The Portland daily press., 1885-07-31
THE PRESS AND MAYOR DEER.
iNC'S ENEORCEMENT

Gen Neal Dow in a communication to the
New York Sun alleges that whatever the
PRESS says on the subject THE enforcement
Of the liquor law by Mayor Deering] must be
taken with large allowance" Let us see.
Something over two weeks ago the PRESS
alleged that the sale of liquor in this city
Is now quite as general and scarcely less open
than it was alleged to be before Mayor Deer
ing and Marshal Andrews began their raids. .
Until Gen. BOWS communication appeared
In the New York Sun not one word had been
uttered publicly by Mayor Deering, Marshal
Andrews or anybody else in denial of the
truth Of that assertion. The Argus which
has always been very prompt, in its local col
umns at least, to come to the rescue of May
or Deerlng has said not word either editor
Tally or In any other form. Gen Neal Dow
himself though the PRESSES paragraph has
been staring him in the face for two weeks.
has not ventured to deny it though the COL
umns of the Portland papers are always open
to him. The statement made by the PRESS
on July IL stands today uncontradicted by
any one, unless the remark of Gen. Dow that
anything the PRESS says about the rum
shops must be taken with large allowance"
can be construed as a contradiction.
And while there has been no denial of the
PRESSES assertion there has been one at least
very notable confirmation of its truth Four
days after the PRESS made this statement
Mayor Deering called the police together and
officially addressed them He said:
Il have ordered you assembled to personally not
ny you that am informed by the City Marshal
that in the execution of the laws of the State and
and
seemingly with private understanding shutting
your eyes to the a'tGaM transportation and sale
drawn to the fact that upon certain beats liquor is
constantly transported in defiance of the law and
even before the eyes of the police. | am also
aware, and the officers must be aware that shops
are OPEN Kept Oy notorious cioIdtors Of lar, that
have not been reported to the City Marshal, and
offlcers that have been stationed for consecutive
days upon beats where such places are open 20
before the courts and swear they do not know who
the proprietors are or the name of the person or
persons who control the premises. Something is
wrong. Ihere Is not an officer who is willing to
be considered SO stupid that he cannot find out in
"a hours the proprietor of any place of unlawful
sale, and these matters must be corrected
We suppose that Gen. Dow does not hold
the opinion that large allowance is to be
made for anything said by the Hon. John
W. Deering or Mr.. Benjamin f. Andrews.
Their testimony is accepted this year we be-
lieve without hesitation by all Prohibi-
SAoAAASpo' <AAiN eAOil cGIbdlll1y COZ
responds very closely to the assertion of the
PRESS. The PRESS said there had been a
notable letting up in the enforcement of the
liquor law. Mr.. Deering says he is informed
by the city marshal that the police are ''per-
sistently shutting their eyes to the unlawful
transportation and sale of intoxicating liq-
uors." Thisis putting it quite as strongly as
the PRESS put it. The PRESS said liquor was
being freely sold. The mayor says the mar
shall informs him that "shops are open,
kept by notorious Violators of the law" The
mayor even went further than the PRESS,
and charged that rumsellers were not only
allowed to keep their shops open, but also
that they were habitually protected from
punishment in the courts by false oaths on
the part of the officers.
Gen. Dow will observe that concerning the
facts there was no difference of opinion be-
tween the PRESS and Mayor Deering. The
mayor admitted basing his admission on in
formation from the marshal, that the law
was habitually violated in the face and
eyes of the police. There is a difference of
opinion between the PRESS and Mayor
Deering as to the responsibility for this hab-
itual violation. Mayor Deering appears to
think that it rests entirely on the police.
The PRESS on the contrary thinks as long as
Mayor Deering neglects to remove or at
temptto remove the officers on certain beats"
who are 'persistently shutting their eyes
and seemingly with a private understand
ing to violations of the liquor law he shares
in the responsibility.