Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-12-08
SALOON IN POLITICS.
The New York "rimes" on this Phase of
Political Inftuenca

The New York Times, editorially, says:
One point, at least, has been made clear
by the sessions of the Commission appoint
ed to revise the excise law There is no
hope OF any compromise between the liquor
dealers and the people who are in favor of
restricting the sale of liquor. The liquor
dealers, it is clear, will not be satisfied un-
til their business Is put upon the same foot
ing with any other; that is to say, until
anybody can carry 1t on without restric-
ton. AT present their representatives pro-
tess willingness to have the dealers
licensed and taxed, provided the tax is not
large enough to deter anybody from en-
gaging in the trade. But they profess to
see no object in an excise law, except the
raising of revenue, and they resent any re-
strictions upon the business that are not
necessary to that purpose.
This is much more advanced ground
than they have taken heretofore, and the
reason is obvious. The reelection of Gov.
Hill was a distinct victory for them, vic
tory the more signal because it was accom-
panied by the defeat of President Cleve-
land. They are confident that the pres
ent situation cannot be changed to their
disadvantage while their man remains
Governor of the State, except in the I'M
likely event that really stringent and
effective excise law can be passed over his
veto. Of this they have no fear. Hence it
Is that that strain we hear" is ''of higher
mood" than We are in the habit of hear
ing when the Governor of the State is a
man who feels that he is amenable to the
opinion of the respectable classes and rec
ognizes the necessity Of "pandering to the
better element"
The new tone of the liquor dealers is so
far beneficial that it will lead a great
many people who have not heretofore con-
sidered it to consider what their triumph
means. The pending question is not one
OF abstinence. In one aspect of it it is not
even a question of temperance 1t is
question whether the saloon shall continue
to be, as undoubtedly it now is, the ruling
factor in State politics and shall be per-
mitted to outrage public sentiment and de-
feat the popular will by the power of or
ganization and the use of money. There
is no man in this city, whatever his per-
sonal habits may be, who does not know
that there are too many saloons in this
city, and that a measure which should
materially reduce their number would be
good thing. 1t is not only that every
saloon is possible source of disorder. 1t
Is that every saloon is, as Mr.. Wins put
1t in his address on ballot reform, " CEN
ter of political activity" and that the OBJ
Ject of the political activity that centers in
the saloons is to continue and consolidate
the power of the saloon in politics. If it
be true that Governor Hill said that he
would rather have the saloons behind him
than the churches his thinking so does not
discredit the political cunning ascribed to
him, though his saying so may. For in
truth the saloons, in which the primaries
are for the most part held in this city, are
in effect so many primaries in permanent
session. They are the only abiding centers
of political activity.
When this is the case it is time for the
churches to become centers of political
activity also, and there are signs that they
may be brought to perform this function
The Church Temperance Society, under
the auspices of which the enthusiastic high
license meeting of Monday night was held,
is composed of clergymen and laymen of
the Protestant Episcopal Church, the one
of our religious bodies that has, as rule,
most scrupulously abstained from taking
part in secular politics. But upon a ques-
ton such as is forcing itself upon the
country, and as the reelection of Governor
Hill has forced upon this State, it is the
clear duty of moral teachers to take sides
in the interest of public morals and of pub
lie order. The saloon movement has done
its utmost, for the liquor traffic is not
merely unmolested, but is in control of the
State through its chief executive office.
The anti-saloon movement has but Just be-
gun, and it may confidently be expected to
go on until shrewd politicians have come
to think that on such an issue it is better
to have the churches than the saloons be-
hind them.