St. Louis Post-Dispatch
December 3, 1916

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Page 1

Ss iM AFRAID WILL GIVE ‘Ek BLOob.~ POISONING ent 1916, rk Rew: Ur! I think I can settle John- called in’ and all went With confidence the Prin- the conclusion of the les- may each ask me one annie had been silent up When it came his turn ed: eyebrows?’ LE ~ ne ti AF LL a¥ LITT TY P f Le Ur | i: Bit tii iiiiiiaiy Siitilitiy € st a a ing Rittistts basi +, aS rag eal fac ee wer Est > a /SLLOUIS POST DISPATCH | _——— —_—a- s UNDAYW > 3 > FSS me, a marie Re shoals hat, —— ] : : ee ae | 2 | ai pbaneecs Se 4si:: aie Pt ig i Se ee oe -———oerr ST. LOUIS, SUNDAY MORNING, DECE} MBER 3, 1916. PAGES 1—14 ——3 KN What Roh Doin g bition Is for Russia and Impartial Observer Describes Changes That “Hare Been Wrought in the Physical, Financial and Moral Condition of the Against Traffic in Alcohol Became Effective. People Since the Decree By ROBERT P. BLAKE. B ee ooneonet by the Atlantic Monthly of Boston and reprinted in the Post-Dispatch by s HB following article, entitled “Alcohol in Russia,” is reprinted from q| the Atlantic Monthly of Boston for December by special arrange- ment between that publication and the Post-Dispatch. written by Robert P. Blake, who has closely observed Russian condi- both before the prohibition decreé was issued and since its en orce- He has written fairly and impartially, pointing out wherein the on has failed as well as wherein it has succecded. HTO eto takoye?” (What is that?) “Obyavileniye o mobili- ‘esieli. Darin.” (The proclamation of ‘the mobilization,sir.) | “Does it mean it’s up to you, too?” “Yes, sir, I must report tomor- ”" And the blue-green Slavic ’ rested pecial permission. ) The article had vanished. Beer mugs were ab- ‘sent from the scene, and the spigot (was out of the beer keg. A thirsty ‘crowd surrounded the counter; but }was comforting the inner man with soft drinks exclusively. “What is this?” I asked. Louis P. Aloe Points Out 10 of His City Plan Ideas That Should Be Developed by City Immediately in St. New President of the Board of Aldermen Had No lilusions About How Long It Takes to Get Things Done Louis When He Presented His Now Famous List of What Should Be Done; but He Will Be Sat- isfied if He Can Get Werk Started on Half of Approves of Work of City Plan .Commission, Declaring That No City Can Grow Harmoniously Unless It Has Such a Scheme to Guide It in Its Development— Believes in Vigorous Methods to Suppress the Smoke Nuisance. WO years and five months is not time enough to build a city, or to rebuild one. But long enough to start something. When Louis P. Aloe took office last Monday as it is ) “No liquor of any sort is to be sold until further! mournfully, yet maimly, on the fatal square of ee the prohibition decree). “Are you mar- ried or single?” % {nvoluntarily spoke aloud. “Zhena = yest” {There is a wife), e replied, with- out removing his eves from the of cessation, colors during autumn of the Police Court battery, rowdi “The speakers Were a young Russian peasant myself; the ce, the door of public baths bh the =: small fuburb «oof §=«St. | burg where was living; the is, July 28, 14. I had fin- hed the last edition of paper after ner, packed y towels and wean jinen in my land bag, and third of their In the village number country The ment most has lar savings. which to a con cess of the IN RUSSIA.”’ 4 HE loafers and beg- gars disappeared from the streets (following remarkable physical influence upon those bodies of new re- cruilts aho were called to the number of cases enness decreased to about one- 8S was registered a significant reduction in the of fires, always been the scourge of the settlements. * * #* startling crease in the amount of popu- The average rise per month has been about 5,- 000,000 rubles ($2, explains the remarkable suc- raised by the Russian Govern- ment.’’—F ROM | wiesos* the at-| tendant ___—irepilied, shortly. I had somehow missed seeing the decree in the pa- pers. Then it suddenly dawned upon me that on my walk that day from the station to the library I had not seen one drunken man; one usually met at least a dozen. The news was stunning. To grasp its purport fully, one must The drinking had a the summer and year 1914. The before the of assault and ness and drunk- former number. which have President of the Board of Aldermen, he knew the | term for which he had been elected, although ‘called an ‘Inexpired term, was almost a half-ex- i pired one, and would end in Apri!, 1919. So, when he outlined a program of city im- jrovement and development that