social parasites who constantly throng any institution supposed to
be charitable; but since the Army hotel movement claims to be a
self-supporting business, it is not to be regarded as different from any
other lodging business, except in those points in which it excels the
other. With this caution we believe that we still can distinguish two
lines along which credit is to be given the Army. The first is the
environment which the Army has created for its guests. It is not
necessary here to show what a great factor environment is in this case,
but simply to emphasize its importance. From our description of the Army
hotel, it is seen that, with certain exceptions, the Army maintains
cleanliness, cheerfulness, and a homelike atmosphere around its lodging
houses.[48] In this important respect then, the Army hotel is to be
commended. Secondly, the Army has indirectly, by its competition with
the ordinary cheap lodging houses, led them to adopt improvement for
purely commercial reasons. If a man has only ten cents, he is going to
invest that ten cents to the best advantage, and the old time lodging
houses have found it necessary to improve their conditions in order to
meet the competition of the Army. For this too, credit is to be given
the latter. In addition the competition reacts on the Army and tends to
make it keep up its own standard.

In order more clearly to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of
cheap lodging houses, whether Army hotels or not, it would be well here
to consider objections to their existence. Three objections have been
raised to all cheap lodging houses in general.

1. That they herd together a low class of vagrants and vicious
characters.

2. That their cheapness lowers the standard of living.

3. That they encourage the youth of the country to come to the city and
live in comparative idleness.[49]

No one who has looked into the matter has any doubt about the accuracy
of the first objection. One glance at the faces of a group of men in the
smoking room of any such hotel reveals many of the low, bestial,
criminal type; many victims of dissipation and many who have acquired a
dislike for work of any sort. This harboring of the vicious element is
also true of the Army hotels of the lower class, but it is in company
with this element that we find the men for whom more or less can be
done.[50]

The second objection must be considered more carefully. To repeat the
definition of the standard of