Arizona republican., 1902-10-05
COMMON SENSE ON HARD DRINK
Bishop Potter's Showing as to the Un-
 wisdom O. Too Stringent Laws.


 Bishop Potter's utterances on the drink evil at the opening of the dio- cCs2n convention at New York were characterized by that fearlessness and open mindedness which one has been led to expect from him whenever he approaches the discussion of a public question. Some of his remarks had peculiar reference to conditions as they exist in the city where the ad- dress was made, but the main points made by him were of universal appli- cation. The inadequacy of all forms of prohibition tC a solution Of the real problem, whether the prohibition ex- tend only to one or all the seven days Of the week. is so patent that the fact need not be emphasized. The saloons satisfy wants which are felt by all pCr~Ous rOssCssed of ECcial instincts, and what human being is devoid of them? By far the smaller number who frequent them go there merely for the sake of obtaining an intoXicant Most men go there, as Bishop Potter re- marked, for any enc Of several reasons amusement, Companionship, informa- tioH, business appointment or simply for a change, for which last the better circumstGrced gC to their clubs a practice which most sensible people re- gard as wholly innocent
 ? 't ie the failure to CGnize these truths which has made all reforma- tuiy efforts abortive. The saloon four l ishes because the saloon keepers have | had the wit to make their resorts the means C gratifying the different wants of their patrons. some of which ! have been enumerated above, and be- | f-rr .ss | had the wisdom to see that low grog- ! geries and speak -easies' will continue Jo thrive until other and better insti- ! t.tions shall he substituted in their | places, where the humbiest in worldly ! goods may Sc tisfy their craving for sociability. Tt is in vain" said Bishcp | Potter, that you tell the workingman that the saloon is evil until at least you are honest enough to recognize that there are features of it that are ' not evil, and that, as often as other wise, these are those which he most of all prizes. Under a system Of gov crnmeIt which boasts that it knows no privileged classes we cater to such at every corner. and the club, the hotel and the fashionable restaurant fur
 nish that for a dollar which the wearer of a fustian jacket with a nickel or a | dime in his pocket cannot even venture tc ask for" Behind the saloonkeeper. evil as may be some of the results of his traffic, stand a vast multitude of people, who regard their rights as in vaded when he is attacked.
 Having stated the problem in it's va rious bearings the speaker suggested the directions in which a solution | might be attained The public house movement ia England was pointed out as a highly successful effort to pr vide recTeative resorts wherein the evils of the traffic in intoxicaats are mini mixed. As the scheme involves the
 mCnicipalization Of the public house it
 would be open to objections so grave az
 tC make it impracticable in this coun-
 try. Bish-p Potter adverted to what
 he saw night after night in the Tivoli garden st Copenhagen. wishing that he
 might reproduce that altogether
 healthy and attractive scene here and
 that something similar might become l 9 typical part of summer life in the great city of New York. The people of Copenhagen have no monopoly of pub
 lie places where refreshments, sccia- biiity and innocent amusement are ob-
 tainable by the masses at small cost.
 There are Tivon gardens or counter
 parts thereof in every city oi Germany
 the PaTisian has his boulevards, the Venetian his Piazza san Marco and the
 Madrilonian his Trocadero and in so-
 bricty the Germans. French. Italians
 and Spaniards are the equals if net the
 superiOrs of the American people
 Philadelphia Record.
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