The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1917-04-28
CLEAN UP AND
PAINT UP NOW

Il III nCcu " BO lnlO dISu-
ments In favor of a clean community.
No right-minded citizen wants to live
In q place which Is not clean and sani-
tary. A clean town insures health,
health brings happiness and prosper
ity. The trouble Is that many of us
live In dirty, unsanitary towns, and
either do not know 1t or are indiffer-
ent. Even the fact that we cannot
keep ourselves personally clean or u
houses clean unless the city as a whole
Is In a sanitary condition, fails to
drive home our responsibility. This
Is where the clean up campaign justi-
ies itself. 1t makes dirt apparent. It
makes each citizen responsible. 1t
makes cleanliness contagious. There
Is a saying: IF you want to keep a
man out of the mud, black his boots"
The clean up campaign acts as a COM
munity bootblacking.
One of u magazines has been in
terested in promoting %year-round clean
up campaigns, and to further this
cause has been offering prizes for let
tiers on the subject. One small boy
concluded his letter as follows "When
yard and clean parents, it seems as If
all the dirt there Is stares him In the
face; anyway he always sees dirt and
disorder when there is any," That is
more than half the battle, to see the
dirt and disorder and to have 1t make
one uncomfortable
For a number of years sometime in
April or May cleanup campaigns have
had an annual sporadic appearance in
towns and cities throughout the coun-
try. 1t is only recently that municipal
housekeeping has become a national
spring fashion. 1t can truthfully be
termed a national fashion for it is
estimated that last spring $500 cities
and towns conducted their own cam
paigns against dirt and filth. This
year more than 5000 communities will
be at it. In some states the fashion
is dignified by a governors proclama-
ton, setting aside a day or a week for
the ceremony. In some places the
mayor issues a proclamation calling
the citizens to brooms, shovelS, and
paint brushes upon a given date.
There is no doubt that the sanction
of a governor or a mayor produces a
campaign which bears the best results.
But many a commercial or civic club,
woman's club or art society has put a
city or village through a cleansing proc
ess which has left it more attractive
and self respecting than it ever was
before.
1t really makes little difference who
takes the initiative, but it is of great
Importance that everyone in the town
should become vitality interested not
only in making the place clean on a
certain date but in keeping it so for all
time.
Recipes for model campaigns have
appeared upon the market in surpris-
ing numbers. There have been cam
paigns for an isolated farm, for a
small town or village, for cities small
and large. In describing a model cam
paign, it is impossible to find one
hat will be applicable to all condi-
lions. In every case the general di-
rections must be made to fit local
needs.
AT the outset it is only fair to
recognize the fact that the majority
of citizens too often expect officials to
keep the town clean while the public
is absolutely lacking in individual re-
sponsibility.
At first sight it might seem that a
clean up and paint up campaign is
conducted chiefly as a benefit per-
Torrance for the hardware, paint, and
lumber trades. A little thought will
show that to produce cleaner sur
roundings both inside and outside the
home, not only tradesmen of all kinds
but every citizen of the town is meal
culably benefted.-E. S. Koelker.