The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1891-12-25
THE SALOON.

the w. q. L. U. of NeWtown to defen,
, the saloon, in order TO make this sympos
!, ium complete. Personally, | desire t,
state that | have no present or prospect
i've interest in the maintenance of the sa
loon; and have undertaken it's defenc,
solely te oblige the very worthy lady wht
is Interested in the society under who's,
auspices this gathering meets. Whether
other persons directly interested have
been asked to defend the saloon | am MOI
informed; and you will, trust, do mt
the justice to believe that do not come
to champion the cause of the saloon al
the behest, request or in the interest oil
the liquor dealers or allied interests, but
solely, as stated before (Which reiterat-
ion you will pardon), at the behest of the
very earnest lady at the head of this
movement against the evils of intemper-
ance, which we all deplore and only diff.
fer in the methods for securing the de-
sired end. With this personal explanat-
ion, which l deemed necessary and for
which, trust, L need apologize no fur
ther, L will no longer trespass upon your
patience, but come at once to the defence
or the cause assigned to me.
In every discussion, the Importance of
giving due Difference TO the right use OF
definition is admitted. In the elucidat-
ion of legal problems, it is absolutely
necessary; in debates and controversies,
it is essential, for when, after debate, re-
course is had to definitions, it is often
found, as the Blind Men of Hindostan
found it, that the disputants were all ar
ranged on the same side, and that the
only side. How far this may have been
true Tonight is problematical; yet it
would appear that there has been some
yeoman service rendered the saloon by
the able defenders of Moderate Drink
ing "High License and Local OPP
ton respectively, although, perhaps, I'M
willingly.
But, to clear the atmosphere, which
may have become haZy, it will be wise to
refer at once to some standard of author
ity for the definition OF the cause cham
pion. Webster defines Saloon as Il
large hall or room for the entertainment
of the public; public house; saloon be-
ing the American equivalent for its old
English prototype OF public house, both
ion being accepted, will proceed.
The defence of the saloon is no forlorn
hope; on the contrary, it is rather like
imagining one self as member of the
garrison behind the strong walls of an
impregnable fortress, against which the
besiegers batter impotently and their
shoJs fall harmless. The saloon is an in
stitution as much as the school and
church and contemporary with both. IN
our western civilization, it often ante
dates both. In both hemispheres, it is
entrencheG behind the rampartS of law;
but everywhere it exists because there is
ii call for it. Why this is so, is not in
my province to demonstrate, but, briefly
put, because the great body of what is
called moderate drinkers demand it. AS
of hi Il
you assail it, you assail the character,
you impeach the judgment of this large
majority of men. They instantly demand,
"Alcohol is necessity III disease; would
you destroy it? Then you strike at hu-
man life. It's use as a beverage to re-
store wasted strength, as paratriptic to
lessen the waste OF bodily tissue at or af-
ter exertion is admitted, would you pre-
vent its sale? Then you strike at the lib
erty of the individual! Would you pre-
vent man from engaging in this recog-
nized mode of gaining living? Then
you strike IL blow at the liberty of trade!"
But some one i'll the rear of the band
of ZealOts says: "But the saloon is Il
source of evil - Admit it; what then?
What will you substitute? Free rum?
mo; abolish the saloon, that's ALL"
But, my dear interlOcutor, be logical;
that's free rum, if there be no prohibit
ion. Your Simon pure prohibitionist is
the only logical fellow among you. He
denies that deprivation of alcohol is a
blow at the liberty of the individual, or
the freedom of trade, or that it is neces-
sary for mans health, happiness or com
fort. He is ogical, but in error, as well
us i'll hopeless minority. lconoclasts,
as denominate the zealots who seek the
destruction of the saloon incontinently,
can never hope to succeed until they show
us better way out than has hitherto
been done. 'sBetter the ills we know,
than those we wot not Of" Ranged on
the side of the saloon, then, must be all
who believe that alcohol is necessary in
medicine (and this includes all but few
allopathc physicanS) and their client
ellie, the great body of people opposed to
summary law and believers in natural
rights, that ever increasing army of mod
crate drinkers who believe in gentle
stimulant as prOmOtive of good health,
as II paratriptc to lessen bodily fatigue
and the waste of tissue; opposed to them
is Il disorganized mass of temperance
zealots in varying degrees of prohibition
blue, each with Il sure SPECIFIC 10 cure
our social ills, but which, on examinat-
ion, turns out to be as baseless us
dream. But could the abolition of the
public house or saloon be effected to-day
by the turn of the hand, who is there
possessed of particle OF sentiment
would not hesitate to do it? Take away
from English fiction all the historic Incl
dents and figures, all the pathos and hui
NOR clustering about the public house
ing, verve and life; you would destroy,
as with the brush of Il dauber, SOME OF
the most delightful pen pictures OF that
artist, Dickens you would make OF Car
Teton Il mass of incidents without coher-
ency or point; you would render Ihack-
cray, that brilliant satiri<J OF social fol-
lies, heap of venomOus sarcasm or
scalding humor devoid of even pathos;
J GU would have placed upon the Shout
ders of George Elliot the impossible task
of raising Silas Mariner from the dead
level of mediocrity to that Incompatible
short story it is, or exalGlng Sllas from
vulgar miser to ii hero without the aid of
the local coloring and character of
Landlord Smell of the Rainbow and
the habitues of his public house
and hosiery; you would sweep into OBJ
livion the gentle Charles Lamb and his
atIectionate references to the famous ale
house in the Strand where he stopped so
often for refreshment and inspiration;
the tenderest as we'll as most saGiric pas
sages of Burns would never have been
written, were there no pretty bar maids
nor yillainous excisemen; the most in
spring flights of Byron's fancy were
penned at the public houses by the shores
of the Swiss and Italian lakes; the shin
ing gems of poetic thought of the Irish
bard Moore glisten like the beads upon
the wine he quatied at the hospitable
boards of his genius-loving friends, or at
the famous hostelries he frequented.
Coming to our own land and our home
literature, who will gainsay that the pop
ularity of our gentle Irving is due as
much to the geniality of his "Knicker-