the plgsty on earth,
when he seeks 10 claim the mansion on
high
The lecturer then proceeded to take
his hearers through the slums by means
OF stereoptcon views, He depicted all
the wretchedness Of life In q big city
and took his audience into the back al
leys and crowded, lll-ventilated rooms
Of the tenements. Here poverty and
filth went hand IN hand. Children were
huddled together IN apartments and
narrow lanes which never saw the light
OF day. No sunshine entered into their
little lives. They were occupants OF
infant slaughter houses and were
damned into the world rather than
born into Il. These children knew not
the love OF God. They knew not what
lie had provided for their happiness,
for an this was denied them. And yet
mortgaged as they were from their
very infancy, there were those who eH'
pected 20 appeal to their manhood III
later years. This could not be done
for they had no manhood.
The speaker led the way into Gotham
court, where there were i000O00O rats to
the square yard. In this place he once
acted as Santa Claus and carried dolls
and other toys TO the children OF that
neighborhood. He told with what s ad-
ness they received them, for such an
incident had never before entered INTO
their lives. This place was inhabited
by a cosmopolitan crowd consisting Oh
Jews Hungarions, Italians Poles,
Films and a goodly sprlnkling OF ne
groes. The only playground tho chill
dren had was narrow air SHAFT, which
emitted no1lous smells, but furnished
very little pure air. The people who
lived here had come to a land whore
they hoped to enjoy life, liberty and
the pursuit OF happiness, but the con-
ditlons described tended In no wise to
this end
Mr. Riis spoke Of the reforms inaug-
urated when Theodore Roosevelt was
police commissioner OF New York He
told Of the building OF conscience tene-
nents to replace the miserab novels
that had been torn down, and said that
these places, while not the paying Instl.
tutlons the others were, proved good
investments. returning about per cent
and the salvation Of the landlords soul
The lecturer told a number OF good
stories illustrative Of the manner In
which the children Of the crowded ten
ements were introduced 10 country lie
He spoke Of the amazement with which
two little tots gazed upon the COWS
chewing their cuds. After they had
studied the situation very carefully,
they summed II up by asking the own
or If he had 10 buy gum for all them"
COWS. Another story was 10 the effect
that two little girls, who went into the
field to pick flowers, came back after
pluckIng all the squash blossoms they
could find, not knowing that these
were not what they were looking for.
& la q f.la a.. To-.
aglne that drunkenness was always at
the bottom OF this misery. He had
found In the crowded tenements OF New
York well living hlgh-mInded people
who had oeon forced into oblivion
through the peculiar circumstances
surrounding them, Many Of these,
plucked from the heart OF the district
referred 20, had become honorable cit.
izens, and leading members Of the COM
munitles In which they lived
Poverty gap In all It's hldeousness
was described by the speaker, who said
that II was the worst place In the en-
tire city. Now, however, Il had been
transformed into a chlldrens play
ground and where vice and crime once
ilourished, today Il provided a spot az
an outlet for human energies. The lit
tie boy, said the speaker, was a yer-
table steam engine. with steam up all
the time. The good effect Of marching
clubs was referred 20, and the speaker
said that tho cause OF the crowded con-
dltlon OF our reformatorIes was invar-
iably weakness rather than wlckedness.
Mr. RiIs spoke OF the good work OF
Col. George r Warlng In cleaning up
the dirty streets OF New York. His
policy was a good one for, as he ex-
planned he put men behind the hrooms
rather than voters, and the result was
exceedingly gratifying He also made
complimentary reference 10 the work
Of d. o. NILS, the philanthropist who
had built tencments with ample play
grounds for the children and had so
arranged the rooms that plenty OF sun
light could be let ia.
The speaker discouraged the idea
that the world owes every man a llv-
ing. He said II owed only what he
could earn and Il expected him TO give
full value for that which was received
He paid tribute to the foreign element
OF America and said that we here IN
Utah were too wen intemingled 10
dlstrust this class OF people which ne
denominated as the finest type Of
American citizenship.
The lecture was we'll received and
the speaker was freely applauded dur
ing his narrative.