it might take a generation out, he was not under any illusion as to the time that is required to get things done in this or any other hnunicipality. He Was simply expressing his wish to start something oi a practical sort, to be finished by future Boards of Aldermen and their Presidents. Also, he was showing his idea of the impor- tance of his new office, which he is the first man tc assume by regular. election. It is not an ex- aggerated idea, if one remembers the things that were promised for the Board of Aldermen at the to carry sion, two years ago. The Board of Aldermen, it was then promised, would be free from the ward politics of the old House of Delegates, and would earn its increased remember that the oldest his- torian of the Rus- sian people de- clares that the chief joy of his nation is to drink. This state- ment will receive assent of who has ever visjted the Mus- develop- been the in- 500,000), siderable extent, internal loans “ALCOHOL ed ~=s leisurely : for the baths. As I neared the nee, a small group of people: fered round a notice nailed upon ' door attracted mv attention, and. dialogue described above took‘ ‘ The clean, into the( robing room of the 30-copeck di- ) netting, free of tables and chairs, its | daughters, whistled as I passed sion of the baths. On the sheeted ( Mmehes a rather larger ~ and are were sitting The baths G estly. to look serious. Up to that! I thought that the war scare blow over ; I had the Agadir hy a few years before. » Picking out a promising and bushy } of birch twigs, nto the sweating room. r I caught the banshchik (bath) ftendant), as he was hurrying by. ‘you wash me, Ivan?’ es, barin, but be kind enough Jwash your own hair; I have to ve very soon.” serial Lid Goes On. \As I lay stretched out on ey rouge ih mer poden bench and he was scraping ( my skin with a hempen motchalka, I threw him the question at hazard: ; “What is your hurry?” “I must pack my things so as to, a before the military author- * he replied. ving home, I discovered the in tears: her lover had just in to say good-by. He, too, summoned. ; ee Nib with whatever changes or modifica- tions miax ‘be decided on. So far as I can learn, the commission’s report has not even been printed as yet.- I had to borrow the commission's own typewritten copy from the secretary for my study of its recommendations. whom the prophet of Allah had for- | hidden the juice of the grape; such )} were the sectarians among the ortho- ' dox, who refrained on principle. ‘ Many ‘others as well did not in- ) dulge, either from distaste or from canscientious scruples. In fact, sta- tistical evidence shows that the peo. ‘ple of the Russian empire consumed decidedly less alcohol per capita than the peoples of many other Bu- ropean countries. What then, were the factors which complicated the problem in Russia, “—~Continued on Page Twelve. } Adoption of ‘Definite Plan Is Necessary to Preserve Harmony heat § Ht adoption of.a city plan is necessary, so that, in the work we undertake, we shall know what we are about, and shall avoid doing things we will have to undo. “It was the original idea of the makers of the charter that the members of the Board of Public Service should be a sort of city plan commission. Their salaries were made $8000 a year, twice what any of the members of the Board of Public Im- provements used to receive; and they were pur- posely relieved of the burden of detail work, by surrounding them with secretaries and assistants at salaries eufficient to attract capable men. The time when the new city charter was under discus-. he was an active member of the Board of } WO FSS Oe PET rs Be OLE. Eee 48S OS OER RS Pe PLL. S88 agree Vole” SF. - ot ‘ ‘\ = « “7 —_ re s e 4 : an * ia a : 7 - a so os « 3 ft $ TF. : 3 roy: ae 2 wea, = 2 >. . + ott « 2 Se ai mi" (a , . Fak | hae . - aI oy tn . “40 ‘ ” ‘ » Geese . 1) *e ee “ > ee of * teh Oe . . Aap ] A. ‘ ay ; ier a - o hes , > * $3 +o “ ’ . “4 i. ee > , a ( "4 > ‘et Pet... . - AK ee . — e a ; rn 2h + & Seay * £ -4 - - > Cae “— we a os Ww , . . . . . . > a. 7 ‘ - . rw 4G _ ~~ -.* en —- -» ‘3 Va > See T ‘ > 7 . tg oe Y fe 23! pay 8x OL) og SR er ae a . py we tal 4 = ee ov! ee : mts ee. a Ne hoy, Wath SOE oe . : i ; . 2 rn _ . o : ‘ neon 44 . . J tx . ¥ , o- Se 4 = >*. net e ; ‘= Pe ivf ‘ ‘ \ a eae « £"« pa. 58> p y 2 sed = i. - . 5 By Pye a * a 9 - 7 Ss Pars : a. oy.) "he ccie «Cl . r* ‘ ‘ eS OF Fh get és ene se oh eS 7 - d - - ‘ : “3 » Sole es : h 2 : . 