The sun., 1905-09-01
ReliRtOn and Rum.

In this period OF declining religious
faith many churches have undertaken
to provide substitute for it in extern
sive and complicated parish systems
OF philanthropy. organized to look after
the temporal welfare of people instead
OF their immortal souls. Various sorts Of
clubs have been set up-for athletic and
military training, for billiard playing
basketball, dancing and other amuse-
ments; but the extreme Of absurdity
was reached when liquor saloon was
established under religious auspices and
dedicated with religious exercises.
The theory on which this rumshop
was started is that the liquor saloon is
"the poor mans club and needs only
to be conducted in a moral way to re-
move the objections to such a place Of
refreshment. Incidentally. on the as
sumption that the liquors furnished in
the run Of saloons are inferior or Of poor
quality, the religious r,imshop was to
serve the cause of both good morals and
good health by purveying a better
article.
OF course the thing has not worked.
The humorous incident Of the opening
of religious rumshop gave notoriety
to the place at the start, but that curi-
osity soon passed away and the concern
was not prosperous. 1t was beaten in
the competition with the saloons in the
business to make money and not to mix
philanthropy with whisky.
OF course the talk about the liquor
saloon being 4the poor mans club" is
nonsense. 1t is no more his club than is
his grocery. He goes to it to get a
drink and not for moral and intellectual
improvement, and not for converse on
high subjects. If he fingers too long
after he has had his drink he is an un-
welcome interloper, who Is likely to be
put out rather violently. II he does
not buy any drink he is not wanted at
all. The reason for the existence Of
the place is that it caters to the human
appetite for stimulants, and to attract
custom it provides the accessories which
the experience Of centuries has shown
to be provocative.
There is no department OF trade in
which there is more intelligent percep-
ton Of the tastes of the public than the
liquor business. It is pursued by thou
sands Of men Of great business ability.
and to make it successful, more espe-
cially under the present system Of high
license, the fullest expenditure of that
ability is requisite. Novices in the busi-
ness, amateur social reformers, undertook
to enter into competition with these ex-
pert and long experienced saloon keepers,
and, of course, they failed. II they had
introduced into their r,lmshop any desir-
able and profitable novelties these would
quickly have been initiated and improved
upon by the others.
As to the matter of the selling Of liquors
deleterious not merely In themselves
az stimulants, but also because Of in
furious adulterations, there is much
nonsense spoken and written. Tests
Of the liquor sold in saloons Of the dis
trict in which this religious rumshop
was started as reformatory influence
have shown that generally It is no more
injurious to the drinker than that sold
in more elegant quarters Of the town.
The trouble is In drinking too much OF
the stuff, whether in Fifth avenue or
Mulberry street. Relatively to the popu-
lation. it may be observed. there arc