ABSTRACT
The nineteenth ward of Chicago according to the school census of 1896 has a population of 48,280. It is a workingman’s district and the population is typical of unskilled labor in general. The saloonkeeper is the only man who keeps open house in the ward. It is his business to entertain. There is another primal need which the saloon supplies and in most cases supplies well. It is a food-distributing center—a place where a hungry man can get as much as he wants to eat and drink for a small price. The presence of the saloon in an unorganized society is proof conclusive that society can wisely organize the need which it supplies. It is hardly necessary to enlarge further upon the evils of the saloon in a protest against the predominance of one-sided statements in that very particular.
