WOR CEST J1JR MAGA ZINE
A Problem in P ublic Welfare wh olesom e m eetin g-pl aces f or men , wh er e f or a ni ckel or
B y U. 'VAI ,DO C U T LER
Th e s tre ets of our city a re frl'ed f ro m t he nui san ce of
t he op en saloon, we da l:e hope fo r m a ny years t o come.
T he fig-h t whi ch drove it ou t was a brave one, cre d itable
to th e public-s pir-i ted part ic ip ants , wh ether by voice ,
fin an ci al Sll PPO I"t, 01' vote. Thi s worth y e ffort dem olish ed
th e old, unt idy , unwholesome st r uet ure ; wha t a r e we
bu ildin e up t o ta ke its pl ace :
Th e desi re f or soeia l r el a xu ti on at t he close of the day 's
work is perfect ly n orm al 11 lid ri gh t. A la rge nu mb el: of
peopl e, m en a nd b oys pa rti c ularly , ca n no t possibl y find
01' m ak e thi s rea so nab le socia l li f e in t he lod g-ing-h ou se or
in such a ho rne I1S f alls t o th eir lot . 'I'he on ly p ossibl e
thin g fo r th em to do afte r supp er is to go ou t somewher e,
In mild weath er 1 suppose a lon ely b u t h ealthy man ca n
loaf a bout th e st re ets till bed tim e, but th e poli ce do not
wish him th ere, a n d ill cold 01' s tor m su ch exhilaratin g
socia l life as s tr eet eor ue rs affo r d is a n imp ossibility.
Th e W orces ter Bo ys ' C lu b is a r esou rce fo r th e boys of
its n eigh horh ood ; En di cott H ou se a lso has in vi ew eer­
t a in limited socia l n eeds ; a ud . bes id es, the re is th e so lemn
ca lm of the P ub l ic L ibrary . T he Y , M. C. A . d oes no t
close its d oors at so cir cumspect an hou r as does t he
libra r y , but it wi ll g-ive cold welcom e to th e p oorly-cla d ,
perhaps un couth t oilers who ma ke li p such a la r ge pro­
por t ion of our cit izens hip . espec ia l ly if t he a nn ual fee is
unpa id , a nd th ese are not the kind of fo l k sought or
ex pec ted nt p resen t hy th at a mb it ious clu b. A t the
chea p r es ta m-ant tlIP,)' a re expe cte d to m ove on as soo n as
th e bill is p aid . E ven t he ch ur ch d oor's <l ee closed exce pt
for an h our or t wo on one even ing a week , wh en the
" socia l meet.ing " is in prog ress, a nd even if th ese p eopl e
wer e to f orce th eir way in, the ch u rc hes would not know
hOII- to ada pt themselv es to th eir n eed s. E xcept for
th ese f e ll' qui te pro pe r a nd ed if y ing- r esor ts , th er e seems
to be no pro vision wh ate ver' fo r th e socia l interest s of th e
m asses of h and -worker s that cr owd ou r sidewa lks at th e
open ing' a nd clos ing hou rs of th e mill s a nd shops.
Wh at w] II you very r esp ectabl e ci tizens , comfortably
alip per ed at yo ur sm ug fir esid e, hav e th ese lonely fell ows
do, while you a re en j oy in g your peaceful even ing in yo u r
well- a p poin t ed home ? B ooks are a n a dded r esource f or
yo u , whil e yo u r f ami ly a r e p erhaps aw ay a t th e bri d ge
pa rty , Bu t an un t rain ed mind , lod ged in a, bod y
wear ied bv th e mo not onv of a day 's ro ut ine of toil, can ­
not a p ply' its elf profitabl y or' p leasan tly to li te r ature.
As a f u rth er cons id er at ion . t h e p r ea chers t ell us t her e
is so met hing sac i-ame n t n.l in ea ti ng a nd ch inking socrul ly.
