ivic Philistinism By h'l ■ < i m MAYO FESLER Secretary Civic League of St. Louis New Series No. 5 1908 NATIONAL MUNICIPAL LEAGUE 703-707 North American Building Philadelphia F"42. • NATIONAL MUNICIPAL LEAGUE OFFICES OF THE SECRETARY NORTH AMERICAN BUILDING PHILADELPHIA ^ • a-fe o 'o CIVIC PHILISTINISM Address of MAYO FESLER St. Louis* Y OU have heard to-night the reports of the several committees of the League and the annual address of the President. In all of them you no doubt have recognized the object for which the League is organized, namely, for the purpose of finding remedies for existing civic ills and for making our civic life healthier and more comfortable—a sort of self- constituted physician devoting itself to a careful diagnosis of an aggravated case, with a view to administering a treatment which will at least check the spread of the irritation. Nor is this organization the only one engaged in this work. % The large number of local associations all over the city with purposes similar to our own, but \ local in extent, indicates a widespread feeling that somehow municipal conditions can and should be improved. But the tendency all the time, is to become so much interested in the particular defect with which we are dealing, that we often forget to probe deeper for the *This address was delivered at the annual meeting of the Civic League of St. Louis in 1907. t 19 % 3 l underlying cause of all these defects and keep that cause prominently in view, in the effort to eliminate the specific defect. ^1 The Secretary, however, acting as the execu¬ tive officer for all committees is forced by the nature of his position to go behind the particular defects pointed out by this and that committee and determine in his own mind, at least, what is the source from which all of these civic ills and irregulari¬ ties spring. I have spent two years working over the problems which have been assigned to the various committees and at every step 1 have asked the question, what is back of this specific problem which relates it, in origin, to all the others ? The more I have studied the situ¬ ation, the more I have been convinced that the fundamental cause can be expressed in the two words Civic Philistinism. By the term, 1 mean, low civic ideals—an undeveloped civic spirit; the same spirit which possessed the Philistines when they filled up the wells which Abraham had dug because they envied his prosperity, and which they claimed as their own when Isaac dug them again and found them to be wells of springing water; the spirit which Low Civic Ideals The Underlying Cause of Bad Civic Conditions leads your real estate men to multiply the real value of a piece of property by five when they £et an inkling that the city needs it for public use; the spirit which impels your bankers to protest against a fair and equitable assessment of taxes because it means decrease in the divi¬ dends at the close of the year; the spirit by which a manufacturer justifies his failure to abate the smoke nuisance in his plant because coal is temporarily cheaper than a smoke-con¬ suming device; the spirit which leads your newly elected officials to state publicly that men will be appointed to serve the city primarily on the basis of political preferment and in payment of political debts ; the spirit which leads railroad officials to oppose at every turn the insistent demands of safety for the removal of grade crossings because of the cost; the spirit which leads prominent citizens to protect the corporate criminal because he belongs to the same busi¬ ness and social set. In brief, the spirit which dethrones community welfare and places indi¬ vidual interests foremost—a superabundance of individualism and an absence of civic or com¬ munity spirit. This is not a new phenomenon. You are acquainted with it. No doubt most of us have been conscious of its influence within ourselves at times. In fact, its manifestations are so constant in ourselves, and especially so in our neighbors, that we become accustomed to it and accept it as a matter of course. Ofte^ times we actually become unconscious of its existence as a controlling force in our actions and assume to our¬ selves the credit of having acted patriotically in opposing or supporting certain public policies, while if we had gone to the basis of that action we should have found our conduct determined by business, political or social self-interest. Now it matters not what form this spirit takes—it may be opposition to the community welfare because business will suffer—it may be due to family and social relations—it may be a desire to retain political position—whatever form it takes it means the same, Civic Philistinism. The Commissioner of Public Works, Mr. Patterson, of Chicago, when he attempted to assert the city’s rights to the streets, found this spirit so prevalent in high places that he threw up his hands in despair and turned socialist. Mayor Weaver of Philadelphia found it so powerful that he surrendered himself after the first spasm of reform. The better citizens of Cincinnati are finding it so securely intrenched that they have little hopes of defeating the gang at the next election, and San Francisco was unable to shake Civic Philistinism Widespread or burn it out of the body politic. Civic organ¬ izations run against it at every turn, even when ^pieir efforts are purely constructive. It is every¬ where and all pervasive. Can it be eliminated, and if so, why does not an organization of this kind strike directly at the root of the difficulty instead of