7S a ae ie -\* rH a . aot. : ‘ nil ’ s “i ‘ “me —* ea *, o™ aed i.e aw nat 2 “Se “4 Mak “ties —_—_ 1, VF . ) or? - elas ‘ ome ad wee As, ee 7) Ba eX a should form the plan for the and supervise the ex- idea Was that they city’s future development, ecution of it. “This the way has that men not worked out, thus far, in just was intended. Instead of the best outside who could be obtained for the new end generous salaries, the members of the old Board of Public Improvements were appointed to the corresponding positions on the new Board of Public Service. “This matter will remedy some of these men will develop, and are now de- veloping, into $8000 men, and the others may sooner or later be replaced by $8000 men. But the result, at the outset of city, government under a new charter, bas been that city planning has had to be intrusted to a separate body. The work of the City Clan Commission, as shown in its report of Oct. 6, nas been excellent, itself in time, for and it should be officially mace the basis of the future work of the beard of Public Service. “Another thing which is fundamental, and which should be adopted as a principle in our municipal improvements, is the policy of paying for permanent public improvements by bond is- The City Plan Commission showed in its report that the city, in the past 14 years, has spent nearly six and one-half million dollars, from current revenue, for the purchase of ground and construction work which wil] be of as great ben- efit to the next generation as to the present one. City Should Pay for Permanent Improvements Through Bond Issues ra 4 N 1915, it is further shown, the city is ex- | pending $521,000 for six objects intended to benefit future St. Louis. “There is no reason why the taxpayers of today should burden themselves in such manner for those who are to come after. If bonds had been issued for these permanent improvements, and the \charter provisions for interest and sinking fund had been complied with, the tax rate might have Leen materially reduced and no injustice would have been done to present or future taxpayers. 4 “Rigid constitutional limitations have bound the city in the past, but the city can now issue $14,000,000 in bonds without exceeding its limit. The State Constitution still hampers us, to some extent, by its provision that, no matter what the nature of the improvement, the city can issue @o bonds for longer than a 20-year period.” He was asked about one of the most novel ideas contained in his list of suggestions, which was that separate passenger stations for the different railroads, or groups of railroads entering 5t. Louis, should supplant the present Union Sta- tion. “A large number of citizens believe,’’ he said in his speech, “that the abolition of Union Station, as a central depot for the use of all pas- senger trains entering the city, is one of the things sues. OUIS P. ALOE will be 50 years old next summer. He has been in business in St. Louis since he was 18, and in politics since he became a voter. He was president of the Merchants’ League Club when the club ran the Republican party, and the party ran the City govern- ment. The city office- holder who was not a acard or precinct com- mitteeman or a club director, or the com- mitteeman or director who did not hold a city job, was the exception. But when Aloe help- ed to write the new charter, he advocated the provision, now in the charter, that no elective officer shall be a member of a po- litical committee. Seven more votes would have elected Aloe city collector in 1905, and he says he is glad he did not get them. He was minor- ity member of _ the Election Board under .Gov. Dockery. Aloe is of moderate stature, ready. of speech, direct and yet rather courtly in ad- dress. One feels that a good lawyer was lost when he went into the business of making and selling focal aids which he himself is so fortunate as not to re- quire. we most require. Legislation that will require the railroads to establish a number of depots, to be located in different sections of the downtown dis- trict, is worthy of our consideration.” Aloe said he meant just that, and that he was referring not merely to suburban trains, bat to through trains. He said the city suffered from a lack of transient business, and that different sta- tions, on the New York or Chicago plan, and near the business center, would help to provide this sort of business. As an illustration, he cited the McKinley Line depot, which is much nearer the central downtown district than Union Station, and which has helped business and realty values in its section. City Should Not Divert Free Bridge From Original Purpose UST how the railroads would be induced or re- J quired to make