Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-06-16
The Brand of the City

iZation being broken up, the old dis
tribution OF population between city and
rural district alters. As industry moves
to the city, urban wages rise. But the
economic impulse expresses itself in other
wa3s t.4an In a sober comparison between
urban and rural wages. In the city gem
eral economic chance arc better. Youth
is never what it is. but what it hopes to
nc, and TO the ambitious the elittering city
spells hope. The chances in the country
are cruelty ciIcumscribed the chances OF
the city are vague but endless. In the
professions. in business, IN commerce., in
manufacturing, the city is the place OF
boundicss horizon.
The city attracts because It offers much
for little, because. heretical though the
statement may seem. living there is cheap.
True. city rents are VIGOROUSLY high, AMI
men spend moro than in the country. But
IN the city you get more. and you let more
for each dollar spent. The city is the
home of wholesale and therefore cheap
amusement. The moving picture show,
the variety t%i:eater. the open trolley, the
boat ride. the amusement park. are won
derfully cheap because so many share the
I expense. Much is offered for nothing.
(, There is something TO see. The free lunch.
the public library, the constant spectacle
of the dressed" windows of fine stores.
are all gratuitous. There is variety and
rarity as we'll as mere quantity. Because
of it's mass consumption the city permits
that special adaptation OF industry to spe-
cial wants which is Il lure 10 the wealthy.
The city enables you to live like every
body else and to live like nobody else.
1t gives YOU the raw mate rial in which to
! express yourself. 1t affords elbow room
for Municipalities.
To economic attractions social Gttrac-
tions are added. Men are incurably
s.egarious. They love to work. eat. loaf,
and read poetry in crowds. and the city
provides the crowds. The city. moreover.
is an opportunity and a refuge for good
and bad. The student is attracted by H.
braries: the scientist by hospitals and re-
search laboratories. The author comes for
stimulus: the lawyer for the chance to
grapple with big problems and earn big
fees. I'm the city rhe social welfare work
err finds his field. Whoever loves art, sci
ence. literature, music. whoever is in
,erested in the insistent problems of the
age, migrates to tho city. Queer" &C.
centric folk who can not endure the all
too powerful public opinion of the mar
row rural community also come. The city
permits an escape from the nut of custom.
1t spells Independence, Individuality. soli-
tude. 1t is anonymous. In the city you
can indulge virtues and vices quietly and
unobseryed. The young girl seduced in
the country fees to the city: her child,
conceived in the village. is born in the me-
tropolis. Village failures come. They
read of the city's allurements and of its
charities. and both are magnets.
In a material sense the American city
is parvenu: it has arrived: it has attained
an unchallenged success, nc one knows
how and no one cares why. It's moving
electric signs flash out across Il continent,
and those blazing lights blind and dazzle
all America. Much OF this Outlying. much
of this influence of the city upon the
country lad within and upon the wide
country without. is blatant. ugly. and un-
redeemably bad. The evils of the city
and of city influence develop first ethi-
cally we always throw away dirty water
before we get clean. The country lad ar
? irving in the city finds that the saloon
door swings easily on its hinges. and that
young women beckon from the streets. He
is free In his furnished room and free ir
the freedom of the gay streets, and he is
2 fatally susceptible. The world about him
is new charming, careless. making a
q boast of its carelessness. Nobody know,
and nobody cares. and everything offers
The city winks an eye. The old proscrlp
: tons, the old inhibftions. seem stupid ant
T obsolete; a new morality is not perceived
. And SO the country lad In the city. and il
e the great country beyond the city. AXE
: . bad or worse AS 1t offers.