Waterbury Democrat., 1900-11-26

a hundred yards from their homes with out running the gauntlet of many tene- ment saloons, where police protection is almost unknown. the commissioners are granting new licenses, and that, too. in deference to the supposed po- litical power of a wholesaler. 5
 ''When the gods would, destroy any one. they first blind him. is an old saying. The blindest men in our day are the officials who are f1attered until they lose their heads. They are not the victims of honest men, for honest men never fiatter. The number of blessings for which we join in public thanksgiving is determined largely by the fidelity of our officials.
 'If the influence four. county com missioners for veal or woe were prop erly appreciated. the citizens of Con- necticut would doubtless say to their presentative-elect: If when you as semble next winter you discover that the county commission as an inStitu- tiOn has been a failure in the state, only complcating the liquor question. then. in Gods name, do away with it and lodge the licensing power with the superior court, where it belongs. and where there will be no danger of it's prostitution
 If. however. the institution is to be given q further lease of life 1 would say to the senators and representatives of New Haven county who will be en- trusted with the naming of commis- sioner: Give us. in evidence of the respect you have for yGur oath of of fice a man who has an honest judicial mind. who respects public opinion, who is not the slave of an organization and who will not proudly parade the collar which. in the eyes of an honest
 man. is a badge of infamy.
 '''In this free land of ours. when
 cur officials forget that they are our ] servants and not our masters, they
 have. lost their own head, and no polit- ical party can afford te spare their of [ ficial head.
 ''One candidate for the position of county commissioner in the competi-
 tion for the vacancy in New Haven
 county before the general assembly the coming winter. is reputed to be ready to spend S3.000 He will not have to
 spend that amount. The liquor asso- citation will come to his rescue. They
 can well afford to pay that insignif1-
 cant sum fer the privilege of Dlacin"
 their collar around an official neck. An official thus tied up will not do much for tue 'cOnSecr2tiOn Of the fam | ilv.' He will hclD to eXempIify the close connection that exists between the three institutions placed under his charge. He will so multiply tenement saloons that the iail and county homes will not be empty for lack of training ! schools.
 Ut may be that the majority of the commissioners of New Haven cou1l- ty have discovered that their prudent party advisers were right. It may also be that they have at length come to sense of right reason: having count | ed the ballots in the recent elections. and discovered that the different can didates supported by their friend. the wholesaler. were simply whipped out
 of the field. It was then false that 'he was running both parties'
 "The treatment meted out to his pet candidates seems to prove that our cit | iZenS anticipated the advice of our good governor and started in a practi-
 cal way to 'cOnSecrate the honle,' by reading q lesson to the men who arc | the greatest menace to the peace and happiness of our homes. Another les son must be read to the men, who, in- | stead of standing between our conse- ! crated homes and the saloons that
 menace them as they were appointed | to do. actually spend so much of theil
 own time in the saloons that the com | fOrtable offices and court rooms sup
 piled by the county are thrown away
 on them.
 ''In one of our tenement saloons, not | long since. jolly customer was sc
 noisy in his blasphemy that the Chris
 tian man behind the bar threatened tC
 punish his blasphemy by putting him out if he could find a policeman with
 in half a mile. The following was the
 blasphemer's plea for his blasphemy
 Say. it's holy water you want back
 of the bar if you're going to run 2
 Sunday school in front of it: but it's
 not holy water that you got back there
 so we're not playing Sunday school out here. see"
 Let us hope that the blessings fol
 which we may be thankful will bt
 vastly increased by this time twelve months. Let our prayers at times in
 clude petition to the giver of al
 blessings that he may vouchsafe tt
 grant wisdom to our officials, a sense of justice to our courts. fearless fidel
 ity to our local guardians. and pater
 nal solicitude to the chief executive
 Then we will have just cause to bt
 thankful each day of the year for {
 civilization which endears and cOnse
 crates the associations of home.'