, 1881-12-11
LICENSES FOR CITY REVENUE.

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LzcENsEs FOR CITY REVENUE.
The Mayor, in recent interview will, a
reporter for one Ut tic city newspapers, eN-
| pressed the opinion that tic only way the
City of Chicago can secure sufficient revenue
| to maintain Tie necessary protection for ni>-
| lie safety and property under the per cent
Limitation Of taxes IN Il low valuation, is to
procure from the Legislature all act author
izlng cities to impose license charges upon
! all classes Of business and professions. This
| is Il scheme which will meet with widespread
! and almost universal opposition, and the
merits Ut which it is nothecessary to discuss
! at1lis time because the City OF Chicago
| the Mayor to the contrary notwithstanding
| --e1n increase its revenues from license fees
1t is now authorized to charge sufficiently to
! afford relief for the more pressing llcccssl-
| ties of the community.
1t is admitted that the limited revenue of
| the City Government bears Most heavily upon
| tile people in the consequent failure To sup
port I'LL adequate police force and to Keep ihe
streets ciea1l ami III good repair, There Is
reason to believe that butl1 these deficiencies
can be supplied in llrS1 part, If not ALTO
~''.'''~'A
power to collect LICENSE fees authorized by
the charter.
/ In the first place, the saloons of this city
ought to be l.listle to pay enough to support
go additional policemen. There are so1lte
$500 IT these places, each of which. without
regard to size or character, now pays the i-
significant trltle Uf So per year, Or 81 per
weeIl-.o more than was pad twclIty-seycn
years ago, when the city contained but G0. .000
inhabitants But since Chicago has not
more than onc-haif rs many policemen rs
most other large cities III proportion to the
population, and since the iltuot-s!lops orlst-
nate OF foster most Of the vice and crime f,f
every city, the LICENSE fees on these estal)-
ltsllments ought to be raised to Il price which
will yield revenue enough to support Il
polce force Of sufficient strengths to preserve
order, arrest criminals rel:rcss crime, and
protect tho lives and property Of law-abliing
people.
There is no need of going to the Legisla-
turc to procure authority for making such 4
change. The charter of tile city plainly att-
thorzes the Council to license and regulate
liquor-sclIinS, and to determine the amount
to be paid for such !eense." The Council
has rs ample and complete power to charge
s::;U0 for Il license to sell whisky rs So, if it
chooses to exercise its power. The gross re-
ceipts Of the saloons of this city from the
sale of liquor exceeds ten millions Of dollars
a year, hrec-fourths Of which is clear profit.
Add to this between two and three millions
more for tobacco retaiet ut 4 large profit,
and the absurdity of the present license OF il
dollar 4 week is seen alta glance.
Saloons ought to be classified. The Mayor
agrees to that, and everybody who has ever
given the subject any thought is convinced
Of the fairness OF sucl all arrangement The
salDons selling only beer and wines should
not pay more than one-llalf rs much rs the
saloons w.lick sell whisky rs well as the
lighter drinks The charge to hcer-saiuons
should be 500 year, with Il heavy fine for
the sale Of any liquor. not specified III the
license. The charge to saloons selling whisky
anu all kinds Of liquor should not be less
than $500. Even the latter amount would be
less than 81 4 week, or about 50 cents day-
the profit on ten drinks ut the most. There
should be much heavier charge for u Ii
ccnse issued to Il aconcert-saloon Or any COM
mon resort for both sexes of Il low character
--lUL 1913 l1ai!i +'HV Il 1Sst4s IL I+SL 1tC!!l
would have the double benefit of reducing
the number of houses Of bad character, and
at the same time largely increasing Tie rcye
nue. from those Which might continue in
''b,,sines5. ~ 1t is safe to estimate that a
graded license system for the saloons Oh the
basis proposed would yield from S:a;50, 900 to
$;o0, ,OOo more than is now collected FROM
such establishments, and the ordinance
might provide that ;AI1 this additional rcve-
nue should he set aside for the support of all
increased police force
What is most needed is Mayor who will |
boldly urge all increase in the license fees
for saloons without regard to loafers and
dives ut future elections. Public opinion
would soon constrain the Council to take the
proper steps under his direction and persist
cnce. Let a suitable license fec be cstab-
lshed, and I'LL the ulorc IT es2cctable saIoor-
keepers will oppose its repeal, and the whole |
body Of the public will uphold it.