A t an y r a te. there is some thing evol u tional in it, an d OUl'
psy chi c d evelopm en t bega n with th e q u est for fo od . I n
h OUl'S of r ela xa ti on man v men a lmost in stin ctivel y come
together w it h k nees lI n ci~ r a t abl e, a nd in ou r philan ­
thropi c ende a vors we mu st take into acco un t this in stin ct.
D oing away w ith t he saloo n is o nly t he n egative part of
the p ro cess. W ith ou t some thing' in it s place, th e sa loon
in al l its bas eness wi l] r et.urn. 01' else seven ot her spi r its
worse tha n th e fir st w ill t ake possess ion of th e emp ty ,
swep t a nd gal'l1 isltccl q uarters.
At p r esent t hen ' is 110 r ea l s u bst itut e f or th e sa loon ,
a nd no r eal effo r t, so f ar as my obse rv a tion ex t en ds, t o
find or inv ent one . The r ic h. t he ed uca te d , ca n provid e
f or th eir social n eed s ac cor di nz t o t aste, but have we no
privil ege or' r esp on si bility with r eference to those oth ers
whose soci a l salv ation is w ry closely bound up with om '
welf are ? I'Ius ph ilanthropy ever f airly tried to p r ovid e
303
tw o an evening 's bri gh t ness and wa rm th and ch eerful
comp anionship and per haps ;1. li ttl e suitable nourishment
ca n be bou g ht ? T o adapt such a r esor t to the n eeds of
any gi ve n neigh borh ood woul d r equire ca r efnl st ud y of
loca l co~di t i ?ns, but un til we hav e attemp ted something
a long thi s lin e of cons t r uc t ive temp era n ce r ef orm we
need n ot f old om ' hands qui te so com pla cently, as we
co n te mplate t he " famous victory " wh ich expelle d t he
sa loon .
I t is heartless to r ej oice greatly over th e down f all of
t he sa loon till we are r ead y 1'01' the ha rder task of socia l
u pbui ldin g. It is almost ri rlicnl ous to h old a big ban­
q u et a t It dell a r a pla te in hon or of th e closin g u p of th e
only pla ce wh ere th e man with on ly his ni ckel to sp end
ca.n j oin with his f ell ows in soc ial wavs. Mon el' a nd
a rgu m en t flowed freely fo r th e necessa rywork of pullirur
d,own the old. I s there no mon ey , no en ergy, no inven­
ti ve th ought left for th e ab solutely essen t ial t ask of
planning a nd raisin g the new st ruc tu r e l
\ Vor cester is 1I 0t g ren tt y concer ned to ca rry its
tem peran ce reform f orward u pon cons t r uct ive lili es,
an d as a consequ ence of th is a.pa th y we may get a ll th e
saloo n r ees tablish ed as a social power , unh ealth ful , irn­
moral , degradin g th ou gh it is, F oe all we care, th e
t wenty -five th ousand , or mor e, untra in ed workmen of
ou r ci ty m ay con t in ue to walk th e s tree ts, loaf in t he
parks , s tand a imlessl v a long- the cu r bsto nes - twell t\'-fh'c
th ou san d " ha.n ds, " ~I 'h ose ~w ork or Whose ' a mbition 0 1'
whose p ocket book f nrrr ishes no incen ti ve to a mor e pr ofit­
ab le use of leisu r e hours , t wen ty -five t housand prom isinu
ca nd ida tes for saloon h onors in " wet " vears tw en ty-five
t hou sand oppor t u ni t ies u n us ed f or con"st l'llc't ive ph ila u­
th r op y. No p ropel' socia l r esor t is r eall y ope n t o th orn,
nobod y but t h e saloon- keep er seeks t hem, f ell' wh o ca ll
t hemselv es lovers of th ei r fe llo wmen a r e g iv ing a ny in ­
t elli uen t stu dy to th is mut ter- of wh olesom e en viron men t
fo r th e leisu r e of t hose wh o ha ve no r eal hom e or wors e
t ha n n on e. Th ere is no in sti tuti on 0 1' movem ent t ha t
a t all fill s t he void tha t, harmfully , was occup ied by th e
sa loon : that, helpf'nl ly , is occ u p ied ill En gl and by th e
B r iti sh W orkma ns H ouse,
'Man y will ask su ch peopl e " why n ot brush up your
coa t , wh y n ot give up y ou r dirty st re e t-cor ne r smoking,
wh y not go t o th e even ing school, why not t ill your home
gard en , why not save y ou r n ickels a nd sta r t a sav ings .
