The daily Alaskan., 1910-03-31
THE HIDDEN ISSUE IN THE NUN
 IcIPAL CAMPAIGN.

said 10 have been tulIy launCneu, Ile candidates for councilmanic honors and for the school board have their names before the people and the plat form of each party has been duly promulgated.
 The Citizens party, however, have sharply brought into view what is really the main issue of this cam paign in the last plank of their plat form, which for the want of a better name we will call the restricted dis rlct issue.
 The Tax Payers party ignores this issue altogether, Gin prinO but con tent themselves with marking ink posters placed about town with the legend If you want a live town vote the Tax Payers Ticket" while one of their candidates for council open ly states his position as favoring a wide open town.
 Now this issue will be settled next Tuesday and if the Tax Payers party win a majority of the council an ef- fort certainly will be made to open Seventh Avenue to the social evil traffic. Not because the claim of some of these blatant agitators that business in Skagway will improve by such a proceeding, but really because certain holders of real estate in this section want their real estate put on a revenue producing basis.
 The Citizens party clearly states in its platform an endorsement of the present councils action towards Seventh Avenue. and it can be an- nounced as certain that in the event of their election this street will re main closed to this traffic.
 The hidden issue. therefore, of this campaign becomes the real issue and the persistent arguments of the sup porters of the Tax Payers ticket is that business in Skagway has suffered by the closing of Seventh avenue.
 The argument that gambling, drink, ing and kindred evils existing in a community are stimulant and an advantage to business. is not 3 new one; but what force of reason there may be in stand like this in most instances loses most of it's acumen in town like ours because the mon ey used in support of these evils comes directly from the people of the town themselves and is therefore diverted from legitimate channels to megiumate ones, and the merch- ants Of the town suffer in couse- quence.
 The social evil is a parasite of the worst description, and it's strict reg ulation and control are the first dut- ies of the town government.
 In the early days of skagway there was a large transient business. the trader with his outfit or live stock came up from the south and fingered Tn the town for perhaps a week or more with his party. spending his money freely in most instances; while the individual miner with his poke of dust or nuggets coming over the trail did likewise.
 In these times the argument that the public vices have benefited the town might hold good, for the reason that most of the money spent came from outside the town and got into circulation within it, and so all busi- ness interests were indirectly stim- ulated; but these conditions have ceased to exist. as our commercial fabric is now purely local, This is the way the business argument ap- peals to us. Now for the social side;
 Seventh avenue has been given to this vice for fully ten years, but for at least seven years every council hoe Naa, ip,nOrtunad by large num-