so radical and_ costly a change, he did not suggest in détail, but he said the city and the railroads frequently had occasion for ‘business bargaining,. and that new depots might be made a consideration in some fu- ture bargain. As to the free bridge, Aloe advocates the idea of sticking to the principle on which the bridge was built—the abolition of arbitrary charges which make.a distinction between the two sides of the Mississippi River. If the city sticks to this principle, he believes, the railroads will eventual- ly use the bridge on the city’s terms, though they may not do so at once, and the city will be get- ting the benefit, all the time, of the free use of the upper deck for trolley Hines and vehicles. In reply to the suggestion that the arbitrary is no longer an issue, Aloe quoted figures showing that the arbitrary charge on soft coal alone amounted to $1,400,000 a year, a direct tax on St. Louis consumers. * “The Department of Public Utilities,” Aloe said, “proposes to lease the lower deck of the bridge to railroads on a basis that will reduce the coal arbitrary from 20 cents a ton to 15 cents. The City Comptroller proposes to lease the bridge to the Terminal Association or some other railroad enterprise, for a consideration that would relieve the city from paying interest and maintenance charges. “Both these plans conflict with the purpose which the citizens of St. Louis had when they in- vested $7,000,000 in this bridge. Both plans seem to lose sight of the idea of free access for rail- roads into St. Louls. The city administration would exceed its authority if it should barter away this bridge for any such purpose.” He advocated a trolley loop, to bring free bridge trolley passengers all the way downtown, and said the conetruction of this loop would properly Continued on Page Fourteen. A policy of first paying the clerks | Fave — : | Financial and Public Welfare Problems Next Legislature Must Meet State in Debt $1,500,000 and Revenue Must Be Provided for Next Two Years— New Consti- tution, Prison Reform and Workmen's Compensation Act Pressing Demands. for its forty-ninth session, and Frederick D. Gardner, ‘Governor elect, who will be inaugurated Jan. 8, will immediately be con fronted by the most serious condition that has existed in the State's financial affairs since the reconstruction period following the Civil War. The incoming administration must find new sources of revenue, it must meet the State-wide demand for a rehabilitation of the wrecked financial structure, it is faced with the need for a complete revision of the taxing and assessment laws, and, in addition to finding funds to pay more than $1,500,000 of current State indebtedness,.{t must provide means for carrying on the legitimate State activities for four years. The ad- ministration must get money, and there is no place for it to go except to the Legislature. There are other problems, and many of them, affecting the welfare of the State which the administration must meet in addition te the financial problem, chief among which is a complete reorganization of the Jefferson City Penitentiary. Other economic and social problems, having a direct bearing on the rights and happiness of the citizens of the State also will be presented. The first problem to be solved is| the financial one. The State Treas- ury Jan. 1 will owe between $1,500,- A 000 and $2,000,000, and virtually will be without a dollar to meet the debts, which are pressing. In addition, it will have failed to meet approximate ly $2,500,000 of expenditures which the last Legislature authorized &nd said were necessary. Banks and Tradesmen to Demand Payment of Debts. The $1,500,000 debts must not be confused with bonded indebtedness, many weeks of valuable time for which only interest must be paid has been lost and at the immediately. It is a debt which 1s)/ gieventh hour the important owing to banks for money borrowed measures, including appropria- on notes, to small tradesmen for sup- tion bills, which should receive plies furnished, to teachers for sal- careful consideration, have been aries and for a vast number of other rushed to passage with very lit- purposes necessary in the conduct of tle study. Many important the State’s business. All of these bills die on the calendar every purposes will demand that the next session because of the work Legislature pay the debts. | crowded into the last few days. The cause of the present aa If the members of the next TT" Missouri Legislature, which convenes in Jefferson City Jan. 8 To the Members of the Legislature! HE history of Missouri