The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-02-07
SALOON LICENSES.

1t is a good suggestion which has beer
made that the liquor license fee be collected
annually in advance instead of quarterly
as at present. Liquor selling IS an evil
The saloon is an evil. The business is al
enemy to society, and can be justified OF
no ground whatever. At the same tins
THE HERALD is aware that the traffic car
not be suppressed. We have seen it tried
by as honest and earnest and energetic
officials as ever lived. We have seen com
munities where ninety-fve out oil
every hundred people were confessedly
and even radically temperate, try
hard to enforce prohibition, but failed.
Liquor would be sold in spite of law
and overwhelming public opinion. The
five would get whisky in defiance of the
statute and the ninety-five. Long years of
determined struggle against the rum
traffic have convinced of the impossibility,
while society is constituted as at presen [,
OF stopping the business; but the same
years have taught that if the evil cannot be
prevented may be lesseued; that if its eff
fects may not be avoided they can at least
be reduced; and it is clearly the duty of
those who make and those who enforce the
laws to go just as far as they can
in the direction of lessening the harm and
protecting society. Our high license has
done much to restrain the evil. 1t has pre-
vented the multiplication of saloons and
kept the drinking places within some sort
OF limit. 1t has required something more
than few bottles and bar glasses, a keg of
beer and a gallon or two of whisky to
open saloon III this city. In addition to
the stock and furniture necessary, the
whisky seller, before he can do business,
must pay into the city treasury $500 for the
quarters license fee. 1t has been this cash
payment which has kept the lowest order
of saloons out Of Salt Lake. Some of the
dens are low enough, in all conscience, but
they are not quite so vile as are the dives
in cities where the license is less.
II the municipal authorities will go one
step farther, as they have the right to do
and exact years license fee in advance
we predict that a remarkable improvement
will follow. We are certain that the num-
Der of saloons will be materially reduced
and those which will go will be of the
lower and uglier class-the dens and dives
which now struggle along or the patronage
of the toughs ard that element which laws
no claim to respectability. The proprie.ors
OF these viler resorts manage to scrape to-
gether quarters fee against license day,
but it would be impossible for them to
gather $1,000, hence they would have to go
out of business, or seek opportunities in
towns where less capital would be required.
TIE HERALD has talked to the proprietors
of none of the more reputable saloons, but
we believe the great majority of these
would be pleased if the change were made;
1t IS for their interest that the traffic should
be restricted aud be made as lawful and
orderly and respectable as possible. A dive
brings more or less disgrace upon every
establishment engaged in the business. The
better class of saloon keepers can afford to
dc without the use of the money for the
advantage that it will bring them if not in
direct trade at least IN the increased degree
of responsibility which it will give to the
traffic.
We sincerely hope the city council VIII
inaugurate the rule of requiring license
payments annually in advance Such a
rule would assuredly result in good, and
would be approved by the great majority of
tn e people.