The Portland daily press., 1880-03-17
COncerning Clubs.

1He recent leSlSlatlOn declaring places OF
resort where intoxicating drinks are kept,
given away &c. to be common nuisances,
brings very lively attention upon the subject
of clubs, at which of course these new enact
ments are aimed. Very much is said on the
subject, and naturally great many foolish
and unjust things are said. There are peo-
pie who talk with great violence who know
nothing of the matter, or who are incapable
of making just and reasonable discrimina-
tions. An entirely unnecessary amount of
vituperation and personal aspersion is in
dulged in on both sides, and it seems desir-
able that reasonable men should look the
matter over and endeavor to hold right
views about it without passion and without
prejudice. The fact that well known and
undoubted temperance men hold diverse
views on the question of the new legislation
shows that the discussion is not on the
principle of prohibition, but only on the
forms, methods and extent of enforcement.
One thing will be generally conceded,
namely, that the club rooms which ale
thickly sprinkled over this and every other
city and large village in Maine, are unquali-
fed nuisances. In these places men and
boys assemble together for the primary pur-
pose of drinking intoxicating liquors, and
being thus together greal deal else follows.
They throw dice and play cards for drinks
or for money, they make bad, loose, swagger-
ing talk together, the nights of debauch
make useless days, and general tone of
dissoluteness is engendered as a necessary
conclusion. These clubs are poisoning the
social stream in its very fountains, they are
corruptors of youth, they are making clean
minds impure and planting seeds of disease
in healthy young bodies. They are trans
forming pure minded and well bred young
men into rowdies, gamblers and swaggerers.
They hold out perpetual temptation of the
most insidious and effective KIDD to our
youth, and no man can feel that his boy is
safe so long as his young comrades may be
secretly coaXing him to some back room to
amuse himself after the fashion which there
prevails. 1t is the deliberate judgment of
many thoughtful men that these club rooms
are more injurious to the community than
would be open bars at every street corner.
The drinking of intoXcants is but small
part of the harmfulness of these places
though that is the moving cause of their
formation. We are confident that all right
minded citizens will join with us in denoun-
cling these places and will heartily cooperate
in all movements looking to their discontin-
uance.
1t is perhaps natural enough that the we'll
founded wrath and ndindignation against these
club-rooms should extend to other associa-
tions where the same reason does not exist.
There are, for instance, in Portland, several
clubs, formed for various purposes, which do
not fairly come under the list of the places
above described, but which are often un-
thinkingly confounded with them. The
most conspicuous of these are the, Culnber-
land Club and the Commercial Club. These
are both associations of gentlemen of good
position in the community, of mature years
and with habits of life thoroughly formed,
who have established handsome and spa
cious club houses, well furnished With news
papers, magazines and books, which are
comfortable places to spend leisure hours
in, to meet friends in social way, or to
entertain strangers visiting the city. They
offend no one, they hold out temp
tation to no one, and very young men
far as Intoxicating drinks are used at all
they are under close restrictions and are
entirely a secondary matter, as is shown by
the fact that there are members of both
clubs who never drink anything intnxicat-
ing Any interference with the internal
affairs of an association of gentlemen of the
age, character and standing of these men,
bers doubtless seems to them an imperti-
nence, and yet as the law must be general
in its terms, the most of them will submit
cheerfully to such small inconvenience as
they may suffer for the sake of the great
good to the community and especially for
the protection of the youth of the town.
The use of Intoxicating drinks is not at all
essential to the purposes of either of these
clubs and the members can enjoy all the
substantial advantages of these associations
without it. Beside these two prominent
clabs there are the Fraternity club, the
Rossini club, a chess club, a checker club,
dramatic club and many other clubs Or
ganized for one purpose and another which
it is not necessary to discuss. Care should
be had in considering these matters not to be
misled by the use of the word "club'' into
confounding with those miserable drinking
clubs, other associations called "clubs'
whose objects and influence may be useful
or, at least, innocent.