The Republican journal., 1903-11-05
How High License Works.
Rev. O. R. Miller of Holyoke, Mass, tells
bow license works in his State,

bY Kew. U. II. M1Ilcr VI 1oiyoho, Mdoo.,
on How High License and Local Op-
ton work i'll Massachusetts. MT.
Miller is field secretary OF the Reform
Bureau of Washington, ID. T., whose
primary object, the speaker stated by
way Of introduction, is to secure the
massage by Congress Of important and
much needed reform legislation along
the line of temperance, better Sabbath
observance. stricter divorce laws, anti
gambling and anti-polygamy measures,
etc. During the eight years OF the Bu-
reau's history it has secured the pas
sage by Congress Of several lmpo rtant
measures along these lines. But he said
that the Bureau is working especially
to secure in the next Congress the pas
sage of the Hepburn Interstate Liquor
Bill to stop dealers from another State
shipping liquors by express or other
wise in the original packages into NO
License and Prohibition territory, and
thus break down the will OF the people
where they have driven the saloons out
This bill will greatly strengthen the ct
ectiyeness of all No License and Pro-
hibition laws.
He was confident that the Reform
Bureau, with the help of W. c. L. u,
and Anti-Saloon League, would be able
to push this bill through the next Con-
gress. He finally commended Congress
man Burleigh for his help along all re-
form lines in Congress. In his address
on high license, Mr.. Miller gave many
facts and incidents from his own ex-
perience in trying to help enforce the
High License Law of Massachusetts.
He said that he had lived over IA years
in Massachusetts,, and hence he could
speak from experience rather than
from theory or hearsay. He spoke sub
stantially as follows:
First-High license does not drive
out the low dives. The licensing of
open saloons does not stop the illicit
sale of liquor. The licensed liquor
dealers never prosecute or drive out OF
business the unlicensed and illegal
liquor dealers. Why? There are two
dealers continually violate the law
themselves, hence do not dare prose-
cute the low dives lest the latter in turn
should prosecute them. Secondly, the
| licensed dealers do not care to prose-
cute the illegal dealers because the lat
| ter buy their supply of liquor of Ii
| censed dealers. Did you ever hear of
saloon keeper prosecuting one of his
patrons for buying liquor of him? In
many Massachusetts license cities we
/ have as many illegal rumshops as we
have licensed saloons.
''Secondly-High license is constant
ly and fagrantly violated. The licensed
dealers of Massachusetts shamefully
violate many of the provisions of the
very law under which they are author
| lied to do business. This is the testi-
mony of all who have made any inves-
tigation on the subject. Probably
ninety nine out of every hundred IL
censed liquor dealers of Massachusetts
violate those provisions of the license
law which forbids their selling to
minors, to drunkards, to intoxicated
! persons or to persons who have been in
! toxicated within six months; and many
of them also violate those other provis-
| ions of the license law which forbid
their selling on Sundays or on holidays,
or before O'clock in the morning, or
after II o'clock at night We have had
boys Is years of age so drunk lying on
| the street that the policemen had to
pick them up and carry them in their
arms to the police station, in places
where they have no patrol wagon, and
when they sobered up they admitted
that they got their liquor at licensed
saloon.
"Talk about the farce and hypocrisy
of unenforced prohibition in Maine, it
is not one fourth as big farce as the
non. enforcement of the provisions of
the high license law in many Mass
chusetts cities and towns.
| "Third-High license is much harder
to enforce than prohibition. Why? Be
cause it is harder to get evidence of
violations under license than under
prohibition, and because is is harder to
get Jury to convict licensed dealer
than an illicit dealer. Under prohibi-
ton the place where liquor is being
sold can be raided by the local officers
and the liquor seized and the dealer ar
rested. prosecuted, and convicted. with
out any further evidence. But under
license. if licensed dealers are violating
the law by selling on Sundays, or to
minors or drunkards, ETC., you cannot
raid their places and seize their liquors,
for they have right to have the liquor
there: but liquor detectives or ''spot-
ters" must be employed to go into the
saloons and buy liquor and thus get
positive evidence that it was intoxi-
eating liquor that they were selling;
otherwise, if arrested and brought to
court the liquor dealers would swear
that they were only selling soda water,
lemonade and temperance drinks.
Fourth High license increases
drunkenness. That is, the amount OF
drunkenness under license is much
greater than under no-license or pro
hibiticn. 1t is only reasonable to sup
pose that a man who pays large
license fee and must furnish an ex-
pensive saloon, must sell much more
liquor to make living than dealer
or dive keeper, who does not have to
pay any license fee, and who pays but
little rent. And the easier we make il
for men to get liquor the more there
will be sold. The more open the sa
looms are the greater the temptation te
drink. Official figures from Massachu
setts cities and towns show that the
amount of drunkenness is very much
greater where the town votes license
than no-license.
"Here are the results of Brockton's
experiment of one year with license
as compared with the no-license yea
before and after it as to the number Of
arrests for drunkenness:
Il 1897 1898 1899
(No-lcense) (LicenSe) (No-license
435 1927 455
mo wonder Brockton got enough o1