New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1907-07-10
mayor SPEAKS HIS MIND
Tells Sunday Closing Advocates
just What He Thinks.
Considers New Ulm a Peculiar
Community Entitled to Pecu.
liar Consideration.
Believes That in Time All Will
Work Out Well.

"a meeting was held at the Congre-
gStional church Sunday evening for
the purpose of impressing upon the
mayor the necessity and propriety of
closing the saloons ON Sunday.
Revs. Wheeler, M:eh1hausen and
Sauter were there and so was Mayor
Silverson. The balance of the audi
ence was made up of many women and
a few men.
Rev. Wheeler advocated law en-
forcement; Rev. Muehlhausen dis
cussed the question of personal liberty
and denied the right of man to do
as he pleased on all occasions, and
Rev. Sauter talked total abstinence
from start to finish. He considered
the saloon business disreputable
one that should be wiped out as soon
as possible.
Then Mayor Silverson was called
upon. The mayor first asked to hear
from others in the audience beside: the
pastors. No one having anything to
offer, he Immediately launched into
discussion of the question at issue.
The first thing he said was that he
was not a coward, and everybody
present seemed to take it for granted.
It was an easy thing, he remarked,
to tell the mayor what no should do,
but he had noticed that those who were
Quickest to give advice were usually
the ones who sought shelter when the
carrying out of an order resulted in
storm of criticism. He knew the law
and realized that it was n the power
of those present to compel him to en-
force it. But he urged moderation.
New Ulm was peculiar community.
It was different from any other town
in the world. Seine of its people had
lived here longer than anyone in the
audience, and they were entitled to
some consideration. He thought that
in time the problem would solve itself;
that gradually all would work out for
Ane best.
< He would do all in his power to en-
force order, but he did not feel that
the best results we're to be obtained by
suddenly forcing an issue that was
bound to be unpopular with a large
portion of the population. One thing
he said that was particularly appro-
lriate to the subject under discussion
and that was that everybody is in
clined to the opinion that the law was
made for the other fellow. If we could
only give less concern to ourselves in
the consideration of any public ques-
ton, perhaps the results would be
{better.
Moreover, he did not believe the
saloonkeepers of New Ulm were as bad
assthey had been painted. Atany rate
he was of the opinion that the same
God that created the ministers created
the saloonkeepers, and if he had
wanted to get rid of them he could
have done so before this. AS long as
she Lord allowed corn and barley and
rye to grow, the stuff would be manu-
featured and used and he knew of no
way to prevent it.
He did believe, however, in enforc-
ing order and preventing abuses of
the liquor traffic. When a lady in the
cited the case of a woman
who was beaten by her husband every
Sunday evening as the result of drink,
Mr.. Silverson Immediately demanded
the name of the man and testimony to
confirm it, and promised that if this
was forthcoming the man would re-
ceive his just dues.
The great trouble, he said, was that
when an officer tried to perform his
duty it was impossible to get people
to come forward and testify to exist
ing abuses.
Taking it all in all the mayors
speech was a frank one and because of
it's frankness it was we'll received. In
/ fact, such men as DR.. Stricken and
= Gottlieb Schmidt took issue with the
pastors and urged that the mayor be
allowed to use his own good judgment
in dealing with the question before
him. But in spite of this, a vote was
taken and Rev. Wheeler declared it
the sense of the meeting that the mayor
be requested to enforce the law.
Luther Burbank is going to create
an odorless onion. Some men are
always insistent on spelling a good
thing.
just give your eyes a chance-ii
overworked pair of glasses will helE