Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1894-03-22
WHAT TO DO WITH THE SALOON
SIXTH ARTICLE.

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by which temperance companies are TO
become the possessors of the saloons,
has been outlined, some Of the practi-
cal difficulties which would probably
beset such an enterprise have been
considered. and the advantages have
been set forth. We have to consider
in this last article some of the moral
aspects of the project together with
the opposition to it that has been mani
tested in certain quarters.
1t is a somewhat startling PROPOSE
ton that good men should become the
proprietors of saloons, on the first
flush the two things appear irreconcil-
able, and the idea is sneered at and
pierced with sarcasm and made odious
while the eyes are closed to the
grounds of its justification. All man
ner Of revolving evils are associated
with the saloon and society places the
burden of responsibility upon the
shoulders of the saloon-keeper. No
man can therefore take his place with
out assuming his responsibility. 1t is
not to be wondered at that men who
never get beyond this first stage in
their thinking are Mortified at the
thought of good men becoming saloon
keepers and that they should fling
back the taunt, dripping with sarcasm,
s.you are going to have church sa-
loon, are you?n If they would adj
vance to the second stage of thought
they might be shocked to learn that
good men are already in the saloon
business, that this whole community
is in the saloon business. The COM
mon council are the peoples represen-
tatives; they grant the licenses and
cover into the public treasury humid
reds of dollars as the peoples share
of the profits from the business. The
common council are voted for with
the certain knowledge that they will
grant these licenses. If twenty men
are implicated in murder they are
all guilty and may be hanged That
the responsibility for the saloons rests
upon the whole community, is a fact
so plain that any further eXpEcation
would seem useless. And such sa-
looms! These men who have charge
I
they encourage drinking, do they shut
the front door at 10 o'clock at night
and open the back door, do they sell
liquor on Sunday, do they sell to
minors and prohibited persons, do
they foster gambling, do they build
their houses out of women's tears and
ehildrens' hunger?-well, they are our
partners, and partners are equally res
ponsible for the conduct of business.
Would it not lessen the guilt of good
men if they should dissovle this part
nership and assume entire control.
They could certainly mitigate the
evils Immediately, and if they were
possessed Of a serious purpose to des-
troy the saloon, they would have gain
ed an advantageous position from
which TO work. Good men with such
a motive are justified in taking entire
possession of the saloons, and they
are highly culpable. if they can do so,
and refuse. still maintaining their
partnership with men whose motive IS
to make gain out OF a business that IS
destructive of morals and health and
happiness. and who seek to perpetuate
the business for the sake of the gain.
| A second stage in our thought leads
us to enquire into the location of sin.
Sin is never in the outward act but
always in the inward motive. The
possession of a saloon is not neces-
sarily sin; the dispensing of rum is
not necessarily a sin. 1t has been
said that TO sell or give away liquor is
a sin PER 81. Men are wont to con-
fuse their own thinking with.taking'
phrases A sin PER Sc as here used
means. if it means anything, that the
sin inheres in the act. If a physician
administers dose of pure whiskey
to dying patient and thereby saves
his life, he has committed sin. To
deny this is to take the sin out of the
act and locate it in the motive, and SO
to deny that the giving away or sell
ing of liquor is a sin per Sc. The
good man who owns the saloon dis
penses liquor with the same motive
that the physician administers it to
the patient. to save life, but to save
! life in a much broader sense, to save
the physical life in the highest sense
and to save the moral life as we'll
Strictly speaking it is net the dispens-
ing of the liquor which saves life;
that is concession which the good
man makes 10 the cravings of NOR
bid appetite in order that he may gain
a position where he can use moral
suasion with the drunkard and pro-
hibit the youth from gaining access to
the bar.
the scheme set forth in this series
of articles for the control of the liquor
traffic, has been criticised as nothing
more than form of high license; this
of course is charge that the writer
Is advocating ascheme Of high license.
Now ! am strongly opposed to high
license and deny that this is = high
| license scheme, But if any man reads
this series Of articles and has not adj
vanced far enough in his intellectual
/ developement to discover tho pnints