Smyrna times., 1903-01-07
Delaware State Temperance Alliance.

III the mlndS or many of our fellow
citizens as to what the Alliance is, and
what we intend to do, at the recent
meeting of our executive committee
1t was deemed advisable that state
ment be issued to the press so that the
people of Delaware might be informed
on this important subject.
l. The Alliance is simply band Of
non-partisan temperance people of
Delaware, who desire in a non-partisan
and In constitutional way to secure
from the General Assembly the privi.
lege of voting on the question of
license" or emo license" of the
saloon in our state.
,. Being partisan, and having
as members of our Alliance men of all
political parties, we do not have any
quarrel with any political party, nor
Is 1t our purpose to attempt to inter
fere with the methods of any political
party.
). We propose to organize, if posi-
BILE, all the temperance people of the
state, irrespective of former party
affiliations, into one organization, for
the express purpose of giving temper
ance men as much legal standing be-
fore the courts of Delaware as the
saloon men now have.
t. Strange as it may seem to those
who have not studied the question,
temperance men have no legal stand
ing at all in our courts at present. A
premium is set on being.a saloon
keeper, or being an aid and abettor
of the saloon, by our present law. We
claim this is unfair discrimination. We
claim that sober man ought to stand
as well before a court in Delaware as
drunkard, and a man who never
drinks ought to be regarded by our
laws as, as respectable citizen as one
who INDUCES in his cups. Because a
man is always sober, and never visits
a saloon and is opposed to saloons, is
no reason why he is not as good a
citizen as man who drinks, visits
saloons and wants to continue them.
But the law of Delaware as it now
stands and is now construed puts a
premium on a saloon man because he
is saloon man, and gives him a
standing i'll the courts that no tenn
perance man of equal standing in the
community can hope to equal.
.. 10 prove this see our present
method of securing license. Twelve
men Gin the city of Wilmington twenty
four men, in the rest of the state
twelve, endorse a mans application
for a license to sell intoxicating
liquors. There may be a thousand
men In that same district that do not
want the saloon, but the thousand men
have no legal standing In the court.
For some years past our honorable
court has granted the temperance
people the courtesy of remonstrance,
but 1t is only a courtesy. The court
can at any time refuse to hear a remon-
STRANGE, aud can decide to grant IL
cense In face of all your remOnstrance,
because your remOnstrance has no
legal standing. The saloonist is there
with the laws behind him; and your
thousand temperance men are there
because the personelle of the court
says; Gentlemen if you have any
statement to make in this case speak
your little piece;" and if the person
ellie of the court should change we
might be denied even the courtesy of
We claim as temper
ance people this is not fair.
6. Another proof that being
salOonist puts premium on man in
the eyes of the law as well as the ewes
OF the court is this: Can you secure
the refusal of license to-day iu Della
ware with remOnstrance which con-
tains the same number of men aud the
quality of men as the application con-
tains? l think not. An application
may contain twelve or twenty-four
names which by no means represent
the best twelve nor twenty-four in the
community. Now go into court with
a remOnstrance with Just twelve
or twenty-fOur names of the same
grade men, same influence, same
social and political standing. Will
you stop that license? I say no,
you can not stop it with an equal
number of men of equal grade.
To stop that application of twelve or
twenty-four men of very limited in
telligence, wealth or influence you
will have to secure a remonstrance
representing by far more wealth, more
influence and higher grade men every
way, or license will be issued. Now
we as temperance men say this is not
fair.
2. 1t is to prevent continuance of
fl,ie Fofv l.,