The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-03-22
RALEIGH A MODEL FOR ASHE-
WILLIE.


looms in that city wide open, has gone
Que of its way to give a slap at
Raleigh.
1t publishes the following article in
the Citizen under a big headline:
"Anti- Dispensary Arguments
"Raleigh.
1.-THE short experience of the CAPT.
tai city of our State is held up to the
voters of Asheville as an example of
the benefits growing out of the dispen
sary system in a large city. 1t is said
that the experience of South Carolina
does not apply to Asheville, and it is
insisted that Raleigh is the proper
town to look to for light upon this
subject. The net profit from the Raj
eigh dispensary last year is said to
have been about $50, 900. This after
paying all the expenses of conducting
the business. Surely there can have
been no diminution of drinking If an
amount of liquor was sold sufficient
to pay such a large profit. Therefore,
it has certainly not diminished drink
ing. Reports state that whiskey, wine
and beer can be obtained in Raleigh at
several restaurants by simply stating,
L want my BOTTLE Thus it is plain
that the dispensary does not get all
the revenue. and that very respectable
blind tigers are already fiourishing
there. Thus two of the main conten-
tfons of the pro-dispensary people dis
appear, to-wit: temperance and reve-
nue..
but Raleigh should be no guide for
Asheville to follow. Raleigh is not a
health or pleasure resort, although a
very healthy and very pleasant
place. Asheville is both. While RAJ
leigh is not exactly a slow place, it
is not very progressive, having allow
ed the political conventions of both
parties of late years to assemble in
Greensboro merely because it would
not provide a convention hall and
sufficient hotel accommodations for
large crowds Asheville, on the other
hand, has hotels unsurpassed in the
State, and an auditorium large and
good enough for almost national
convention. Raleigh has not many
paved streets, while Asheville has
miles and miles of them. In short,
there is nothing that Asheville has
been asked to do for the pleasure and
comfort of visitors that she has not
done. There is no more progressive
city in the South than Asheville. Tt
would not be right, then. for Asheville
to take Raleigh as her guide in so inn
portant a matter as the elimination of
her saloons and the adoption of dis
pensary in their stead"
There is more transformation in
the above article than we recollect to
have seen compressed into the
same space. In effect it says
that, L. The Raleigh dispen-
sary has not lessened drunken
ness; q Raleigh is a slow-going tewn
and not fit town for a pushing town
like Asheville to follow; 8. That there
are plenty of blind tigers in Raleigh;
4. That Raleigh is not a pleasure re-
sort, though it is good enough to say
that it is very healthy. and very
pheasant place"
Now with regard to the attitude of
the Citizen with reference to keeping
wide-open saloons in Asheville, that is
a matter which does not concern the
people of Raleigh. Certainly this
paper has not commented upon it.
This is a free country and a man or
a newspaper may fight for the saloons
and their demoralizing evils If it
wishes to do so. But when the Citi-
zen goes out of its way to discuss
Raleigh in a way that is calculated to
injure the reputation of this good city,
why then it is the duty of this paper
to correct some errors into which the
Citizen has fallen.
1. The Raleigh dispensary has
greatly decreased drunkenness and
drinking. The young men of the city,
not tempted by the brilliant saloon,
do not get the habit of drinking from
the social glass. OF course the dis
pensary sells much whiskey, but more
in Raleigh. The court records and
the testimony of nine-tenths of the
people of Raleigh will bear out the
assertion that the closing up of the
saloons in Raleigh has been a great
blessing. Many of the best men in
Raleigh who voted against the IS
pendary now declare that the inn
provement has been SO marked they
would not vote to permit the return
of the saloons.
2. Raleigh is not boom town
nor "blow-hard," but by any test it
invites comparison with any saloon
town of like size i'm North Carolina.
Look at the bank statements, its fac
tories, it's business enterprises, it's tax
assessment, the money it pays for
postage and freight-take any test
that guages whether a town is pro-
gressive or not, and Raleigh will be
satisfied with the result. AS the
State Capital it is as cosmopolitan as
Asheville. More North Carolinians
come to Raleigh than any other town
or city in the State. When Raleigh
voted on closing up the saloons, Ra-
leigh voters were told: "That 1t
would be we'll enough for little town
like Louisburg or Oxford, but it will
ruin Raleigh. People will not come
to the State Fair and other great
gatherings if you shut up the saloons"