The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-05-18

:, !. barrooru. The fact which led 20 the
pnfayo-ahle opinion in the minds OF the
;u~ors who convicted young Harris was
his connection with drinking establish
,neut. Il kills the soul of the victim. de-
s.roys his moral pcwer OF perception.
and the world knows Il !.
seconi-The saloon uses mans social
nature to kill him The power OF the
saloon 10 destroy lies in the fact that 1t
i a social institution. 1t IS not ques-
tom of drink or the drink habit In itself.
IL is the question of the debauchery OF
mans whole being by direct appeal 70
his social instincts. Every saloon Is
founded upon the club idea 1t caters
IN mans social and aesthetic nature. 1t
an,eals to his sense of the beautiful.
The saloons are the most magnificent es-
Establishments in the city of New \ ork.
They are the most magnificent establish
ments in any city. Ii is this tremendous
ousIay of genius, of art. OF money IN
their equipment that makes their appeal
30 resistless to men socially. Men begin
to drink moderately with their compan
ions. The process is first haJderas"
drinker. then a drunkard, then a dis
eased wretch. Because OF mans social
nature the disease of alcoholism Is con-
tagious-it is catching. The man who
treats is the man infected by this con-
tacious disease The saloon Is the pest
house in which he contracts the disease,
from which it is spread through society.
THE POOR MANS CLUB.
Third-The saloon strikes at the foun-
dation of social order in destroying the
poor man in his poverty. Rum strikes
down the rich mans son. It's lmpartlai
in its visitation of wrath and destrnc-
ton. but it's reign supreme is in the dis
tricts of the poor. They are apparently
the only charitable institutions that are
always open. They have free lunch
counter in which the ragged wretch may
crafty his hunger If he can buy glass
of beer. But the fact that the men VINO
sell the drink can own magnificent
homes while the man in rags eats his
free lunch is evidence sufficient that the
free lunch il but bait to the trap. They
give a free lunch and sell Z man for five
cents that which costs them less than
half a cent. 1t is here in the saloon
that the poor man is robbed Of his hard
earnings, and it is given to the man less
worthy to have it. In a certain district
of this city which has resounded with
the cry of starving men and women
more than once one of the saloons paved
with silver dollars. The man that owns
it is q power in the community. He rot
only owns the saloon; lie owns the bodies
and souls of the poor wretches who sup
port it.
It has been said that the saloon is the
poor mans club. SO il is, and for that
reason it should be swept from the face
Of the earth. He caa go 10 lower. Ev-
cry saloon is not only drinking place;
it is place where gambling is carried
on every day and every night in the
year. 1t is also place which is the con-
slant resort of evil women. The reason
these things 60 together is because they
are birds of a feather. To separate
them is an impossibility. The one calls
for the other, and Ia the absence Of the
other would produce its complement. If
the church itself should run a saloon,
the stimulus of alcohol would drive it's
frequenters to the qualification of every
other passion.
T. V. Powderly says most vigorously:
81 have had an experience of 20 years
among workingmen. My life SO far has
been spent In working among them, and
I expect the remainder Of that life will
be spent in their interests. That expert
ence causes me to say that liquor has
done more harm to worljngmcn than all
other causes. The cry has been sounded
and paYrotlike repeated that poverty
makes drunkards of wo1a:ngmen. If
there is any truth in that statement, then
1t is not to the credit of the man or men
who wilfully add crime to misfortune.
Every sensible man knows that the liquor
habit leads to degradation, disease, dirt
and death. 1t is therefore unjust when
we excuse the intemperance of a poor
man to lay the blame Of it to his pow
erty. We find drunkards everywhere,
and In proportion to their number the
wealthy have more victims to the liquor
habit than the working people"
Fourth-The saloon as an institution
always has been, is now and always
will be crime breeder and law defer.
The liquor associations have rules by
which they defend their members in all
cases against them, whether they have
violated the law or not. The saloon is
the rendezvous Of criminals 1t is the
home Of the thief, of the tough 1t is
the home of the anarchist 1t Is the
stamping ground of the dynamiter. It
is the open slaughter pen in which are
butchered honor and truth and deccncy,
integrity, love and manhood 1t 4 the
source of our political degradation and
political crime. It is in the saloon that
the dirty work of politics is done. 1t is
said that 40 per cent of the Republican
caucuses and 60 per cent of the Demo-
cratic caucuses in our city of New York
are held in saloons.
The saloon becomes a resistless power
In our political life in the city. Chris
tians go to the ballot box like oxen and
vote the tickets which their masters, the
saloon keepers, write out for them. And
the saloon keeper, who is himself q
chronic violator of the law, looms up as
the maker of laws, as the Judge of laws.
The liquor dealers of New York have
their hands on the district attorneys Of
fee and control its policy. They have
as an assistant district attorney a man
chosen by themselves and forced on the
office In accordance with their demands.
He is there for the sole purpose of doing
their dirty work, and in his hands are
placed the indictments against the liquor
dealers Of the city.
We have en- the judges bench man
who has been notorious as the keeper of
saloons and low dives. Wehave now on
the Judges bench another notorious
scoundrel Wrought to be serving a term
IN the penitentiary for his rascality as an
officer while doing the work which the
Liquor dealers of the city demanded of
him. This man recently had the audac,
ity 70 lay aside his duties as Judge and
enter the court as attorney for liquor
dealer who desired to open a saloon