The Minneapolis journal., 1905-11-23
WIDE TOWNS"
a consideration Of Wide openness as a
Business principle.
San Francisco Chronicle

: + Y ~ . -
San Francisco Chronicle
Philosophers have great-doubtless too
great-contempt for the reasoning facul-
Ties OF the majority Of mankind, but no
one can deny that they have some war
raht Tor their low estimate of the average
human intellect when he considers the
ease with which the most transparent fall
lac1es spread and take root in society.
Inc notion that "Wide-openness'' Of vice
IN city IS cause Of prosperity is one
or the most common, as well as the most
1oollsh, or these popular fallacies. It will
not pear moments examination. Con-
cetve that In a city there is a daily pay
ment OF half million dollars in wages.
There Will then be a daily struggle of all
VINO nave anything to sell to get possess
sion Of that half million dollars. There
Is but SO much Of it. and what one gets
the others cannot get. SS& 9.
If one-ffth OF that money is expended
IN the liquor saloons, the gambling
houses and places Of evil resort, but four
f1fths can be expended for rent, clothing,
food, comforts for the family or laid aside
for provision: for old age.s If no money at
all Is expended for questionable purposes
the saloons and the gambling houses, of
course must close. Their business will
be as dead as Pharaoh But their busi-
ness places will not be closed. When the
saloon which sold whisky to the husband
goes out of business its&place is taken by
the milliner, who sells hats to the wife,
and the hat which she buys can certainly
be one-fifth better than the hat she could
buy when one-f1fth of the family income
was spent for drink Bartenders would
lose their occupation and become shoe
makers or carpenters. The saloonkeeper
| would open grocery store. All the labor
expended in connection with the traffic
which had ceased would merely be di-
verted to some other channel.
! There Is still more to be considered. OF
the money unnecessarily spent in the ex-
| tion at least would not be Immediately
expended at ALL but deposited in savings
banks. By the banks it would be lent tc
some one who was building a home
whose construction would mean the pay
ment of more wages than were previously
| paid out in that city. In other words, II
would become productive capital and con.
t1nue to afford employment to somebody
| indefinitely. That the liquor business af'
fords employment to many persons Is true
but the cabinetmaker who builds the bal
would earn just as much money In build
! ing a dry goods counter. It is solely {
/
| income. No one would pretend that i
would require less labor to prepare ant
offer for sale the commodities which could
be purchased with the money now ex
pended in the pleasures of a wide-opel
| town that is required to produce wha
that money now pays for. On the con
trary, it is morally certain that the pro
duction of the commodities which woult
be purchased with the money now ex
pended for liquor would involve NOR
wages and less profit. 1t is also equal.
certain that much time now wasted woult
be productivity employed, and thus In
volve larger increase in wages: ..>
i This discussion. has nothing to do wit
the moral aspects of: the case. The sol
object is to point out that the production
and sale of what promotes social welfar
involves no less human labor than tn
production and sale of what panders t
bad appetites. And it is the employ
ment or unemployment of labor whic
makes the distinction between a dead
city and prosperous city. 1t is n
economic loss when the labor Of those EN-
ployed in5 pandering fto, the depraved ap
petites Of men is transferred to producin
what ministers to the comfort Of thei
l