The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-18
THEY BID DEFIANCE
GREEN GROCERS THROW DOWN
GLOVE TO LAW AND ORDER
LEAGUE.
TILL 10 O'CLOCK SUNDAY.
THEY INTEND TO KEEP OPEN
THEIR PLACES OF BUSINESS.

City Ordinance Gives Them This
Privilege, and They Have Been
Advised That state Law Does Not
Take Ii Away-One of Their Num-
Der states the Green Groccrs' E'o-
sition ON the Subject-TO Close Be
fore 10 O'Clock Would Cause Det-
riment and Inconvenience to the
Public and Loss TO Them-Thcy
Fail 10 See How Morality Is Offend
ed.
The green grocers Of the city, who
maintain an organization of their own,
have quietly decided that. SO far as they
are concerned, the Savannah Law and
Order League may go ahead and crack
its whip. They are going to observe the
same Sunday hours they have for the past
year, and no others.
I'VE have consulted among ourselves"
said Mr.. J +. May, one of their number,
yesterday, have taken the advice of the
best lawyers of the city, and have reach
ed the conclusion that we are violating
no law whatever, whether state or munic-
| ipal. As we are convinced that to OBJ
serve the hours we have been accustomed
to observe on Sundays violates no moral
obligation, but, on the contrary, is for
the best interests Of the city, as well as
of ourselves, we see no reason whatever
for changing our course.
The city" said Mr.. May, gives us the
privilege of keeping open until 10 o'clock
on Sunday mornings. Formerly we had
right to keep open until II O'Clock, and
the change was made by Council at our
request The request was made because
we consider ourselves, in the main, re-
ligious men, and we did not desire TO
be conducting our business when the peo-
pie of the city were on their way to
church. 1 mention this 10 show that we
have always been reasonable on this sub
ject and have no desire, without occasion,
to fly in the face of any mans prejudices,
whether we agree with them or not"
| Mr.. May said that the green grocers
were heavily taxed by the city and GER
tainly We're entitled to some considera-
ton. They pay a special license tax TO
/ the city of $10O per annum and. in addi-
| ton to this, are required to give bond,
in the sum of $500, to maintain quiet and
order about their places of business and
| to sell none but pure and wholesome
meats and vegetables. Before they are
permitted to engage in business they must
present to Council a petition for the priv
iIege Endorsed by six reputable citizens
of the neighborhood in which they wish
to locate. Every possible restriction, said
Mr.. May, is thrown about the business by
the city authorities.
I'VE contend" he said, that for us TO
keep open on Sunday is for the best in
j terests of the city. The people are thus
enabled to get meats for their Sunday din
| ners fresh from our cod storage plants.
| There are many of the poorer class of
people who receive their wages late Sat
urday night, who have no opportunity to
buy their meat for Sunday dinner until
that morning; there are still others who
would have no place to keep the meat
after they had bought it. Shut up the
green groceries on Sunday and this class
of people would be very seriously incon-
| Venienced.
"And. if we obeyed the mandates of
the Law and Order League, we would
suffer very serious loss. Those able to
buy for their use the choice and more
| expensive cuts and joints do their buying
for Sunday on Saturday afternoon and
| evening, and when we close Saturday
night we have still on hand large
amount of meat, less choice and less eX-
pensive Unless we are permitted to open
on Sunday morning and dispose of this
meat to the class of people by whom it
is purchased, we are compelled to carry
it over until Monday. This is always at
a loss"
Mr.. May said that the green gTocers
are organized and that their organization
embraced almost every green grocer in
the city There are, he said a few in
the business who are not aligned with
the others, but the great majority are in
active sympathy with the organization
and pledged to stand together. The at
torneys for the organization advised them
that in keeping open until 10 o'clock on
Sunday mornings they were violating no
law whatever, and did not render them
selves liable to any punishment There
fore, they intended to keep it UP.
The correctness of the green grocers
position, that they cannot be interfered
with for keeping open until 10 O'Clock
on Sunday, will doubtless soon find OPP
portunity for verihcation. All of yester-
day the agents of the Law and Order
League were busily at work gathering
evidence against those who kept open
their places of business. AS one of them
is reported to have bought even pair
of suspenders and another to have bought
shoestrings, it is unlikely that some other
enterprising leagues failed to lay In a
choice joint for his Sunday dinner. II
this did happen. the green grocer who
made the sac will hear of it.
Several of the drug stores were out OF
business yesterday, as far as soda water
and tobacco We're concerned but not a
few of them remained open in the face
of the warning issued by the Law and
Order League. The proprietor OF one
soda water establishment said that he
had heard something said about the
league, but that the organization had not
told him to close his place up. Quite a
number of the fruit stands closed up also.
1t was said that the saloon men who are
alleged to keep open on Sunday We're not
frightened by the threats made and took
a chance" with the league.
UPHELD LEAGUES PURPOSE.