appointing committees to lop off here and there a few branches and accomplish only partial results ? Yes, it can be eliminated, but not in a day or a year. In this country we have long sought to overcome this spirit of Philistinism by the short cut of legislation. We have filled volumes upon volumes with statutes and ordinances. We have piled our shelves high with court decisions. But legislation and court decisions will not avail in the presence of a low-toned civic spirit. We can make lobbying a crime yet lobbying will go on. We can by legislation and judicial de¬ cision, declare dense smoke a nuisance, yet manufacturers will continue to discharge it into the open air. We can, by law, require vehicles to have wide tires, but they will still continue to cut up the pavement with narrow ones. While men have no higher sense of community interests, while disobedience of law is not felt to be a disgrace, while men are not ashamed to use the • Legislation and Civic Philistinism 7 public welfare as a screen for private ends, new fresh schemes of legislation will not make the city and state what we would have them be. President Roosevelt expressed it in his Bos¬ ton speech of 1902, when he said: "I care not how good its laws; I care not what mar¬ vellous mechanism its constitution may embody ; back of the laws, back of the administration, back of the system of government lies the average manhood of our people—and in the long run we are going to go up or go down accordingly as the average standard of our citizen¬ ship does or does not wax in growth and grace.” Now, 1 do not mean to say that laws on these subjects are not desirable. The point I am trying to make is that laws without public senti¬ ment back of them are only half laws. We can, at best, by legislation establish only the rough boundaries of morality, the over passing of which means punishment at the hands of the law. What we need is a new spirit which will make disobedience of these laws as odious as house-breaking or safe-blowing. No ! Civic Philistinism cannot be eliminated by legislation. If it could be we would have had it buried long ago under the mere quantity and weight of statutes and ordinances. Civic Philistinism can be eliminated in one way only, and that is by the slow process of gradually building up about it a healthy and vigorous civic spirit which of itself will kill every germ of these low- ^oned civic ideals. That is why I advocated last year the inau¬ guration of a lecture system and the establish¬ ment of lecture centers in different sections of the city where better civic conditions could be dis¬ cussed and presented—hot¬ houses, in other words, where higher ideals could be nurtured and de¬ veloped, That is why I am going to recom¬ mend to the Executive Board this year in some form the opening of a hall or large room where meetings of this and other civic organizations can be held for the discussion of civic prob¬ lems—a forum for the exchange of ideas—a common meeting place for those interested in municipal improvements. Other cities are doing this. New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Cincinnati have their City Clubs, semi-social clubs, where frequent open meetings are ad¬ dressed by men of national and local promi¬ nence. These discussions are taken up by the local newspapers and commented upon. The ideals there set forth are gradually disseminated among the people, take root, grow and finally become a permanent force in the community. The power of a Faneuil Hall or a Forum in the 9 molding of right ideals can scarcely be over¬ estimated, especially in these days of readjust¬ ment of so many of our commercial, political)^ and social working principles. The League has this same purpose in mind in issuing reports on various subjects. These reports contain the most advanced views for the solution of the particular problem discussed. They are taken up in the press—they are talked about by a few interested people—they spread, fertilize and become well established convictions. What does it matter if we fail to secure the passage of a smoke ordinance this session or next ? Ultimately public opinion is going to be powerful enough to force the abatement of this nuisance. What did it matter that we at first failed to secure a favorable vote on a Kingshighway ? It was bound to come in time. We have spent $2,000 this year on a City Plan Report. If we were to rest satis¬ fied with the report alone it would justify the expense. The ideals there set forth will con¬ tinue to grow and expand—maybe not along lines that we have laid down—probably along better—but the dominant idea of a more com¬ fortable and attractive city will remain upper¬ most until it becomes an accomplished fact. Ideals are, after all, the effective forces in a community’s movements, and the sooner they are freed from the blight of philistinism the sooner will our democratic form of government ^justify its existence, and our cities become some¬ thing other than the one luminous example of the failure of democratic institutions. Again, the question is asked, if ideals are the things we are striving after, then why not devote the entire energy of the organization to advo¬ cating by means of the forums and the press these higher civic ideals ? Simply because these influences can be made more effective by assist¬ ance from another source. Ink and oratory are powerful forces, but they need to be supplemented by example. Ink, oratory and example supply an irresistible force against Civic Philistinism. The most powerful argument in