The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-05
"rreatinq" Forbidden by Law

The custom OF barroom treating ="
has often been made responsible for
habits Of intemperanoe. 1t has been
contended. with good show of reason,
that treating may lead to mans
drinking at a bar very much more than
he would have consumed otherwise.
very much more than is good for him and
for everybody who comes in contact
with him.
Accordingly, many years ago rather
unsuccessful attempts were made in
certain Of our clubs to put a ban on the
practice: vet in the natural progress of
our civilization it has come about that
there is now very much less treating !"
than there used TO be in the days when
if man went into saloon to get drink
and encountered there acquaintances
or was accompanied by friends he was
compelled by sort Of courtesy to multi
ply his drinks until every one of the party
had stood treat
1t was a silly practice and offensive
to the laws of proper civility. Ii ought
to break down OF itself, and, indeed,
among sensible men it has actually fallen
into dsuse very largely. In Vermont,
however, under the new license law Of
that State. it is prohibited legally in a
clause reading:
No intoxicating liquor shall be sold or furnished
to person. or any number Of persons to drink in
the licensed premises In the way commonly known
as treating"
We learn from the Omaha World
Herald that in another State Nebraska
treating has been long forbidden by
an even more rigid law, az this section of
the Nebraska statute shows:
Amy person treating OF tor offering to treat any
other person. or accepting. or offering TO accept
any treat or gift OF any intoxicating drink what
ever in any saloon public place where such liquors
are kept for sale shall he deemed guilty OF mis-
demca1or. and shall. upon conviction thereon. be
subject to a hne OF $40, or Imprisonment in the
common Sail Of the county for ten days, or both. at
the discretion OF the court: and In addition thereto
shall pay into said court the OF SIS 10 he paid
10 the attorney prosecuting the case II there be one
and II no attorney rrosecntes. then to be paid in
the school fund OF the county in addition to the
fne"
How far this law is enforced in Ne
braska or if it has actually diminished
treating in that State to any consid-
cradle extent we do not know. In Ver-
mont, it seems, the temperance people
are sharply on the lookout for attractions
Of the anti-treating clause and pur-
pose to bring all offenders to book az a
means Of promoting temperance. The
theory is that men are impelled to drink
chiefly by their instinct of sociablity, I"
and that, accordingly, il treating is
abolished there will be diminution Of
drinking
There may be something in this, so
far as the compulsion of treating" ia
concerned. In the frontier country re-
fusal to accept treat" used to be
treated as mortal insult, II meant a
bloody revenge; but generally, we mag
inc, in all the older communities men
drink simply because they want the
drink though we know that it ia a favor
tie theory of certain religious philan-
thropists that saloons are frequented
mainly to obtain the delights of social
intercourse, not for the sake of the beer
and whiskey sold.
However that may be, it is question
able if treating" can be prevented by
law, and, certainly, it is not desirable
to interfere with the liberty of the in
dividual to that extent If the law goes
so far, where will it stop? Ii man
treats N friend to a dinner in restau-
rant and offers him wine, elbows him of, v
is he to be punished also?
Without the help OF law, indiscriminate