Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-02-10
BY HENRY B. LOOS
ARTICLE I

Atlantic City had its first real taste of
reform on August q, 1908 when Governor
Fort ordered the enforcement of the law
prohibiting the selling of liquor on Sun
day and a general cleanup" OF the vice
traflc. From time to time the lid" at
the resort has popped open momentarily,
but at present there is virtually no viola
tion OF the Sunday selling law and the
disorderly house nuisance has been great
ly reduced.
Now, as the result of the evangelistic
campaign conducted by the Rev. Dr.
Henry w. Slough, there Is much talk Of
further reform, and many citizens of At
lantic City believe that II these efforts
to clap the lid" down tighter are sue
i cessful, the resort will be ruined and
millions of dollars Invested in hotels q I'd
other real estate will be lost.
THE FIRST BLOW
Those who fear for the future Of At
1antic City have one fact upon which to
base their arguments. Since the enforce
ment of the law prohibiting Sunday SELL
ing of liquor, saloon properties at the
resort have deprecated in value from 20
to 33 per cent.
The weekend business has always
been heavy at this resort. Thousands of
excursionists from Pennsylvania. New
York and other nearby States have come
+ to regard Atlantic City as their resort.
. and every Friday and Saturday during the
summer season have seen hasty migra-
tion to this playground OF the world
Z Sunday has always been the outstanding
day of the week, with hotels and boarding
houses filled to capacity and the Board
walk q seething mass OF humanity.
In bygone days the saloons of Atlantic
City did a greater business on Sunday
than on any other four days of the week.
Cafes of the leading hotels were filed
from morning until late Mt night The
Of fpG
day suddenly cut off thousands of dollars
from the revenues of these establish
ments. Saloonkeepers and pessimistic
citizens said that Atlantic City was
doomed-there would be no more Sunday
crowds, no money spenders, nothing to
attract people to the shore,
Those who predicted such an outcome
based their assertions on what they had
seen daily for years and years-especially
on Sundays. They recalled the cafes,
jammed to the doors with merrymakers,
the dance halls with their coterie of men
and young women. who paid their re-
spects to the shrine of Bacchus at inrre-
quent intervals; the gambling establish
ments, where wealthy visitors dropped
thousands of dollars with a laugh. and
last, but not least rney recalled the
nightly migrations toward the red lights
of Atlantic City.
Reform will never do anything but
DrlnB rum on our neadG, business men
Of the city said. People from every
quarter of the United States have come
to look upon this resort as the one spot
in America where they can frOlic to their
hearts content They have come to know
that here they can mix in a Bohemian
atmosphere which smacks strongly and
deliciously Of wicSedness."
Nor were saloonkeepers. proprietors of
dlsorderly houses and politicians the only
persons who believed these assertions
true. Church members. even ministers.
had become so Injured to the idea that
Atlantic City must necessarily remain
wicked II II were TO develop that they
maintained a passive attitude toward the
conditions they saw about them.
Il 1T DIDN'T BUST" CITY.
These people were engaged in legitimate
business enterprises which depended
largely upon the transient population of
the resort. They were told that reform
would turn this population away. Very
WELL" said these church people I'VE dis
approve of these conditions, but we will
tolerate them. We are not in favor OF
reform
But the Sunday closing law did not deal