The evening times., 1900-01-29
OPEN SALOONS ON SUNDAY.
The Sale of Beer and soft Drinks
Favored by DIR. Parkhurst.

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NEW YORK, Jan. 29.-Rev. DR.. Charles
il. Parkhurst advocates the opening OF the
saloons for the purposes of selling beer and
soft drinks" during certain hours on sun
day He thinks this would improve the
morals of the public, inculcate respect for
the law, take from the police a source Of
revenue and a fount Of their iniquity. and
ally powerful voting elements against Tam
many Hall.
These are three reasons why | feel like
advocating the opening Of the saloons on
Sunday" says DR.. Parkhurst. 1T is proper
to remark that this is no sudden conviction
that ! have arrived at, but comes from
very careful looking over the ground. and
from some experiences of the difficulties
and perplexities involved in the situation.
There are three purposes that would, in
my judgment, be subserved by allowing the
saloons to keep open certain hours on Sun
day--I do not care 10 specify at this time
what part OF the Sunday should be used for
this purpose-for the sale of beer and soft
drinks.
In the first place. little law, an i'm
perfect law. If enforced, is far better than
an ideal Law thai il utterly ignored the
excise law is a case in point, as every on3
understands.
In the second place, it would take out
of the market of crime one Of those COM
modities in which the police are at pres
ent dealing, and from which Tammany
Hall is deriving much of its revenue.
In the third place. it would be dealing
in what ] consider would be a perfectly
square and honorable way with our
German fellow-citizens, who. by his
means ! think, could be drawn into solid
alliance with native-born Americans and
Hebrews as against Tammany Hall.
"Of course, / am assuming here that
such a statute, IL enacted, would be
strictly enforced, while l must admit that
have very little confidence that any
statute Of that kind or Of almost any kind,
would be faithfully enforced by the exist
ing regime.
Il have the Germans more in mind than
others in this suggestion. | do not think
that there is a moral principle involved. II
/ thought so, l should, OF course, have
nothing to do with t. | feel that every
statute that stands upon our books OF law
and is absolutely disregarded, as are the
excise statutes, is working among men OF
all classes a disregard and a contempt for
law. Ii is far finer and better thing to
have respect for little law that is being
enforced-aEd the enforcement of law is
the only way to procure respect for it
than il is TO have great deal of law that
no one cares anything at all about, and
that the existing authorities do not enforce.
Now, there is crusade going on up in
Harlem The attempts that Harlem is
making TO purify Harlem interest me. Do
the Haremites imagine they can clarity
Harlem without the Qualification of the
city In toto? You cannot enforce respect
of law in one portion of the city when 1t
is not regarded in other portions. You
cannot have, for example, malaria in one
precinct and escape from it merely by
stepping across the boundary line into
another precinct
Il should have little more respect for
the good people up there-and they are
good people-if ] saw them laboring for
the enforcement of law up there, while at
the same time bending their best efforts
toward the displacement of the present
administration by one that would enforce
law throughout the entire city.
THAT brings me back to the bottom of
the whole business-how are we going to
get rid of Tammany Hall? When / was
approached recently with regard to the
wild, maniacal movements made by the
police on the East Side, | say that the
police and the administration itself were
4
as there exists the scheme for getting
revenue out of vice there is no use in
making efforts to suppress vice.
Zone great thought that have had in
mind in making this suggestion about let
ting the saloons keep open part of Sunday
has been that it might ally with ourselves
the German element, which holds the bal
ance of power
"You can depend upon it, however. that
Tammany Hall, and the representatives of
Tammany in Albany. will never encourage
the legal opening of the saloons on sun
day In the first place, il would cut OF
some of their revenue, and, in the second
place, it would destroy the likelihood OF
any alliance between Tammany and the
Germans. On the same principle, Tam
many Hall would not advocate, but strenu-
ously oppose, the licensing of disorderly
houses, because it would cut into its rev.
enue. Tammany is in power simply for
what there is in it.
There has been very great enlarge
ment of opinion on the saloon question
among all thinkers. except among the pro-
hibitionists, in the last few years. j am
speaking, of course, with reference to heer
and soft drinks; and many who used to