Sunday Statistics: The War for the Soul of Seattle's Youth
Rev. Wallace Nutting takes a census of the city’s saloons and churches to prove the moral decay of young men in the West.
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The announcement that Rev. Wallace Nutting would touch on the moral tone of the city sufficed to fill Plymouth Congregational church to the doors last night. Among the congregation could be noticed many who are not often seen in church, and a number of those who spend their Sundays in a very different manner. Mr. Nutting proceeded to tell 'How the Men of Seattle Spend Sunday.' He noted there are about sixty churches and some 1,350 saloons in the city. 'There are said to be three theaters where social vice is mingled with drinking,' he noted. Nutting argued that while many young men frequent these halls simply because they lack other social outlets, it was a 'degradation of humanity' to live for bread alone. After a headcount of attendees at both services and saloons, he concluded that about one in ten of the city's male population sees the inside of a church weekly. He urged an end to denominational rivalry, suggesting churches consolidate to better compete with the magnetism of the saloon.
“It is the young man who comes West. It is the exception when a man of middle age leaves his business connections to begin anew.”
Rev. Nutting’s anxiety about young men drifting toward secular nightlife over community institutions mirrors contemporary debates about the 'loneliness epidemic' and the decline of traditional 'third places' in Seattle. His plea for churches to stop competing and start collaborating remains a recurring theme in how civic leaders attempt to address urban social isolation.
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