Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-09-06

several hundred dollars. but that would
| be his own fault. he ought to have got
| ten some strong man to go along and
| protect him. The laboring man going
| home Saturday evening with his dinner
pail on his arm and his weeks wages
| in his pocket might often get knocked
down and robbed of his weeks pay, and
| after he regained his senses. get up and
| go home with his pocketbook as empty
as his dinner pail; but no matter, nc
one would blame the thief. That was
what he was licensed to do. 1t was the
| workinrnan's own fault. He saw the
| licensed thief coming with his striped
| cIct hes: and his red lantern. and lie
ought to have turned up another street.
Perhaps he would have met another
thief on that street, but he could have
| dodged into an alley and kept lodging
around until he finally got home. Ought
not the poor laboring men to be willing
TO endure some Inconvenience for the
sake of the large revenue which would
help reduce the taxes of the rich? But
the E1boriug man saw the thief COM
ing and did not dodge. He said he was
aII., to take care of himself and his
money. too. He did not thank anybody
for calling him a coward or urging him
to dodge around and keep out of the
th:efs way. Hence when he got ~obbed,
robody sympathized with him. for they
said he was Il fool he ought to have
kept out of the thicf'S way.
Now, why net advocate Su"n law?
Licensed thieves would do your city no
more harm than licensed saloon keep
ers would DO The thief robs a man of
his dollars only, but the saloon robs a
man not only of his dollars. but also
of his character, his home. his family,
his friends, and his soul.
Another illustration: There are
doubtless houses of prostitution i'll this
State, and, perhaps, always have been.
as, the records of bad women brought
into police courts from time to time
have shown. You have Il strong law
against such houses. The law is not
absolutely enforced. 1t never has been.
Why do you not say the law is fail
ure and cannot be enforced, and that If
people run such houses they ought to
be made to pay license fee? There are
people in this state who would pay$1, 900
license if allowed to run such Il house
unmo,eSted. BY so doing another big
slice could be taken off your tax rate.
If revenue is more important than
morality. then why not license such
places and get more revenue?
But does any one think that such
houses. licensed to send their inmates
out in our streets to solicit men to come
in, or allow the most attractive of them
to stand in the doorways, or sit at the
vol in,
vite young men who pass by to come
in. would reduce prostitution i'll your
city? Nay, nay! Every sensible per-
son knows better. Then why apply the
same principle to the saloon?
Third. the Massachusetts high license
law is much harder to enforce than Il
rrohibitory law. Some men are say
ing, give us Il law that we can ell
force" But we find it much harder in
Massachusetts to enforce the provls-
ions of our high license law than you
do to enforce your strict prohibitory
law. The easier you make it for men
to sell liquor. the harder it is
to make them obey the law.
Under high license. if a licensed
saloon is selling liquor arthe Odartr ar
sundays or holidays, we cannot raid
the place and search for liquor, as they
have a right to have liquor there;
but we must prove the sale OF llquof;
hence we must employ LEGAL witnesses
or ont of town detectives t" get eVl-
dence of liquor sales. Some people are
opposed to the use of "Spott"rS. put
under license the use of "SpotterS Is
much more necessary than under pro-
hibition to enforce the law. In MIs-
Sachusetts we find il almost impossible
to get evidence against licensed llp-
uor dealers without spoilers.
Another reason why it is so much
harder to enforce high license than pro-
hibition is because of the greater diff
ficulty in getting a liquor dealer con-
yicted under high license than under
prohibition. The Massachusetts high
license law also says that if Il licensed
dealer is convicted in court of a single
violation of the law. that his license
thereby becomes void. 1t is usually
easy to convict a violater of the law
before a local Judge, but he appeals to
the county court to be tried before
jury, and there is where the difficulty
comes Our Massachusetts, law also
SAYS that if a man * convicted of vio-
lGtIlS iUt ldN Ht tiitb'I w sottiit'd
another license for q year; and If he
owns the building in which he runs his
saloon, a license cannot he granted to
anyone else to run Il saloon i'll that
building for u year. You see man
has Il great deal at stake. lie must
furnish up Il fine saloon with ex-
pcnSivc fixtures. and he must pay his
81 900 or more license fee for the whole
year in advance; and if he is convicted
soon after the beginning of the year,
he also loses all his license fee for that
year.
Now, when q case comes before an
ordinary Jury, it is almost impossible
to got IL iurymrn to agree to render
verdict against a man for selling some
liquor illegally. when the state charges
him such "A high price for his license
that he is practically driven to sell
some liquor contrary to the law in
order to pay his high license fee, and
also make q living. And when the jury
knows that if they convict him he will
forfeit his license. and lose almost all
he has, and perhaps be thrown into
bankruptcy. they will hesitate long he
fore every one of the 12 jurymen under
such circumstances will vote to con-
vict "A man who has wife and chill