Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-02-20
PURIFYING MUNICIPAL ATMOS-
PHERES,

Chinese and other lottery shops are
having hard time of it in San Francisco
That city has determined that her officers
shall not find it convenient to "let things
run" The consequence is that the lottery
robber is hunted down. The police break
in his doors, they drop through skylights
into his innermost dens, they crawl in
upon him through windows, and come up
through trapdoors. They not only seize
the dealers and their money and tickets,
but they cart off the spectators to the lock-
up, one night last week nabbing" twenty
nine in one den, and turning the prison
bolts upon them. For all which let San
Francisco officials be given due need of
praise. Now the city authorities are " 60
ing for" the gambling fraternity with the
same vigor. The Supervisors Committee
on Health and Police has resolved to pro.
hibit the maintenance of metal doors and
heavy barriers to the gambling dens
which the police cannot batter down. The
City Attorney has drawn and submitted an
ordinance that prohibits the hanging of
any door of greater thickness than two
inches in any building within the fire lin
Its, without permission of the Board of Su-
pervisors, and forbids the securing of such
doors by bars or props or any means other
than bolts or locks. Within ten DAYS after
the passage of the ordinance, any such
doors now maintained must be removed
Whenever the Chief of Police or Chief
Engineer shall declare any door of a
greater thickness than two inches, which
may have been erected by permit of the
Board, to be an obstruction to the Fire De
partment in extinguishing fires, such per-
mission shall be revoked, and the door
must be removed within ten days from no.
tice. This looks very much like "busi-
ness and may well serve as a suggestion
to the authorities of other cities to "ioin
the procession"
For it is beyond controversy that we
shall be deeply, sorely, grievously disap-
pointed in securing settlement among US of
the desirable people we are now inviting
to California, if we remain insensible to
those otienses which in the eyes of Eastern
people are abhorrent, and the uninterrupted
existence of which in California commu-
mites, turns from us many men of homes
and families who come and observe. 1t is
undeniable that the free and easy-going
system which has tolerated the Chinese
lottery, the American lottery agencies and
the gambling rooms in California, has
greatly injured us in the estimation of the
very people We solicit to come and be of
us. 1t is useless to close our eyes to this
matter, it is too grave and important to be
put aside with a sheer.
Now that one effort has been made to
blot out the lottery infamies of street in
Sacramento, let the authorities follow the
example of those of San Francisco, and
put stop to the business of white men
who run policy shops. The law of the
State is plain and unmistakable and we
must be able to face the Eastern visitor
and respond honestly to his inquiry, il
lottery robbers are permitted to prey upon
the wage-earners of the community. II
should not be necessary as in the case o.
the Chinese lotteries and gamblers, for the
REcoRD-UNIoN to point out where Other
offenders can be found Let the Police
Commission continue in well doing anC
clean the moral atmosphere by some Wig
orous activity. No one expects to make
anybody moral, decent or respectable, by
law, or enforcing law; but society has 9
right TO the removal Of temptation from
the path of youth, the weak and suscepti
bic, to squander their earnings in lottery
and other gaming. 1t has right to de
mand that these offenses be driven out anC
broken up, as caa be done by any commu
nifty with courage enough to exist.