difficult. In Chicago the Juvenile Protective Association, after a
thorough investigation of public dance halls, amusement parks, five-cent
theatres, and excursion boats, is insisting upon more vigorous
enforcement of the existing legislation, and is also urging further
legal regulation; Kansas City has instituted a Department of Public
Welfare with power to regulate places of amusement; a New York committee
has established model dance halls; Milwaukee is urging the appointment
of commissions on public recreation, while New York and Columbus have
already created them.

Perhaps nothing in actual operation is more valuable than the small
parks of Chicago in which the large halls are used every evening for
dancing and where outdoor sports, swimming pools and gymnasiums daily
attract thousands of young people. Unless cities make some such
provision for their youth, those who sell the facilities for amusement
in order to make a profit will continue to exploit the normal desire of
all young people for recreation and pleasure. The city of Chicago
contains at present eight hundred and fourteen thousand minors, all
eager for pleasure. It is not surprising that commercial enterprise
undertakes to supply this demand and that penny arcades, slot machines,
candy stores, ice-cream parlors, moving-picture shows, skating rinks,
cheap theatres and dance halls are trying to attract young people with
every device known to modern advertising. Their promoters are, of
course, careless of the moral effect upon their young customers if they
can but secure their money. Until municipal provisions adequately meet
this need, philanthropic and social organizations must be committed to
the establishment of more adequate recreational facilities.

Although many dangers are encountered by the pleasure-loving girl who
demands that each evening shall bring her some measure of recreation, a