The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-01-25

Legitimate. have you the right, having licensed
out OF existence Ifyon Calculate tho expenses,
I hundred other Ii small things the modern bar
Keeper must furnish free Of cost. together witt,
The price and quail lily OF liquors sold. you VIII
estimate Indeed, the large class Of bar.rooms
make only u moderate living. Take of from
this moderate living II per cent OF gross pronts
and how can the barkeeper exist at ali :.
You say liquors are Injuries. Admitted. 70
nre gloves, perfumes, silks. otto. your plea IL
that you have tho right TO Tux Injuries. nov
right to Tux tho seller Of the ono az the seller Of
tho other. How then can YOU pitch the whole
burden upon the ono and leave tho other free Of
it Wherever State takes upon itsef TO dig
crimnate between the different Legitimate bust
nesses within It's limits 1t establishes aresfrtc-
ton upon It's commerce. which 1t has no right to
do M u free American state.
Whether the sale Of whisky tends. to crime or
not. Ia question which cannot enter into this
discussion. 50 long ms eoffeehouses stand in
merchants like any others, Such being the
ease. tho series of impositions which this. bill
seeks to saddle upon them. the system OF es-
contemptiblo part they are made TO play; by
subjecting them TO the insolence Of public spies.
i something protest against as insulting 10
the individual citizen as IT Is degrading to the
State
Did It ever occur to those who propose, this
bill, that the tax Of "a cents upon every drink
Upon "a' the h nd ava labor Of the bar snder
Y not the liquor y2n tax but the Drink r mg Az p
dition to u license tax also allows manual labor
to BIO taxed. Raise tho price OF your drinks
hen T. the answer which CONES TO- ms n i tn
TINT this is out Of the question.
There arc many drinkers to-day. apd some.
too placed IN heh political places whG for o' use
drinks. Every ono has boon clamortng Tor
reduction In the price OF retailed liquors,
such being the s how 'n noy yo ra heby ea
dictate TO me what shal charge for the man ual
labor expended by me in serving my drinks.
price of manual labor shall not be fixed by law.
You have, thorefore. no loyal moral or earthly
right to say to the barkeenor: You shall charge
SO much Tor y1ps d iar * r. ns,vsr tho
great and. believe only argument which can
DO produced in favor Of this blll. w; tho sue
In which State It has boon passed. IT, however.
happens that there is no parallel between. the
two cases. BECAUSE It works we'll In ono State
is no reason why IT should DO SO In another. In
Virginia there are no free lunches such Ms OK
st hero. Mineral waters are not given gratis
TO tho customer. as here. The style OF houses
the expense of running. drinking establish
Ia not one half what 1t Is here. Besides this.
and most important consideration, tho liquors
sold In Virginia In average bar-roorns DO not
begin to compare with ours either In quality or
price. For example. whisky 50 retailed 10 vir-
ginia is bought for about 81 % to s2a gallon.
Here the whisky sold in general costs
from 50 rs to % so q gallon. and as for
sherry or claret, I defy any ono to got d
dfinkabe glass Of either in an average Virginia
bar-room. Those are important considerations.
and when weighed we'll. will be found TO make
a vast difference. free lunch, such AZ is given
In New Orleans. even the smallest, costs from %
to $40 day. Is not this an iten2 The mineral
waters given FREQ average about ~ dozen. is
not this an item2 Whore. then, Is your parallel
between the two State52
What grounds. then. do the supporters ofthis
bill rely on for its Dassnge2 How can they justi-
fy q bill which forces the barkeeper to pay the
State debit Has the barkeeper been more In
strumental than any ono else In creating this
debit II not, why should he, and no alone. DO
made to pay what ID equally due by all2
Will tho gentlemen intrench. themselves be-
hind tho sDocious grounds Of morality, pre-
yention of crime. ,etc,2 hopo not. I should
be sorry to SOC such arguments. handy hypoc-
riches that they are, brought to bear upon Iues-
tions Of such importance Us those. Let the
public know upon what grounds you propose
10 rest the great moral. legal and constitutional
wrong You are seeking to perpetrate. Lot US
hope you rave at least what might seem the
shadow Of right. y.