St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-08-25
A SENSIBLE DECISION.

"A SENSIBLE DECISION.
The excise law of New York is as
drastic as could be drawn. It was
made so by a strange union between
the politicians who wanted to get
pull on the saloonkeepers, and
the good people who are forever try
ing to legislate other people into
morality. 1t was not at all a. dead
letter; but was made, by the politi-
cal bosses of the city, very live
and lively letter for the saloonkeep-
ers who would not bend to their
demands either for contributions to
the fund or for party service The
good partners of the wicked poll
ticians lapsed, as usual, into in
activity as soon as the law was en-
acted; and, if their attention was
called to attractions, said only,
there is the law and there are the
officers; why don't they do their
duty?"
Then came the reform administra-
ton with a purpose to enforce the
laws given to its charge. The re-
suit is that for several Sundays that
good city has been agitated to it's
depths by efforts to make the sa-
loonkeepers obey law enacted, not
TO prevent their selling on Sunday,
but to reduce them to a, condition of
servile subsection to the ruling pow
ers. AS it interfered with the profits
of the most lucrative day of the
week, and as it was what many of
them regarded as an infringement
on their personal rights, there was
a stout resistance to it, and an
evasion of it in every possible way.
On the part of the public that
drinks there was vast indignation
papers, a surrender of large space to
the report of the incidents and to
editorial discussion. But in the face
of it all, - the administration went
steadily on, removing policemen in
sympathy with the opponents of the
law, until last Sunday was conced-
edly a dry Sunday in the city.
A singular incident of the matter
is that there is nowhere any defense
or justification of the law. Mayor
Strong says he does not approve
of it, but while it is the law it is
his duty to compel obedience to it,
Commissioner Roosevelt advises a
modification Of the law, but insists
on present obedience to it. The
press is generally opposed to the
law, but counsels submission to it
only until it can'be changed, and it's
harsh and useless features removed.
AS a result we find the association
Of retail saloonkeepers of the city re-
solving that they will obey the law,
it shall be expelled from the asso-
citation. This is sensible conclu-
sion to come to. 1t is the only
course that will give effect to the
public opinion that the law should
be modified. No class of men, in
any business, can afford, as mere
matter of business policy, to defy or
evade a law passed to regulate their
conduct. After it has been enacted
it is not a question of right or wrong
It is simply one of obedience. If
the law is wrong or oppressive, the
surest way of securing its repeal or
change is to obey it. To resist it
puts the parties wholly in the wrong,
and arouses counter feeling that
demands enforcement and punish
ment. Then disobedience of law is
infectious. All law is an invasion
of individual liberty, and resistance
to one law, because of its infringe
ment on ones freedom, leads easily
to disregard Of others, and gradually
TO a spirit Of lawlessness that under
mines the foundations on which So
ciety rests. This is all trite, but the
New York excise law and the final
and sensible outcome of its rigid
enforcement indicate the need of its
repetition and vindicate again the
good sense Of it.