favor of playgrounds has been the fact that a comparatively small group of public-spirited men and women actually put six or seven play¬ grounds into operation, secured funds for their maintenance, and convinced the public by ex¬ ample that they are essential to the develop¬ ment of a strong and vigorous citizenship. The one main argument in favor of Kingshighway is the fact that other cities have long since estab¬ lished extensive boulevard systems. Ideals in the concrete are always more forcible than ideals in the abstract. A boulevard over which you can drive and enjoy the grass and trees does more to eliminate Civic Philistinism than volumes of plans and specifications. A group of stately public buildings will create^ more true civic spirit than years of agitation. Clean streets and a clear sky will develop more good citizenship than all the moral dissertations. Why ? Because the people actually partake of the advantages which these improved conditions bring and they feel the pleasure which a stately building, or a wide and comfortable thoroughfare provides. No department of government in this city to-day is doing more toward the development of a high public spirit than your school board in the erection of stately, artistic and commodious school buildings—for educational purposes, yet educative in themselves—places for the develop¬ ment of good citizenship, yet creators in them¬ selves of that citizenship. People grow to love that which gives them pleasure or affords them protection. The colo¬ nists that went out from the ancient Greek cities of Athens and Corinth and established new settlements in far away Italy and on the shores of the Aegean Sea carried with them the altar fires from the temples of the Gods as indicative of their attachment and devotion to the mother city. What was the source of this Cure Improvements 12 pride and devotion ? The fact that the mother city not only guaranteed them protection, but burnished them with pleasant memories of her temples, her theatres and her culture. The same principle holds true of a modern city. Citizens become devoted to the city which ministers to their safety, comfort and pleasure. They love the city which permits them to look upon splendid institutions, visit beautiful parks and spacious museums or drive over tree-lined boulevards. Hegel says, n Council chambers must be prepared for the senate of a state before its national achievement can be painted on the walls.” So with a city—it must be made com¬ fortable and attractive before its achievements are fully appreciated by its people or even worthy of that appreciation. We cannot hope for a public opinion which will insist upon the things of the spirit in munic¬ ipal affairs until we remove some of the sordid materialism of city life which fosters low civic ideals. The man who looks upon dark and dirty walls and windows all day long, and then on his way home or during his leisure hours upon leaden skies heavy with smoke, trees and plants stunted by sulphur fumes, streets lined with ugly bill-boards or interminable walls of brick and stone, cannot be expected to have much civic spirit. It is an effort if he is able to 13 muster any at all. On the other hand, if he can ride daily to his work along clean and well-paved streets, past frequent small parkJ and open spaces adorned with trees, shrubs and appropriate statuary, point out to his friends stately public buildings and institutions housing a city government which is honest, intelligent and efficient, that man is going to be devoted to that city’s welfare. He is going to praise its greatness at every opportunity, and he is going to inspire others with a like confidence in its future. In the presence of such a spirit Civic Philistinism finds no companionship. The creation of such a spirit should be the goal of all good government; it is the ultimate aim of this organization, and we need at all times to be on our guard lest we lose sight of the ultimate in the immediate. 14 NATIONAL MUNICIPAL LEAGUE OFFICERS President, CHARLES J. BONAPARTE, Baltimore First Vice-President, CHARLES RICHARDSON, Philadelphia Second Vice-President, THOMAS N. STRONG, Portland, Ore. Third Vice-President, HENRY L. McCLURE, Kansas, City Fourth Vice-President, WALTER L. FISHER, Chicago Fifth Vice-President, JAMES PHINEAS BAXTER, Portland, Me. Secretary, CLINTON ROGERS WOODRUFF, Philadelphia Treasurer, GEORGE BURNHAM, Jr., Philadelphia EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE HORACE E. DEMING, Chairman, 11 William Street, New York ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, Cambridge ROBERT TREAT PAINE, Jr., Boston HARVEY STUART CHASE, Boston DUDLEY TIBBETS, Troy, N. Y. GEORGE HAVEN PUTNAM, New York CHARLES W. McCANDLESS, New York City WILLIAM G. LOW, Brooklyn, N. Y. THOMAS M. OSBORNE, Auburn, N. Y. FREDERIC ALMY, Buffalo HARRY A. GARFIELD, Princeton, N. J. CLARENCE L. HARPER, Philadelphia, THOMAS RAEBURN WHITE, Philadelphia J. HORACE MCFARLAND, Harrisburg, Pa. GEORGE W. GUTHRIE, Pittsburgh, Pa. OLIVER McCLINTOCK, Pittsburgh, Pa. WILLIAM P. BANCROFT, Wilmington, Del. CHARLES MORRIS HOWARD, Baltimore H. B. F. MACFARLAND, Washington ELLIOTT H. PENDLETON, Cincinnati L. E. HOLDEN, Cleveland MORTON D. HULL, Chicago J. L. HUDSON, Detroit JOHN A. BUTLER, Milwaukee, Wis. DAVID P. JONES, Minneapolis, Minn. DWIGHT F. DAVIS, St. Louis FRANK N. HARTWELL, Louisville, Ky. PERCY N. BOOTH, Louisville ERNEST C. KONTZ, Atlanta, Ga. JAMES H. CAUSEY, Denver ERASTUS BRAINERD, Seattle FRANK J. SYMMES, San Francisco CHARLES WILLARD, Los Angeles 15