The Cairo bulletin., 1906-12-31
AN UNPLEASANT CONTRAST.

II Is not necessary at all to give
any weight whatever To he Feelings
or interest III the opera house
owners Or management o. even 20
their plain rights al citizens and a
tax payers. In order to lind ground
for severe criticism OF the councils
action IN raising the license II tat
extrayagant figure of $500 per annum
on the eve Of the new year after
practically all contracts for the sea
son had been made by the manage
ment upon the basis of the $50
license The opera house and its
owners and Its management may be
left entirely out of the question, as
Anot worthy of any consideration
whateyerand yet the case looks ex
ceedingly bad. for Tie city council
has placed itself and the mayor In q
position that they can not hold with
consistency and with honor
In ignoring entirety the strong
presentation of facts made by Mr.
Aistnorpe the council left no ground
for the belief that 1t was in any man
ner or to any extent whatever In
fiuenced By the real merits of the
case. or by argument, and this is fur
Their accentuated by the remarks thai
have since been made by some OF
the aldermen who vo.ed for the or
dinance. in explanation Of their atti
tude Three Of them have said that
while they were at first inclined 10
vote against the measure, they
changed their minds and voted for
il because Mr. Aisthorpe spoke Sc
strongly against II Two others have
said that they voted for ii in order
to get even" with oae or another OF
the aldermen who opposed il. Thus
seven of the men who are entrusted
by the people Of Cairo with the i'm
portant position of aldermen have
confessed that petty spite moved
them to enact an infamous piece Of
legislation. grossly unjust and OPP
pressive in its bearing upon those
affected by IT,
And one can not help calling TO
mind. in passing. waat a contrast is
here presented between the attitude
of those in authority in this instance
and their attitude IN other similar
cases.
A year ago OF so ,he proposition to
raise saloon license vas voted down
by the mayor. because the circum-
stances were exactly the same as
they were in the case of the opera
house: that was rigai. II was prom
ised them that II should be taken up
later, during this year; but it was
not and no criticism has been made
Of the neglect.
Recently a proposition to stop the
public gambling in turkeys was
voted down by the ,1ayor. because il
would cause losses 20 few saloon
keepers who had already provided
themselves with poultry in the belief
that they would be permitted 10 yio.
late the law. Little was said about
that although many citizens en-
gagged in legitimate business were
grossly wronged by this neglect on
the part of the autn0riJ .es ~ enforce
the law
Petitions of citizens complaining Of
disorderly saloons have been cast
aside with contemp'
In the matter Of transferring saloon
licenses the council has systematic.
ally violated the pain letter Of the
Law in order that some keeper Of
saloon might net be hur in his feel
ings or in his pocket. aud fve-minufe
Fecesses have been the order al coun-
ell meetings in order that this might
be done.
Gamblers AMI gambling house
keepers have been allowed 10 bring
their business onensfvely- into the
street without any effort 10 curb