ban k acc oun t, as othe rs ha ve d on e, a nd so hav e ea r n ed
f or t hernsel ves com f ort a n d che er a nd socia l en j oy men t
of a truer so r t ~ " B ut gi ven no mon ey but d ay 's wages,
no a mbi tion bey ond th e cu rre n t j ob, no presti ge of fa m­
il y or f r-iend sh ip, no ex hi lar a tion a nd ove r flow of ene r gy
h om a bun dan t foo d an d zes tf ul assoc iations, th ere is
littl e incen t ive towa rd self- imp ro vemen t,
A nd yet , in self-d efense, society m us t r ega r d t he need s
of th e unas pi r ing, the th riftless, th e di scourag ed , the
diseased in body, mind , or' mora ls, the fore ig ners unin­
s tr uctcd in 0 11 1' sp eech an d ou r id eal s, an d find so me way
to pu t ne ll' lif e into t hem . P er haps t here is need in
W orcest er of some ag en cy as y e t unkn own to us, t o meet
t his r ath er n ew occasion , p er haps some sys tem of n eigh­
b0l'1100d cen tel's, s uch as R och ester has so wisely est ab­
lish ed , a nd a re fin d in g' f a VOl ' e lse whe r e a lso in con nec­
ti on with th e ful ler u tili zati on of th e school houses . It
1I'1IS said at a r ecent. chari ties con fe r ence th at th e m ost
important of all our soc ial probl ems is th at of public r ec­
r eati on . After' r'efe r- r i ng t o thi s f act , M r. E. J, W ard,
in an interesting a r t icle in a. recent number of th e "Sur­
vey ," goes on to say, " Ex cept for th e sp ecial needs of
302 WORCESTER
Rev. Francis J, V an Horn, pastor of the Plymouth
Congregational Chu r ch in Seat tle, bein g called upon,
r espond ed briefly. in cl uding in hi s remarks th e following­
pass ages :
J have b ee n side -steppi ng on e qu estion fo r the la st three
y ea rs, a n d have be co me exc eed i ng ly a g-ile in g-etting away f ro m
t hat qu esti on : " \~re lJ, hr.w does Sea ttle co m pa re wit h W o rces ­
ter; do you l ik e it better ill th e \ Ves t'? " T a m go in g to ans we r
t hat question by say i ng t ha t in som e r es pect s Sea ttle ha s a littl e
th e a dva nta g e fr om my vie w p oint . " S ome m en a ch ie ve grea t nes s,
som e ha ve grea t ness thr ust upon th em , lIJHl som e arc fro m New
E ngl a nd. ' I I was no t bo rn in New Eng la nd. I only a ch ieved that
g reatness wh en t he re came t o m e t be h on or to h e pastor o f the
F irst Ch ur ch of W orces t er wi t h two ce ntur ies o f hist or y behind
i t, comm o nly k no wn as t h e Old S o ut h; and wh en T cam e to th e
new W est to 1V0rk. th er e ca m e t o me th e co nvic tion whi ch ha s
g r ow n du r ing t he past t hree yea r s, t hat howe ver we ma y langh
at t he habi t s of N ew En gl and , i f we wer e t o ta ke ou t of th e
c hurch life of Ih is c ity , a n d o u t of th e moral fo rce of t h is cit y ,
th e b est, t hi ngs o f New En gla n d , in clu ding tb e st r ict cou seienti ous ­
ness of New E ng la nd- i f we to ok t hose t h ings o ut we sh ou ld
be poor ind eed . 1 r ejo ice that J wa s per m itted to l ive in New
En g la nd , I r ej o ice in it s m em ori es a nd g il·e t ha nks fo r what
N e w Englu nd ha s been and do ne fo r the pe o ple of this co u n t ry .