Legislatures has been that a large majority of the members reached Jefferson City at the beginning of the sessions without knowledge of the true condition of the State and its needs, and interested | almost solely in a few meas- ures in which they had a per | sonal interest. As a _ ~result of the financial structure is traceable Legislature will read the ac- to a number’ of sources, all having companying article they will their part, but it is a condition which learn the exact condition of the students of State affairs have for 10 State. and between this and the years or more realized eventually time of meeting, will be enabled would come. It has been hastened to form definite ideas on the by the extravagances of the adminis- {mportant subjects which should tration just drawing to a close. result in the conservation of Prof. Isador Loeb, dean of the Mis- time and the enactment of souri State University, in an instruc- studied laws instead of hap- tive and highly interesting article in hazard legislation. the Sunday Post-Dispatch, March 21, The important matters which last, traced the cause, in his opinion, probably will be presented to to the inadequate tax system of the)! the Legislature in the form of State, and to the failure of sworn bills, ‘include: officers of the law to obey the law in | Provision for calling a con assessing property. He pointed to stitutional convention for the the need of a new Constitution to purpose of revising the broken correct the condition. ‘| down tar and financial system Missouri’s present Constitution was ) of the State, providing the framed by a Constitutional Conven-(| grote University with sufficient tion in 1875, when few of the modern\| #,n45 for its maintainance and problems had presented themselves. ) substituting modern methods of The “onstitution placed a limit On{| Qoyermment in place of antl the tax rate of 15 cents on the $100) quated methods. valuation for State purposes, ex- Reorganization of the pent- clusive of interest on State bonds. tentiary along modern prison Of this 15 cents, one-third goes to}! jparorm lines. the public schools of the State, leav- Workmen’s compensation, ing only 10 cents for actual cietentien| which would drive out of bust- of all State departments and State | ness “ambulance chasing” law. institutions. Prof. Loeb pointed out) yers, and provide a means of in his article that under the present(| collecting personal damage assessment system property in the)! cjaimes without recourse to law. State is assessed at an average of Code revision to reform court only about 40 per cent of its value, procedure and do away with and that thus the taxpayer is pay) unnecessary delays in the law. ing a rate for State Government pur- Home rule for St. Loufs in poses of only about 4 cents on the] notice, excise and election mat- $100 valuation of his property. ters. Institutions Fail to Creation ofa Municipal Board Get Necessary Funds. te carry out an extensive outer This meager rate which has existed “* plan. uechs pe for many years has caused Legisla- A amoncmen permit the tures to refrain from making needed\}| "*° of St. Louis school bufld- \| ings for neighborhood meetings. ovements at State institutions, ; sar ete ie: Questions concerning the sale and from making appropriations of intoxicating liquor. needed to keep Missouri educational, Creation of a State penal and eleemosynary institutions) up with the march of progress }j Marshal. When the time came when Placing of the actuary and »tm-} x provements no longer could be post- eS oe a the State Insur- poned there was no money to make curate epartment under civil them with. An attempt to do some service. needed things took money away from ( pore Suggestions to do the ordinary State activities ana}; *¥®7 With “wild cat” insurance aided in the piling up of the debt )| companies, for current expenses. , The debt has been increased by a} holding political jobs because of per- failure of the administration / sonal political services rendered the to practice econo™ics. Payrolls in{ head of the department or the ad- nearly all departments were loaded / ministration and then, ff there was down with useless clerks and with({ anything left, paying the teachers, relatives of office holders. Though) has prevafied. there was no money to pay teachers| The Legislature fn 1916 appropri- at the State University, useless clerks) ated from the general revenue fund and relatives of State officials on the({ for the years 1915 and 1916, ete payroll drew their salaries regilariy.\ 230. This amount Contianed on | Fire total