The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-07


called attention in his C arge to the grand
jury on Monday there are two to whicl that
body should give especial attention. They
are the carrying of concealed weapons and
the sale of Intoxicating liquors on Sunday.
They are fruitful sources OF crime, and the
violators of the laws which prohibit them
should be punished with all the severity
that is permissible.
There does not seem to be any difficulty
in getting liquor at dram shops in this city
on Sundays, and it is not uncommon to see
1 drunken men reeling about the streets and
creating distu! Dances on those days. There
is probably more drunkenness on Sundays
than other days. The reason for this is not
hard to find. The people are unemployed
ON Sundays, and comparatively few of the
men attend church. Being idle, those in
clined to drink seek the dram shops, and be
fore they are aware of it they have
taken more whisky or beer than is good for
them. Many of them i'll that condition
are offensive or dangerous nuisances. They
wander about the streets objects Of disgust
to law-abiding and peacefully disposed
people, or if they are of vicious DISPOSE
ton they are pretty certain to create dis
turbances, and not infrequently they commit
crimes more or less grave.
The authorities ought to be able to en-
force the Sunday saloon law. Every dram
shop keeper who violates that law should
not only be punished to the full limit of the
law, but should be deprived of his license to
sell liquor. The Sunday liquor evil cannot
ho ~ h,, . -, half
hearted way. 1t must be attacked vigor-
ously and with determination to put an
end TO it.
As long as these dram-shop keepers who
violate the Sunday law feel they can sell
whisky on Sundays with comparative safety
they will continue to do so, and that they
have little if any, fear that they will be
interfered with is shown by the number of
drunken men on the streets on those days.
If it were understood that every policeman
was required to report every dram-shop
keeper discovered violating the Sunday law,
and that the license of every dram shop
keeper who violated the law would be re-
voked, the probability is that there would
be much less drunkenness on Sundays.
The concealed weapon evil IS not as great
as it used to be, but it still exists TO much
greater extent than it ought to. Respect
able men are beginning to be ashamed of
going about with pistols in their pockets
Those who carry pistols or other deadly
weapons either have no confidence in
the ability of the legally consti-
tuted authorities to afford them the
protection to which they are entitled, or
they intend to invite difficult es. 1t Is wor-
thy of notice that about nine-tenths of
those who become involved in personal
quarrels and ARRAYS are armed with a
deadly weapon of some sort. 1t is rare,
indeed, that an unarmed man is either in
suited or attacked The communities in
which the deadly weapon evil is unknown
are the most peaceful and the freest from
crimes or violence.
The wisest men of this State have said
that the carrying of concealed deadly
weapons was an evil, and they made law
prohibiting it There is, therefore, no occa-
sion for arguing that it is an evil The
thing TO do is to enforce the law and to en-
force it so promptly and mercilessly that
the public will have no doubt of the purpose
to put an end to the evil