The Cecil Whig., 1886-03-20
A SIGNIFICANT ADDRESS.

The attitude of a number of promi
nent Catholic bishops on the temper
ance question affords gratifying evi
dence of the growth of sentiment II
that church, favorable to the restriction
il not total prohibition of the traffic il
intoxicating liquors. y prominent
daily newspaper cites as evidence 0
this growing sentiment very noticea-
Bile address recently delivered in Buffalo
n. v, by Bishop Ireland. He believe:
that the liquor traffic, in its present ex
pansion, with the methods and device:
which it to-day recognizes, with the
power which it to-day wields for tht
defence of its interests, is a seriou:
danger to the commonwealth and {
systematic and fruitful producer of in.
temperance and that no effort at re
form, no labor in favor of temperance.
will avail so long as the traffic is allowed
to retain its present attitude.
He tells us that in New Nolk, for IN
stance, there is one licensed saloon tc
every Is5 OF the population, and as
sumes that the unlicensed places are
equal to one tenth of the licensed. De
ducting from the population the chill
dren and the many women and men
who do not use intoxicating beverages,
he finds that the average patronage Of
a saloon is from thirty to thirty five
persons, and the average daily receipts
about fifteen dollars. Manifestly, there
fore, his conclusion is, the saloons can
only live and thrive by the intemper
ance of their customers. '"Thirty OF
thirty five men drinking without going
to excess, the saloon keeper would
starve, instead of being able; as he
usually is, to keep bank account, own
a fine residence, and clothe his wife
and daughters in satin and silks
He also shows better understanding
of the methods of the liquor business
than is customary among temperance
advocates when he describes the whole
sale dealers as ''the chief culprits in
widening out the lines of the traffic.
The retailers he continues, "stand in
the front ranks, and the abettors OF
temperance usually deal out to them
the most severe blows )" but "the chief
consplrators are to be found in the rear
of the army Of liquor men, The whole
sale dealers have capital, and they start
the saloons in order to get custom for
their beer or whiskey, setting up the
retailer, signing his bond, and advanc-
ing money to pay the rent, license fee,
and cost of fixtures. In Buffalo, for
instance, in 1854, four wholesale deal
ers were Sureties for 2sS saloon keep
ers. One Toledo brewer boasts that
he owns I,4 saloons, and in New York
the same system prevails. Consequently
the traffic extends far beyond its nat
ural limits, and saloons are multiplied,
not in response to an existing demand,
but in order to create a demand.
"The mass of those vino open sa-
loons," Bishop Ireland discovers, care,
at best, impecuniouS, broken down
men, who have failed in, or are inCom-
petent for, other occupations, and
under the spur of their obligation to tie
dealer behind them they
will sacrifice everything to draw money
to the till. "The very competition
the retailers, rendered necessary
by their great number, is another fact
them to reckless measures"
Therefore, "the expansion Of the liquor
traffic to-day renders liquor selling
within the limits of moral and civil law
an Improbable and consequently an
avocation.'
Accordingly, Bishop Ireland argues
that it Is "the first duty of citizens to
free the country from the political con-
troll of the saloon by refusing to vote
"to put liquor dealer in Office and
by discarding "the saloon candidate
him who will owe his election to the