Jasper County Democrat, Volume 7, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 September 1904 — STREET CARNIVALS. [ARTICLE]

STREET CARNIVALS.

Commenting on the opposition of the better class of people of Lafayette to the giving of another street carnival in that city, the Indianapolis News editorially says: There is little doubt that the street carnival tends toward demoralization. It is a season when authority is lax,and when many people forgetting the distinction between liberty and license, go to extremes. Every city that has had the experience of the carnivalr ecognizes its evil influences on public morals; and in many instances this season the carnival or street fair has been barred by the force of public opinion. In some cases, also, after the authorities had set aside certain streets for carnival purposes, the commnnity successfully appealed to the courts, as a City Council has no right to blockade streets except for clearly defined purposes. The question of a carnival is now being brought home to the city of Lafayette in a forcible manner. It is proposed to import a carnival company, close certain streets for its exclusive use, and give a week of practicaly unrestrained liberty. Who is behind this movement is not so clear. The general business interests are not behind it, and a strong public sentiment opposes it in no uncertain wav. During the week proposed the city schools of Lafayette will be opening and many hundred students will be gathered at Purdue University. It is the young people who suffer most from these “carnivals,” and it is chiefly for the sake of the’ schools and the university that the better people of the city of Lafayette protest. They will not consent to a repetition of scenes of previous carnivals. The street fair was well enough, as originally planned, for it was then a home effort. To-day there are traveling combinations giving “carnivals” much the same as circuses and other peripatetic amusements. The carnival has had its day; it does not commend itself to the good sense of the American people as worth preserving.