Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1905-10-02

Rev. J. S. Hawkins exposed the sins
Bluff, at the First Methodist church.
During the progress of his sermon,
Rev. Hawkins made some sensational
statements and followed them up
with some equally sensational COM
ment. The subject of his discourse
was "The Sins of Pine Bluff and he
paid his respects in no uncertain
terms to the whist player, the wine
room, the Sabbath breaker, the open
Sunday saloon, the gambler, and the
turf exchange. Nor did he stop here;
following up the line of his subject,
he traced the cause of these sins back
to their origin. Rev. Hawkins en-
phatically declared that the people
themselves were to blame for the toll
Grafton of the sins he enumerated.
He declared that every individual man
and woman of the city shared in the
responsibility of law-breaking here.
The voter was primarily to blame
Following up this line of thought, he
traced the history of democratic
government, showing that every law
in such a republic as ours is the re-
suit of public sentiment. somewhere
and somehow expressed. This being
true, the people themselves are to be
censured if bad law is found on the
statute books. So, too, the people
must be held responsible for violations
of the law. 1t is true that they elect
officers to enforce the law, but when
the officers are asked why they do not
not enforce it their invaribale reply
is that they would willingly enforce it
il the people would stand by them
And so they would, said Rev. Hawk
ms. If the people of Pine Bluff would
stand by their officers in the enforce
ment of every ordinance on the city
statutes, there would be no gambling
houses, there would be no Sabbath
desecration. there would be no wine
rooms, there would be no ether tolera-
tions of law-breaking.
Rev. Hawkins proceeded from this
to ask some very pertinent and sug-
gestive questions, and followed them
up with some sensational statements
Referring to Pine Bluffs turf ex-
change. and explaining just what it
was, he said he understood that this
institution paid regularly into the
city treasury the sum of $62.50 per
week fer the privilege of running
He paid his respects to the council
men of the city for having legalized
such a gambling house, and left no un-
certain impression of his vews of
them. "Do you know" he said, "that
these dens have been outlawed in
nearly every place except Hot Springs,
hell and Pine Bluff?'
Explaining what wine room meant
il. a large city, where they are fitted
up elegantly in connection with some
saloon. and where they are patronized
by the highest class of society, he
said that they had assumed quite a
different aspect in Pine Bluff, and
charged that sorry immitation had
been set apart adjoining some saloons.
and that they were patronized by the
lowest element of negroes. "Why are
such things permitted" he inquired.
Passing from the wine rooms, he
took up gambling. He said he had
been informed that there were crap
games, roulette and poker being run
in the city, and some of them in con
nection with the saloons. He didn't
like to use that term, "craps," for
it was the rightful heritage of the ne
gro only. These gamblers, he charged,
were paying into the city Golfers the
insignificant sum of $25 each per
month, assessed by fines in the police
court on a certain day in each month,
Why are the gamblers not arrested
for every offense they commit? Be-
cause public opinion would not back
up the officers in the discharge of
their duty. Why were not the licenses
cf those saloons in which gambling
was permitted revoked? Would the
county judge revoke them?
"Why don't the county Judge revoke
the license of that saloon which kept
its doors open until o'clock Sunday
mcrning, a week age, and whose doors
were kept open until the night chief
Of police went there and closed them
himself?"
Rev. Hawkins explained, in conclu-