Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/453

 THE SALOON IN CHICAGO

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receive the hearty approval of the people. In a conversation with Dr. E. Benjamin Andrews, superintendent of schools, whose opinion in educational matters thousands are quick to claim as their own, he said, in substance: "Legal restrictions at present prevent such a use of the public-school buildings ; and were they removed, I am not sure it would be wise. The religious and polit- ical quarrels of the neighborhood would be lugged into the public schools. The people at present regard the school as something sacred ; they hold it aloof from other matters. Then, too, the additional expense of heating and lighting and janitor service would be one of the greatest objections." That the school- house today should be held sacred for just one phase of public education, that of boys and girls between certain ages and along certain prescribed lines, is comparable only with that antiquated idea, which we have long since outlived, that the press should be used for sacred matters only. Miss Jane Addams, whose opinions the people are most glad to hear and claim as their own, whose life of service for the last ten years among the laboring people has qualified her to speak with authority, believes firmly in broadening and extending the use of the public-school houses. While it is true that the great majority of the laboring men of Chicago take their glass of beer, yet, on the whole, it is claimed that union men are less given to excessive drinking than the non-union men or " scabs." Union men, as a rule, are the honest, respectable, and hard-working men of the community men who are paying for homes, men who learn in the union, by association with other industrious men, lessons of thrift and economy. In that sense, unionism might be considered to have a salutary effect upon its members.

BOYS' CLUBS.

The subject of boys' clubs was touched upon under the head- ing " The Saloon in the Workingmen's District," and will be mentioned again under the " Religious Societies." The scope of this paragraph is simply boys' clubs that are conducted by the boys themselves, without reference to outside assistance. Nearly every boy in the city is in some "gang" or "push," which,