The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-12-08
THE LAW AND PUBLIC OPINION.


\ spirited discussion is going on in New
York over the proposition to so change the
excise law that saloons may be legally
open a part of Sunday for the sale of beer
and wine. Under the Raines law any house
having a given number of beds is a hotel
and may sell liquors to guests. Very natur-
ally, the Raine hotel is a synonym for a
low GROCERY. During the administration
of Mayor Strong an effort was made TO
close all the saloons on Sunday. The OPP
position aroused was one of the auses of
the return of Tammany to power in 1897.
Since that time no effort has been made
to close the saloons on Sunday. Mayor
elect Low and the new county attorney,
Mr.. Jerome, are in favor Of a law that will
legalize the sale of wine and beer during
a portion of Sunday. Bishop Potter and
many other conservative men who are ear
nest reformers, advocate the same policy.
Perhaps the most jealous advocate of the
proposed change is the Rev. DR.. Rainsford,
who led the crusade a few years ago
against vice in the Tenderloin district and
furnished the evidence which implicated
the leaders of Tammany in a conspiracy
to shield vice and crime by sharing the
profits with the keepers OF such places In
a recent interview Rev. DIR. Rainsford
said:
I am opposed to the saloons. I wish 1
could shut them all up; but it Is simply
nonsense, the worst sort of nonsense, to
believe that in a city which, next TO Ber-
lin, is the greatest German city in the
world, we can shut up the saloon on Sun
day.
This is the deliberate judgment of a man
of positive and even radical views, who has
had the courage to assail the stronghold
of vice in New York city. For what he has
done he is more hated by those who profit
by vice and crime than any other man in
the city. He fought the battle courageous
~, but in doing so has come to the con-
clusion that in the interest of public NOR
ais it is better to legalize saloons on Sun
day than it is to have them operated in
defiance Of law; better to license them
under stringent regulations which viii
compel decency than to ignore them and
allow them TO become brothels. IF you
legislate ahead of the public conscience
you defeat your ends" is the deliberately
expressed Judgment of DR.. Rainsford. The
enforcement Of law under our form of gov
eminent depends largely upon public senti-
ment. An unpopular law can be enforced
for q season, but at the next election the
law will either be changed or officers will
be elected who will not enforce it. In the
opinion Of a large number of intelligent
men who desire the best things in govern
ment, laws affecting the public morals
should not be more strenuous in their pro-
visions that the average public opinion or
conscience will sustain.
1t is the judgment of many Of the most
thoughtful observers that one of the most
dangerous tendencies of the times is disre-
gard for law. Statute books contain a great
many law which have come down TO us
from remote times when lawmakers Dor
rowed their ideas regarding what laws
should be from the letter of the Old Testa-
ment rather than from the spirit of the
Sermon on the Mount. Some of these laws
have been practically repealed by being
treated as obsolete, and would be forgotten
did not some revengeful lawbreaker in
woke them for a few days to punish his
prosecutors. There are other laws, how
ever, which the entire community know to
be violated with impunity. To this violation
of law and the evils growing out of it, Rev.
j. Cumming Smith, pastor Of the Taber-
naele Church, of this city, called attention
in his Thanksgiving sermon. He referred
TO the violation of the license law in this
city, and, in effect, declared that the effect
of the knowledge of the violation of the
liquor laws is more to be deplored in the
consequent disregard for law than the vio-
lation of the law itself. He also had the
courage of his convictions and expressed
the opinion that in order to have the liquor
traffic under control of law. the adoption
of the Swedish system, under which the
government practically directs the sale of
intoxicants, was desirable. The Tabernacle
preacher does not favor this plan because
he is in favor of liquor-drinking, for, if he
could have his way, ne would put an end
to the practice. Unfortunately. he cannot
have his way; furthermore, he recognizes
the fact that a large part of mankind in
dulge in intoxicants and that the desire to
indulge cannot be cured by legislative en-
actment. Under such conditions he would
labor TO convince men OF the evils grow
ing out of the use OF intoxicants and place
the traffic under such reasonable legal re-
strictions that it will inhict the least injury
upon society. To him a general disregard
of a few laws will lead to the disregard OF
disrespect of all laws, and that leads 10
anarchy. Men who courageously and
thoughtfully take this position are sure of
being denounced by other men who. unfor-
tunately, cannot or will not consider any
important question I'm all its bearings.
THE TENACITY OF RACE.