National Republican., 1880-11-22
Tho nil,nr sl,ln.

The Other side.
| To the Editor Of The Ndfional Republican!
| SIR: Knowing your fairmindedness and Impair
tiality ask YOU as act of courtesy and justice
to publish the jncosel letter. addressed to the
president ofthe United States, and thereby obligc
| Your Obedicnt servant, LOUIS ScuADE
AUDrATUR Ell ALrERA PAIRS.
TO His Ercel,ency Il. D. Hayes PresidcR(he United
| States:
SIR The extraordinary letter handed 10 you by
n number OF pastors last Friday In rcgarl to tho
licensing of restaurants In this District, aud which
has been published IN The NATIONAL BRPUBLfCAT,
makes II necessary that YOU should have an OPP
portunity to hear from the other side. At the re-
quest Of several Of our most respected Taxpayers
hereby take the liberty of performing that task.
| In the first place must express my regret and
surprise that both the District commissioners aud
nc pastors should have troubled Nol' as president
| OF the United States, with this petty matter, the
more so as under the present laws yOu have moth
ing to do with lt--in fact no authority to interfere
with II pro or con. The laws of licensing are quito
| plain. They are sort Of local option laws, I. e
un applicant for liquor license must have tho
written consent "or n majority of the owners of the
real estate aud majority of tho residents keeping
house OH the side of the square where II Is desired
to locate such business, aud on the side of the
| square opposite the samc.'
| Fhut the commissioners should have asked your
opinion whether your secretaries in the public
buildings are owners of the real estate or residents
| Keeping house In those public buildings, must
certainly have surprised you, MS the language
| of the law Is explicit aud leaves no doubtful con-
slructiOn whatever. Certainly your secretaries arc
neither owners of the department buildings nor
are they hOusekeeper5 therein
| The license law further states that tho comms-
soncrs of the Dstrict-nobody else-sh0ll examine
| those applications and hnd out whether the nppi.
cants have complied with the foregoing law. If
| they find the application to be correct, I. c. that
majority Of the owners and residents keeping house
desire such place in their vicinity, the law allows
the commissioners no further discretion and they
are bound to grant the license, as they have only
a ministerial duty to perform. Had they right
0nd nowhere is such right Cont0inedin In our laws
| 10 ignor the wishes of those owners and residents,
they would In fact, possess pTohlbtory power and,
| If they choose might refuse granting any license
whatever That power they clearly 10 not possess.
All they have to do with such applications Is to e&-
anime whether an applicant has majority such
| signers and then, upon payment OF 500 they have
| to grant him his license.
| Until about eight weeks ago our city had the
reputation OF being quiet and orderly place. II
you viii inquire Of our District commissioners and
the heads OF our public department. you will be in-
| formed that our restaurants wore conducted in
more orderly and respectable manner than ut any
tune previous, and had given no cause for COM
plaint Our police court records Will also show un
absence of fines and punishment accrung from
the unlicensed sale of liquors. Neither had our
citizens any complaints OF this kind 10 make. Not
even did our temperance societies at their numer-
Gus meetings prefer charges against our authori-
ties, that in November, 1879, the beginning OF the
last license year, they had not done their duty
Suddenly peace and good understanding Ill our
midst was broken, about eight weeks ago, by u
meeting OF protestant minis'ers who raissa tne
with dereliction of duty. They appeared before
the latter and mperatively demanded that they
(the minisers) should run the license board. lhot
being refused they began to disseminate hatred
and discord, and III very intemperaie language
attacked all those, even the judges on the bench
who refused TO obey their dctatorial orders. In
stead of preaching love aud forhearance, these
christian ministers, unlike their Mister. became
proscrlptiye. In the letter submitted TO you they
even ask you to become law-breaRer I. c., declare
that your secretaries are owners and housekeepers
of the public buildings, when every child knows
that they are not. 1ndelioately they CONNECT even
the name of your honor.d wife with this affair.
You are u bible-reader. II you read the new
testament you will find that the scribes and pharl
sees occupied the same position In their times:
I They too, drank behind closed doors and abused
, the publcans who, in Jerusalem, them Ike the
Mecca OF the pre- ont day. resort OF hundreds Of
thousands Of pilgrims annually, were necessarily
} very numerous In fact, the greater portion OF
the regular inhabitants Of the holy city were Lying
} ing, eating aud drinking SO numerous were those
pilgrims at times that the restaurants and hotels Of
, Jerusalem were unable to accommodate them, and
that many of them, especially the poorer classes,
had 10 so 70 the adjoining villages for shelter Ihat
was ONE OF the reasons why the parents OF Christ
had, before the birth OF Christ to go to bethlehem
and even there they could find no other accom-
modalons but in stable. The publieans
were on that account very powerful class.
D They also had their protective associations
against the sGrbes and phnrlscos and laohacus
was their president, or chief Of the pu9liEans'
Christ always sided with them and protected them.
) Whilst he told the ph0risees that few oil them
would reach the kingdom OF Heaven, he was al a.,
a ways found amongst the pNDllCansi VINO lONctl
, him in return, He slept ate-nay,. drank win
! a "wine.bbber and friend Of the puglicans.'
= We're he alive the same class would call hin the
: same names now, just as they did 1850 years ago
You sec, Mr., President, that there Is not much
= christianity in the movement of our protestant
ministers. And as TO temperance, they even them
selves do not pretend to act In It's beh4li In the
letter addressed to you. All they claim Is 10 run
you: I'VE have asked for no change IN the present
: law" Hence even II they should control ihe
license board, we wlll have iayorns IN our midst
favor of few liquor dealers. they want TO create
monopoles WHICH then VIII pay better than now
!, They do not strike at the bad places, but their
wrath is dirctted against the very best OF our res
taurRnts So, for Instance, they 40 not desire Mr.
i Abner to obtain license because his establishment,
4 is on the same side with their Young Mems
Christian association building ASH our police
whether Abners place is not rs quiet aud respect
able as the T. NJ. q. A. building. lie, too, has i'll
= vested t. large amount Of money IN his establish
: meut, though he had no ireedmen's bureau 10
I for his music hall, though ING music iur-
: nished by him gratis at his hall is as good,
I sometimes even better than TINT furnished
y fec The people visiting Abners PAGES, among
a them our foreign ministers aud their families, nre,
10 say the least as respectable as those roquenting
: The music hall OF our christian brethren. Anl as
, to morals-wGl lngersOil has never preached at
Abuers as yet as he has in the \. N. Z. A, music
= hall Nor has Beechersm beeu preGohed ana
= practiced at his establishments After all there
- seems to be spirit Of business rivalry at The bot
tom OF this movement against MI. A@D9er, @ IL yGu
~ have any doubt please ask our police captain
+ whether Abners places will hurt the morals OF our
y. NJ. c. A. or vice rer8a. ~.
| have thus shown YOU the other side. We are
all living in free country, and everybody even
tho humblest, has right to be heard, ltour MIN
= listers really desire TO advance the Interests OF true
= christianity Christ taught II and of true temper
ance then let them return 10 Christ and lot the
- publieans alone. Most respectfully. your obe'
dent servant - LOUIS SoHADE'
J. Editor Washington Sentinel
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