The record-union., 1891-11-14
METHODS HERE AND ELSEWHERE.

rected to be closed at a given hour of
the night, if the party i'll charge disobeys
the police proceed to shut and bolt the
doors and turn out the lights and that is
the end of it.
When the anarchists Wednesday night
in Chicago held a meeting, denounced the
laws of the Union and the peoples Off
GERS and displayed red flags and symbols
of enmity and disorder, the police
marched into the hall and gave the ras-
Gals two minutes in which to elevate the
American flag and place its colors high
above the ensigns of blood and ruin. The
anarchists obeyed, and thus the emblem
of law, order, peace and beneficence
waved amidst the red rags of anarchy,
literally saying ''rant and rave, and
preach fire, dynamite and havoc, but you
above you.''
Thursday night the anarchists met again
but in secret. in a saloon, some hundreds
strong. This time they would outwit the
officers, and so the stars and stripes were
not unfurled, but the red emblem of fury
waved triumphant. Suddenly the doors
were burst inward and a hundred blue
coated servants of the people marched in,
presented their guns point blank at the
anarchists, the order 'throw up your
hands" was obeyed instantly, and the po-
- n1 fn I
would-be assassins and marched a goodly
number to Jail for carrying concealed
weapons.
In San Francisco when the authorities
direct place to be closed the police pro-
ceed with hammers and nails, if need be.
to close it effectually by making doors
and walls solid.
Here we manage very differently The
proper authority refuses certain parties
license to keep an open house of enter
tainment or to run dive, for reasons of
which the authorities are the sole Judges.
and that are conservative of order, de-
cency and good government Thereupon
the keepers of these places proceed to
disobey the law and are arrested; bonds.
pre-arranged, are presented, the prison
ers released and the of1ense continued
with lights ablaze and the game of def
ance in full blast
Then comes the trial, by jury perhaps.
If there is conviction, fine is levied and
paid, and the offender proceeds to again
disobey the law and submit to another
arrest and trial, and so on through a farce
of never-ending duration.
OF course these holes can afford to pay
the fines, take chances of disagreeing,
weakened juries, and by persistence
wear out the servants of the law, AS a
rule they are worn out, lose patience and
hope, and at last the official order be-
comes dead letter.
Certainly the offenders can afford to
pay the fine, for their net profits nightly
far exceed the penalty. Perhaps taste
of cell life might not be so well relisAed,
but that is too much to be hoped for.
Here the claim is boldly, openly made,
and by not few good men maintained,
that if these offenders are once arrested
and put to trial, they should not again be
taken in" until the lease" is concluded.
no matter how often they repeat their
offending nor how many years it may be
to final judgment.
As well might the burglar claim ex-
emption for his nightly depredations so
long as his first case is pending. That is
to say, arrest is to be construed to be
license to continue in violation of the
law.
The Sacramento method may be the
better plan-it certainly is for the offend
ers. The police force is disposed, how
ever, to continue to arrest for such
offenses, and in that determination they
viii be earnestly supported by the peo-
pie. nthey will adhere to their resolu-
ton, perhaps seven fines in the week,
or even five, may prove too much for
even hokey-pokey games in unlicensed
midnight resorts to stand, that now defy
the law and scorn the public.
A taste of real closing, actual shutting
up of these offending resorts, as is prac-
ticed in New York, Chicago and San
Francisco, might be startling innova-
ton in Sacramento. but the people would
really like to see it tried, just for the
novelty of the thing.
Certainly if an officer finds man with
open doors at midnight that the law de-
clares shall be closed, he ought, besides
arresting the offender, close the place,
and see to it that it remains closed for the
night. The arrest is not grant to con-
tinue the offense, no more than would the
seizure of pickpocket in the act justify
allowing him to give bail and continue
to pilfer from the passer by.
Some one has said that our beautiful
city of homes is without the United
States, and weare fain inclined to concur,
when we observe the wide difference
there is between the powers of peace au-
thorities here and elsewhere. 1t may be
that the Capital City has so shifted its
moral latitude that it is just without the