The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-01-29


from the course Of procedure here out
lined. The mayor who makes any such
policy his own is bound to meet with
criticism from such men as Parkhurst,
but there appears to be no way to avoid
that; and after all, it is only a minor an
noyance.
.'The experience Of Tammany sins New
York and of Anles in Minneapolis has
proved that d municipal, executive must
adopt some golden mean between the rigid
enforcement Of a law prohibiting Sunday
selling, and the enactment of a law legal
izing lit. When municipal i government
comes to be regarded by reformers as
business propositian and not a matter Of
sentiment, they will recognize this, fact.
You can't legislate good morals into a
man any more thangyou can innoculate a
rogue, with ctity5it, gq,. i2~,
se5.. Seth 7 lew ToW's Il Position es ...<
In an open letter, addressed to the So
ciety for the Prevention Of Crime of
which DR.. Parkhnrsts is president, Mayor
Seth Low says: s. lse.r.f -Ssg.., t,,;..
By virtue of the law prohibiting the
sale of LIQUOR on Sunday the public sale
of Liquor on that day has been stopped
and peaceable and. orderly Sunday has
been already more perfectly secured since
Jan. l. as Ijudge from the public tpress,
than certainly at any time for four years
past. sss, s.lss ~ 50 go
In recent interview DR.. Parkhurst
said: 1T impresses me that the present
excise law will be exceedingly hard to
enforce. Roosevelt bent all his wonderful
energy to attain this end and we had three
dry Sundays as a result. That does not
seem to predict success for any effort the
present administration may make The
| whole police force was used in carving
Of = 41s-
was practically an open field for the per-
| petratiOn5 OF other cri1nes', "a
| Continuing, Mr.. Low says that he is
| unWlffing to devote the entire energies
| OF the police force to the enforcement
OF any one law and that the excise law
IS being enforced up to the very limit
! OF what IS practicable with the means at
| command
Like Mr.. Eustis, New York's chief ex
ecutive states it as fact that closing
the saloons on Sunday means the turning
OF homes into. drinking houses. Says! he:
The .Dry" Sunday.
This is what happens in the city of New
| YORK, in addition to the partial disregard Of
otner laws, OF which DR.. ParkLurst has
spoken, when an attempt Is made bv the
police power to. close all access to saloons on
sunday, noamatter how clandestine it NAV he
FOR Two or three weeks While the pressure
lasts, every vessel that, will hold LIQUOR is
nhea on saturday, with the result that many
! ioagfngs become saloons on the Sunday fol-
lowing. ~ the end of a few weeks arrange
ments are completed by which liquor can he
had IN the room behind the saloon or in
the room above or in the room to one side.
ana the illegal Sunday trade from that time
Cd goes as smoothly as before the pressure
began In other words the police pressure
aimed at making even clandestine access to
the saloons impossible does not result in the
enforcement of the law, but only in driving
the breach Of the law one step further back
In the mean while this pressure causes the
nres OF, Dlackmail to burn as with forced
draught and the last state of the city under
such policy is worse than the first 1t is
difficult enough at best to break up black
mail An administration of the Excise law
that only doubles the inducements to black
mail, but which cannot stop illegal sales. NAV
well be called in question.
It must be added that such police pressure
as is even nOmtnally successful IN preserving
all access to saloons Sunday never has
been. and never can be, mantainedf for more
than few weeks at a time. The city.cannati
be left for long period ian open field for
the preparation of other crimes. -
I To sumMup: The attitude Of this admins |
tration toward the excise law can be clearly
defined. twill continue TO enforce the ex-
else law as one of the general body of laws
which 1t is called upon to enforceSin the
best manner practicable With the means at
its disposal It will take Immediate cogniz-
ance of any complaint of breach of the law
that is called to its attention, but it Will not
the entire police force on this
one law and let all other laws go by the
board. It will also do everything it can
while it's in power to break up the bribery
and corruption of which the excise law has
been for so long the fruitful parent