Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-05
The League Expresses Strong Senti-
ments on Liquor Traffic.
WANTS The LAWS ENFORCED
Petitions and Moral Suasion Weap-
ons in the Warfare.
PRAISE FOR SERGEANT DALEY

of the Anti-Saloon League of this city. n
number of speeches were made by leaders
in this move ment, all of the most agSres-
sive tone and expressive of great encour-
agement in the propaganda against the sa-
looms. The meeting opened with
prayer by Rev. Mr.. Baldwin, pastor of the
chapel, afte- which Mr.. James l.. Ewin,
first vice president of the league, made the
Introductory address. He said that the
league is comparatively new institution in
the District, and he hoped that 1t would be
short-lived. He meant, he went on quickly
to explain, that he hoped the necessities
for it's existence would soon cease and
then only would the league disband. "As
long as there Is saloon in the District"
he declared, 80 long will there be an Anti
Saloon League" He went on to speak of
certain work that has been done by the or
Ganization during the past few months In
the spreading of literature abroad. Two pc
titions have been circulated in order to test
the workings of the present liquor law,
which requires that a saloon cannot be
opened until majority of the signatures of
the property owners or housekeepers in the
same block shall have been obtained. The
first of the papers sent out By the league
was fo- general consumption, merely stat
ing the objects of the organization and ask
ing for moral aid. The other was sent to
those whose names appear now on the petit
lions of the saloon keepers.
These people were asked in this petition
what benefits they or their neighbOrhoods
derive fro m the presence of the saloons, and,
further, requesting that they take steps to
have their names reInON ed from the apDli-
cations now on file. A surprising number
sent back these petitions. erasins their
names from last year applications. But
many others replied with anger or with
sarcasm. Mr.. Ewin read some of the an
In a
not app called in the way they were intend
ed. One man wrote on his: Buzz! You
mind your own business" Another COM
mented: THE women who go around with
these papers had better be at home attend
ing to the cooking
Purity in Politics.
Rev. NJ. Power, pastor of the Vermont
Avenue Christian Church, was the next
speaker. He alluded to the fact that there
is no suffrage in the District, and described
the local citizen as being las unconslderei
as innocent children in n household" Such
a system, he said Is false and untrue. He
described the attitude of many Christian
workers, Who believe that there is no place
i'll politics for good people, that they should
keep away from the polls as places of moral
contamination. This policy of letting the
government alone he said, is monstrously
wrong. If carried out to its fnality 1t
would place such men as Bob lngersoll and
Boss Tweed in the White House and the
Senate. There are wrongs in society today
largely because the good people of the COM
munity do not stand up for their rights.
The saloon IS one of those great wrongs,
and the obligation of Christians citizens
is TO fight tnat wrong until it shall have
been cradiCated.
About Snakes.
Rev. Chas. l.. Pate, pastor of the North
Capitol Street NJ. E. Church. gave an ex-
Of no r1a of no ,xbn
is kept from his license by the action of
the. citizen. Ohe man, he said. had come
into his neighborhood and had opened a
hotel after spending a good deal of money
in equipment. The citizens had then made
war upon him until he had to close his bar.
He complained to the speaker that he had
lest his vested rights" al that the gov
eminent should have protected him. Mir.
Pate told him that he, too, believed In
vested rights such as the right of the
parent to the welfare of his son or daugh-
ter, and he belieTed that this right was
paramount over that of the man whose
business threatened the souls and the
bodies of the children. 1t was q of
the rights of the many threatened by those
Of the few.
The league, he said. should oppose high
license, ami he gave an apt illustration of
what is signihed by that term by quoting
from a re cent religious periodical which
likened the saloon business to box filled
with snakes. II there are twenty-five holes
bored in the Lox the snakes will all escape.
That is unrestricted license. If ten of the
holes are plugged all the snakes will get
cut by the other fifteen holes. That is low
license. II all but five are plugged the
snakes will then have to get out by those
five but Il ey will get out. That is high Ii
cense Then, If the holes are all plugged
and the snakes are driven over into the
/ ext county, that is local option. But if the
snakes are killed, that Is prohibition. The
Anti-SaloOn League, he said, should always
try to kill the snakes"
Mr. Pa$e said that much could be lone by
moral suasion, ard Illustrated his mean
ing by an example of storekeePer in his
neighorhOod who sold liquor. Mr.. Pate had
got him to cast up his accounts to see
which Of his customers owed the most
money, and after a month or two he con-
fessed that the oldest and worst debts were
those of his drinking customers. After a
few weeks of thought he concluded to give
up his liquor business, and he withdrew his
application for license.
sergt. Daley Praised.
Mr.. Ewln,in introducing the next speaker,
Mr. Edward j. Redmond, president of the
Father Mathew Total Abstinence Society,
allied attention to the fact that there are
no denominaticnal lines in the League. Mr..
Redmond said that the league fights the
principles of the saloon keeper, and not the
individual. He said that the man has a
right to get his living, but Lot at the ex-
pense of the con munity and the people
around him. The league he went on, does
not ssk the officials of the District to break
the laws but merely to enforce them. The
league means that the members of the
police force shall be made to respect the
Ga this that they took when they became
members of that body. He then spoke of
1.-The men who are trying to nJure Sergt.
Daley"
There are more men like Daley" con-
tinued Mr.. Redmond, who would do as he
is doing If they believed that the people of
the District would stand by them. The
majority of the members of the force
would rather live up to their oaths than
break them"
At the close of Mr.. Redmond's remarks
resolution was read by Secretary Shoe
maker commencing the action of the Dis
trct Commissioners In ordering that the
members of the police force shall be sober
men. This resolution was adopted unani-
moUsly by a rising vote.
The Warfare.
The final Speech of the afternoon was