The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1900-03-30
to what is right, they should suffer

to what is right, they should suffer
the consequences and on the contrary
also it would be rank injustice to
make all the saloons suffer for the
actions OF two or three Of their num-
Der.
| The saloon subject is a sore spot.
In order to strictly enforce the clos
ing laws in Ely, some radical changes
in the existing state of affairs must
| he inaugurated. The location s'blind
pigs" must be broken up. If this is
accomplished, we candidly believe
the twenty-five saloons in Ely would
assist with all their powers in up.
holding whomsomeVer accomplished
the reform,
We have talked the matter over at
length with several of our business
men, saloon men among the rest, aud
the concensus of opinion is that until
something is done with the illegal
traffic, it would be injustice to ''rub
it in" on those who pay for the priv
ilege Of selling liquors. One gentle
man said:
Ely. as is well known, is inhabited
by many foreigners of Slavonc ex-
traction who are drinkers without the
possibility of their ever becoming
drunkards. Beer is staple article
Of diet with them and to shut off
their beer would have similar effects
us shutting off any other mans fav-
orite dish. They will drink beer and
they have moral and legal right to
drink it wherever and whenever they
chose. But here is the rub. They
do not buy it in places built and Ii
censed for the sale of beer and liquors.
1t is claimed on pretty good author
ity that the twenty-five saloons: in
Ely do not in a year sell as much beer
as does the locations. For the priv
ilege of retailing drinks the saloons
pay $500 a year to the city and S25 a
year to the state. During my resi-
dence in Ely. l have not heard of
a single entry on the books of the city
where the location retailers have paid
asingie cent. The moral support OF
every fair-miuded citizen of Ely,
| can ascertain. is with the man who
will bring about the closing Of the
Illegal places in the city. You can't
prevent the giving away of drink but
The selling can be prevented. AS
near as can make out the saloons
are little at fault themselves as
upon several occasions an effort has
been made to secure united action on
the part of the city retailers to stop
the practice but the effects were
nulled by the action of the wholesale
dealers and beer agencies who persist
emily refused to go into any deals of
the kind. There are seven agencies
here who control the majority of the
saloons, hence the inaction. The
moment the saloons are closed tight
on Sunday, the drinking public will
see that they secure their beverages
somewhere and a stampede to the
locations will take place. 1t is said
that nothing is sold, that the board
ing houses give their men the drink
with their meals. This has been
disproven in almost every case"
We only quote one mans opinion
but several expressed themselves
with words to the same effect Thelar-
ger part of the sentiment is with the
man that pay his license providing he
runs his place on business principles.
A strict enforcement of the saloon
laws in Ely would be law but not
justice. Take for example, cities
where the saloons have been closed
tight. Duluth tried it and people
went to Superior Superior tried it
and people went to Duluth. The
authorities and the business men soon
saw the folly of driving money front
their doors, creating jays in other
places to be taken care of when they
returned home, and soon the open
policy with certain restrictions was
iadopted. ST. Paul and Minneapolis
had the same experience. Ely would
proably indulge in like experience
| nrOvidinp q closed tioht nolicv 1v,a