The Evening critic., 1883-05-02
THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.
High License Laws and Stiff Fine,
For Violations of the Law the Sen

For Violations of the Law the Sen.
stbIe Thing.
To the Editor OF The Euentn0 Critic:
II the many readers OF THE CRITIC Will ac-
cept the judgment of one who has lived In
communities where the sale OF whisky is un-
licensed by law, Us in Ohio and Iowa, where
the license fee is low, as in Washington, where
II is high, as in Nebraska, and In the problbi-
tion State of Kansas, they will all favor high
license II they wish any change In the liquor
Twas resident Of Omaha whom the slo-
cumb law went Into operation. Its effect was
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. the hopes OF some Of
the temperance people-and permanent.
When speak Of temperance people mean
that class of persons who abstain from the use
Of liquor because Of its evil, and to set good
example to their fellows, or those who do not
use 1t inordinately and have rational Idea
of controlling its destructive influences, and
not the small band Of rabid temperance
apostles, who are abstemious because nature
has made them 80, and whose battle-cry is
prohibition or nothing. Before the Slocumb
law went into effect Omaha had Its full share
of rum.holes. The town was an aggregation
OF slums, unsafe to drink in because of the
vile compounds sold there and the reckless
characters who frequented them. Everybody
knows that the. greater portion OF the de-
bauchery and crime produced by whisky has
Its beginning and elimination In the low
classes OF saloons. There are plenty OF these
same places In Washington. certain ele-
ment OF the population indulges Its bibulous
propensities In vile distillation known as
tive.cent gin, and II five-cent gin won't nerve
Its patron for q razorslashing and blackjack
engagement no other stimulant Will.
the Slocumb law eliminated this objection
able feature of the liquor trafic in Omaha,
offensive sense OF that word. That is to say,
1t did not give the business into the hands OF
few men who sought to profit by raising the
price of drinks. The barkeepers who were
able to pay the 81, 900 license fee, fortunately
for those who must drink, weren't as ely"
pardon the slang) as the owners OF washing.
dives had bloomed, nearly forty were driven
out of the game. This "survival OF the fittest"
had a marked effect upon the morals OF the
city. The trade fell into the hands OF men who
kept we'll furnished saloons and sold O good
quality of liquor. There was less lighting
whisky sold, consequently less smuggling. The
drinker whom even good liquor would make
of having to do his drinking In clean, we'll.
lighted and tastefully arranged barroom; for
that brutality which 1ourishes and is bold
and devilish in dark, ill-smelllng secluded
places is toned down wonderfully In the at
mosphere Of gentility, be 1t In draw
ingroom or barroom. Take any cap:
tain or other military-titled crank of
the Salvation Army, SO bold and unabashed
with his boisterous and idiotic exhortations
and doggerel hymns when surrounded by a
mob on street corner, and put him In the
pulpit OF one Of our elegant Churches face to
face with decorous and well-dressed audi
ence, and he would be as dumb. as an oyster.
he could no more exhort under these circum-
stances than statue, nor indulge in apostolic
gyrations any more than wheelbarrow
could. The respectable surroundings would
overwhelm him. The same philosophy can
be applied TO the rnm-drinking rowdy.
Kansas has the most liberal prohibition law
OF any Of the prohibition States, and while 1t
does not succeed In absolutely prohibiting, 1t
is better than cheap license law In Its gen.
eral results, but not 30 good as the Slocumb
law. The Kansas law would be stronger to.
day-you know 1t got q backset last fall-had
1t not been for the unwise action OF Governor
st. John and the temperance advocates I
have alluded to in the first part OF this letter.
Governor st. John did not tell us this In his
lecture last week, but such is the fact Just the
same.
Washington is beautiful city. dare say
in physical attractions, to say nothing of Its
social features, It is the most desirable city In
the Union to reside in. Why not add to Its de-
cency and attractiveness by destroying such
eyesores as the meaner class of saloons, which
can be done as surely as 'money makes the
mare go" by the adoption OF ahigh license foe
and stir fines for tnfractions of law, and by
opening the Congressional Library, the Mu-
scum, &C., on Sundays and holidays. W.