TH E K I N G ’ S BU S I NE S S
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William F. McDermott
Another Kind of Danger My purpose is not to sound the alarm about atomic hpmbs. Others can do that in a far more impressive man ner, and with a greater voice of authority, than I. But I do feel compelled to stress other dangers, far more im mediate, that threaten to level our cities. If American life continues the way it is going now, it is a foregone conclusion that in ages to come archae ologists, digging through the debris of centuries which will blanket our present skyscrapers, will come upon the ruins of vast cities. They will be amazed that such a civilization ever perished even as our scientists of today bore beneath the desert’s level and there find the remains of the ancient great cities. This ruin is already engulf ing us. We dread the effects of the atom bomb a dec ade or a generation hence, but are heedless of this other destruction being wrought all about us. Vice and crime, corruption and graft are literally emptying our cities both of population and of wealth. Wfe need to ask our selves, “What causes such a blight?” and “What can we do about it?” I live in Chicago. Thirty years ago, when I came to this city, a certain area was packed with people and lush with millions of profits. Real estate values were high, and the golden harvest was reaped with great rapidity. At night red lights glowed, harsh bells tinkled their invitations, and the streets of the district were thronged with men. But'what has happened? Today, that region resem bles the bomb-blasted center of a Berlin or Tokyo. For blocks, one sees only rubble and ruin. Here and there stands a dismal, dilapidated building, the only evidence of life in the community. Each structure looks as if it might have been saved only by a miracle from surround ing exploding missiles. Property has been abandoned, buildings razed, and taxes allowed to claim the desert. One is reminded of the withered fig tree. Surely the wrath of Heaven has been visited upon this section. That situation can be duplicated, although to a lesser degree, all over our city. Gangs of hoodlums terrorize districts; decent people move away. Taverns and night clubs, gambling dens and vice resorts, are sprinkled throughout the metropolitan district,. Within the shadow of the University of Chicago is a region where it is re ported that more young men and women are living to gether out of wedlock than any other place in the metrop olis. Other districts have their destructive characteristics; the sum total is a disgrace to the entire city. The Underlying Causes As I travel about the larger metropolitan areas, I find that, in communities where gambling and liquor-are not restricted, the property values decline and lawlessness increases. On the other hand, where there is constant repression of evil, property values remain high and com munity integrity is maintained. Civic mindedness, de cency, arid honest government have their chance and suc ceed. iContinued on Page 5:4%
—Photograph by George R. King R ECENTLY a famous University of Chicago profes sor startled the world with the statement that the atom bomb threatened to make extinct all great American cities. “We may as well give Manhattan Island back to the Indians,” he said, “and divide Chicago into 100 towns of 40,000 people each and scatter them over the landscape. I f we don’t do this now, our enemies will not only scatter, but will completely destroy, every metropolis we have, in the next war. “Our cities are doomed. Fortunately, we realize the danger, and still have the opportunity to decentralize our population before it is too late. Otherwise, we will find New York, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and 100 others of our greatest centers, in ruins by a single night’s raid. Death might easily come to 25,000,000 to 40,000,000 people.” To this dark prediction by an eminent sociologist all thinking men and women will give heed. Certainly it is .true that, if we do not reach a good will agreement with other nations of the world and thus banish war, ruin unequaled in history will spread over the face of the earth. Needless to say, whatever others do to our na tion* we will reciprocate in kind.
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