Tl18 last speaker in beh alf of our Seattl e friends was
-Iohn J . Su llivan, who resp onded with eloquence and
]'vIL".
deep feel ing to the senti ment, " T he Ti e that Binds ."
Mr. Toa s tmas ter, F ello w 'I' owu smen of W orcest er, H onored G ue s t s,
L ad ie s an d Ge n t le mc u :
It is like wa t er in a. d ry a nd thi rs ty l an d t o se e t he fa ces of
me n a nd wom e n we knell' a nd resp ect ed i n t he old hom e c ity:
me n an d wom en wh o co me 10 us d irec tl y fr om o ur f r ie nds ; m en
wh o arc o ur fr ien ds; m e n a n d wom en who ar e id entified with
th e city we d el ig ht to call by the s weet and b ea u t i f ul name of
hom e .
Fo r , a ft er al l, la d ies a nd gen tle men , 1 t hin k, b et wee n o u rselves,
we mav a d m it th at o ut he re we of t he coa s t s t ill f ee l like
p io neers . W e s t il l fee l like- a n ell' p eopl e in a n ewland and fe el
bound ,ye t by ti es of lov e a ri d affec t io n to th e cit y of o ur birth
a n.l th e homes of o ur fa th er s ,
No c r is is in th e hi story of 0111' couut.rv ha s eve r fo u nd t he m en
of Worce ste r re lucta nt 'to re spo nd . N,; r a il to a r ms ha d t o be
s ou nded twi ce in the street- of 0\11' h is to ri c ci t y , And, :MI'. T oa st,
m a s t er , not only in th e s t.irr i ng ti mcs of war Las 0\11' cit y dis ­
tin g uished it sel f f or p a t ri oti sm and en t hus ia s m. but al so in t be
qui et e r t imes of peace she ha s set for t h to a ll th e wo rl d a n
exa m ple of c ivic r ig ht co us ne ss an d exa m ple of good g o n >rnme n t.
AmI so, my f ell 0" · t owns men, wh en y ou ret u r n t o YOUI'
f a i r city an d hav e sai d a ll the kin d things a b ou t t1ea t t le you
h av e t ho ug ht of , con vey 1. 0 o u r f ri end s a t. ho me thi s message:
T ha t t he re is wi t h in OUI ' hearts st i ll th e ti e tha t b i nd s us to
t h e H ea rt of t he Couu no n wea l t h ; t ha t f o r some of us t he re is
a lovin g par en t bac k th e re s ti ll pray ing f or us er e he r es t s his
hea d to sle ep ; a nd for ot her s a f'onrl moth er , resting ben ea t h
th e h ill s of N ell' Wor c- est er , the th o ugh ts of whom b rin g ba ck
fond r ecol lect ion s of 0 " 1' c hild hood days. A nd so t here s ti ll
THE "W ORCESTER SPECIAL" TRA I N I N CASCADE MOl:NTAlN S
1IAGAZINE
r emains t ho tie th a t bi nds ; a nd as o ur f'ore f a t.hcrs t hought of
t he i r hom es a('1'oss th e wa t ers of t he At la nt ic , so we, t hei r
child re n o n th o Pa cifi c coa s t , t h in k of o ur old ho me fa r acro ss
t he r ugge,l peaks of t he It o ck ies , a nd th e t ossi ng co rn fields of
t he grea t va lley o f t he Missi ss i p pi, bey o nd to th e s a cred hill s of
clea r old New E ng la nd .
