The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-07-30
The Haines Ordinance.

SAvANNAH, GA, July % - hdHoT
: Of the Morning NeWs: % WIN YOU ~
kindly explain in what wav the adoptIou Vi
= the Haires ordinance will affect the en-
forcement of the Sunday closing Jaw. "
p Will YOU also state whether the passage OF
4 that ordinance will in any way chahse tle
' position clubs have always occutled IN the
< CITY Of Savannah! / ask these ques ions
for Information. oillAH''
/: The N0RNIvG NEWS AS taken no part In
the discussion of the Haine5 ordinance fur-
/. tber than 10 give the vie Us Of others with
regard tn it. aud 10 say that 1t was to he ex-
= nected that the mayor would veto 1t because
: il would interfere with the enforcement OF
the ordinance prohibiting the sale of intox-
icating liauor on Sundays IU has pursued
this course not because it believed the ordi-
nance to be a good one, but because 1t was
satisfied that If the council passed it the
mayor would veto it.
"Citizen," however, evidently asks the
foregoing questions in good faith, and he is
entitled to an answer.
As to the first question: The Haines ordi-
nance provides that any club organized in
! good faith for literary or social purposes,
and not in any way TO evade the laws regu-
| lating the liquor traffic, provided such club
confines the sale of intoxicating liquors to
its members and does not sell as a business
or for the purposes of revenue, shall be ex-
empt from the operation of that part of the
tax ordinance which makes it necessary to
have a license in order to sell intoxicating
| liquors. This ordinance would seem
to be about as strong as
it is possible to make it. and yet it would
not be difficult matter to evade it. The
mayor has given the ordinance very care
| full consideration, and he is satisfied that it
would be evaded. What is there in it to
prevent clubs from being formed in differ
ent parts of the city at which liquor could be
obtained by the members thereof on Sun
days? 1t is true that the ordinance pro-
vides that the clubs must be for social or
| literary purposes. and that liquors must not
be sold for revenue, but when complaint is
made against such clubs how is the mayor
| to determine their true character
| or whether or not profit
is made on the liquor sold in them? There
would be doubtless conflicting testimony,
and the weight of it would be on the side of
the alleged clubs, because their members
naturally would side with them. The mayor
might be confident that the ordinance was
being evaded, but would he be justified in
infiicting punishment without satisfactory
evidence that an offense had been commit.
ted! And isn't it probable that the cases
arising under the ordinance would be 50
| numerous that they would become a heavy
burden upon the mayorl Indeed, would not
/ tho burdaD hacOp1a N baa fbaf ba mould
cease TO concern himself about the alleged
clubsi And what then would become of
| the Sunday reform which he has effected
and which has been so generally and heart
lily comnlended9 What excuse, the people
would naturally ask had the council for plac-
ing such a burden upon the mayor, or for
imperiling reform which was urged for
years before it was secured and from which
so much good has Gomez What is to be
gained by adopting an ordinance which
may open the way for the sale of intoxi-
eating liquor on Sundays!
Who demands the ordinance? A few
people or many! Is this ordinance
for the benefit Of the community or only a
part Of it9 These are questions which coun-
Gil ought to consider before acting finally
upon the ordinance.
AS to the second question: Yes the Haines
ordinance changes the status of the clubs,
because by exempting them from the opera
ton of the license law the council admits
that they are within the scope of that law.
While heretofore it has been regarded as
matter of doubt whether or not the license
law reached them. the Haines ordinance re-
moves that doubt and grants them a special
privilege. 1t is true they had this privilege
before the Haines ordinance was framed,
but it did not have the stamp of official
authority upon it.
After ALL the whole matter can be summed
up in this question: Shall the clubs have
the privilege of selling liquors TO thsir
members on Sundaysa 1t is doubtful if
there is any desire on the part of any con-
siderable number of people TO inter ;ere with
the clubs in any way. The desire is not to
make the clubs take out liquor lice Uses but
to prevent the notification of tie Sunday
closing reform. The closing of the dram
shops on Sundays has resulted in an i'm
mense amount of good. Drunken men are
no longer seen in the streets on that day, and
the mayors court on Mondays is no longer
crowded with offenders. The earnings of
the poor are not wasted to so great an ex-
tent in drink. They are used to
make homes com 'ortable and fami-
lies happy. When the dram shops
were open on Sundays there were quarrel
ing and fighting and crimes of violence
were often committed. Now the police on
those days are about as idle as the idle
laborers.
The Haines ordinance threatens to undo
this good work. The mayor believes that
it will undo it. The ordinance is in the
interest OF leading men of the community
men who are foremost in business and all
| kinds of enterprises, and who have praised
| the mayor for the reform he has effected.
Are they not willing to make sacrifices to
insure the permsnency of that reforma All
that is said about club being a private
Notwithstanding like a mans home
may be true, but that argument doesn't
meet the present situation. The question
is, shall great and beneficial reform be
| jeopardized in order that comparatively
few members of the community may have
the privilege Of purchasing liquors on Sun
days.
Inhabitants of Kirkwell, in Scotland, had
something in the nature of a wndfall a
short time ago. just when they had begun
to actually suffer from lack of provisions