The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1892-06-02
A Novel Temperance Reform.


St. Georges Episcopal Church the Rev.
DR.. W.S. Rainsford took occasion on
Sunday morning, to praise the work done
by church athletic clubs and social re-
aorts under church patronage. He said
he believed in allowing considerable
liberty in such resorts, and remarked that
the day would yet come when the Chris
tian Church would enter into active bust.
ness competition with the saloons.
Yesterday, in his study, Dr.. Raines-
ford told reporter of the Sun that be
meant this remark to be taken literally
and he believed the churches should
open saloons of a high character to COM
pete with vicious resorts to which re.
spectacle persons go sometimes for beer
and wine.
"I will say this much," he said, "that
if could close every saloon in this city
by raising my finger, I would not raise
my finger. My reason is perfectly clear
and definite. I belisve, and every sensi-
BILE and thinking mai must believe, that
in a great and crowded city like this
drinking ia a necessary evil. It must
be accepted as one Of the conditions of q
densely y packed population, drawn from
every quarter of. the globe, in the present
age. In devising means to remedy the
great evils of intemperancc it must be re.
membered that this condition exists.
Closing saloons will not stop drinking.
1t will simply drive it to cover. If I
were to close every saloon to-day to.mor.
row they would all be open aagin, but
hidden away in tenement houses, where
they would do vastly more harm. You
cannot suppress rum.seuing and rum
drinking in this age and in this city.
You must attack the evil in another way.
I hold the same opinion about these dis
orderly houses which have been talked
of so much lately. Prostitution is anoth.
er necessary condition of life in such a
city as this. If I had the power I would
not close up all such houses, for I would
only drive vice into the very homes of
this town. Six hundred Ghoussnd of the
inhabitants of New York are more close
ly packed together than any similar pop.
ulation in any other spot on the globe.
Methods which may be effective else.
where will not be affective here.
"What we must do to combat intem-
perance is to provide public resorts which
are not tainted with vice and cor.
ruption. If people must drink, we can
provide respectable place for them to
drink in. We can open saloons where
beer and light wines may be had by
those who want them, and where the
surroundings will be clean, cheerful and
moral. There may bs billiard tables
and bowling alleys, and tables whefe
people may sit and chat while they drink
their beer. There may also be a supply
of newspapers and periodicals. Such a
saloon as this would offer attractions
which would enable it to compete efec-
lively with vicious resorts. It is not
possible to suppress saloons, but it is pos.
sible to elevate them to q plane which
they have never before occupied.
~ would have no whiskey or other
powerful intoxicants in these saloons.
Beer and light wines will satisfy all but
drunkards. Now, the man who wants q
glass of beer must 60 to low resort
where fiery liquids are the chief stock in
trade, and the temptation is always from
lighter to stronger. Besides beer and
light wines I would have coffee and choc.
.olate, The tendency of the place would
be temperate, while at the same time
those who insisted on light stimulauts
would not be driven to low resorts.
"Would you have the churches run
these saloons 2" was asked.
IT 'ould not have them charitable in.
stitutions," said DR.. Rainsford, "nor
would have them run at financial
loss. They open q proper field for
business enterprise, and / sincerely
hope that Christian business men may
be induced to enter the field. Business
men connected with the Church could
run such saloons, and do it at profit.
I only wish that had the money with
which to demonstrate that this is the only
way to deal successfully with this evil. !"
els this new proposition ?" was
asked.
"New7 Not at all. I have held this
belief for years, and occasionally talked
upon these lines to my congregation. If
you want to see my idea in practice come
to our gymnasium some Monday night"
"Do you have wine and beer there 2"
"Oh, no, but we have handsome
gymnasium, bowling alleys, reading
rooms and all that sort of thing, and we
make all young men welcome whether
they are members Of the church or not.
We draw hosts of young men of the
neighborhood away from the saloons.
Now, those are the sort of saloons want
to establish. Eliminate strong spirits,
make the places bright, beautiful, at
tractive and moral, provide all sorts of
innocent games and reading matter, sell
only the purest beers and wines, and
charge moderate prices for everything"
"Has the experiment ever been tried"
~ believe" said DR.. Rainford, "that
several English clergymen run saloons
of this sort, and they were success
full in drawing people away from low
resorts and intemperance."
President Kohn, of the exercise board,
said of DR.. Rainsford's plan: eve will
chserfully grant license to DR.. Rains.
ford, that is, ifhe produces proper ref
erences and solid bondsmen. He must
first buy up license, I fear, for our