In bringin g th e f eas t of oratory to a close, Mr . Murphy
cal led u pon th e Secr etary of th e W orces te r Board of
Trad e to respond to the vari ous g reeti ngs . Mr . Sewall 's
remarks, in part, wer e as follows :
Mr. T ousturastor, a nrl fr ie n ds f ro m Sea ttl e a.nd f ro m Worcester:
A large t a sk is laid npon m e, t o a c kno wl edge bri e fly t he g r ati ­
t ude an d a pp rc cia t ion whic h tb e me mb ers of 0111' party f eel in
la rgest mea su re fo r all th ose g re et ings U1Hl co u r t es ies wh ich ha ve
be e n comi ng o ur way s in" " we firs t stepped off our t rain at y our
U u io n S ta t io n. \V A a r e espe cially gra t ef ul for th e eff or t s of
so me of o ur f rie nds up on th is Co m m it t ee of Arra ng em ents who
hav e made it poss ible fo r us to be th e ba st s o n thi s occas io n, an d
y et. be rel iev ed of th e (' a1'C f or prelimin a r y a r ra ng e me nt s. It is
a pl ea sure th us to he ah lr- t o gree t t b es o f'ri en.Is of the N I'l\'
En gl and soc iet y , as we l l as th e se re p resent ati ves of th e man a g e­
m cnt of thi s g re a t ex pos it ion, a nd of t he co m mer cia l o rg a niza t io ns
o f t hi s c ity, a IHI t o list e n t o t he co rd ia l wo rd s of YG lIr Mayor
a n d th e Governo r o f I h is :::itat e.
J n spi t e of th e lut cu css o f th e ho u r , T feel tha t [ m us t sp ea k
o ne word for the d ty which ha s ca lled for t h such h earty wa rns
of a ffect io n f ro m y o u who d Wf'1I here , a n .l whi c- h is de<n t o us
who hav e tra ve led so f a r fr olll it. We appreci ate t he greatness
o f t he a chi eve men ts of t hose wh o a re bu ild i ng th ese g rea t c it ies
o f th e Nort h wes t; b ut we a re n ot i n th e lea st ash am ed o f W o r­
ces te r ; of wh at it ha s bcrn, is no ll', an d is destin e d t o be i ll
co m i ng clays. W e t ak e s i necre sat isf a ct io n in b e ing a ble to
cont r ib ute so muc h ca p it a l and so many e fficie nt wo r ke r s f or a
city like t hi s , a nd ye t ha ve p lenty left to mainta in our O WJl
pr og ress and p rospe ri ty . J Iri sh I had t im e to t ell y o u of t he
gr ea t vari et y of thin gs which lI'e are m a ki ng, an d which y ou
a re using d a ily in your h omes a nd offices ; hu t we hav e bro ug ht
y ou one h u nd red a nd o ne samp les of th e best p rod uct wh ich we
prod uce i n W o rc ester-s-ou r men a nd wom en . So me peo p le m ay
t.hin k t hat W o rce s t er is a b it slo w and un p rog ress iv e; a n d sh e
ce r ta i nly ha s never s uffe r ed f rom over-b oa s t fulnes s a bo ut her ex ­
ce lle nc ies; b ut if an y ot h er c it y has gathered togethe r a s la l'g e
a bod y of ex c urs io n is ts a s th is , an d sent th e m a s f a r a s lee ha ve
come, t bey ha ve not bee n speed y e no ug h t o pa ss us on o ur ro u te .
unless it wa s wh e n we were as le e p, W e a r e gl ucl tha t ,,'e a re
h ere ; a nrl we are g lad that we a re goin g bac k to W or cester wit h
t he mem o r ies of a ll t he kindn esses we ha ve b ee n everv wh e rc
recei vin g o n t hi s trip . If we fill,] a ny di sc-01J t en t ed peopl e i n
W or cest er we sha ll not a dv ise Ihem t o e rn i~ ra l e t o t his or a ny
ot her city, bill. to t a ke h old wit h us in a p p reci ation of t he
p r i vileges t ha t lie ab o ut us a t ho me , au d help us in o ur eff orts
t o mak e W o rce st er a ci t y I' her e no o uo s ha ll be di scont ent ed with
hi s s urround ings o r pros pects.
O nce more we th ank you .