The national prohibitionist. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1907-1911, 1907-12-26
THE NATIONAL PRoHIBIT1oN1sT

Perhaps the most ShamefuI exn1Dlt1On OF law
lessness in connection with the saloon on Sum
day has been furnished in some of smaller
city parks where license is granted to sell liquor,
and where dancing crowds throng every Sum
during the summer. At some of these places, fo1
example, at Silver Lake Park, on the hills of
Staten Island, even the pretense of the Raines
law sandwich is abandoned, and the barroom,
hour after hour, is dense mass of seething,
sweating humanity, while long line of bar
tenders hand out the drinks as fast they can
draw them On such occasions the room behind,
or at the side of the bar, will be found filled
with women and girls, drinking, hardly less furi-
ously than the men; and frequently policemen
are present in uniform, drinking with the crowd.
New York Sunday closing" has not had any
relation to all this. There has been no slightest
attempt even to check this wholesale anarchy.
Yesterday and one week ago the saloons of this
city sold liquor just as openly as they have for
months past and the crowd, deprived of their
other places of amusement, thronged the saloons
Darkroom in greater numbers than ever before.
There seems to be reason, perhaps, to believe
that the whole Sunday closing" movement in
New York is of, for and by the saloon, and that
the police department is merely lending itself to
a clever scheme to help the sale of drink.
The newspaper comments are interesting. The
conservative old Evening Post says:
Gas an illustration of the fact that unpopular
laws can be enforced yesterdays closing of all
places of entertainment of lasting value to
the city. Public sentiment was on the side of
those who have so long been violating the stat
utes; and have we not heard for years that you
could not enforce what the people did not wish
enforced? Yet the police had no trouble worth
speaking Of in keeping tight shut every resort
that is under the ban, and they z0ould haze
trouble TN similarly closing every saloon in the
ness Every saoonkeeper knows that if the pc ;
lice wish to close his place. he will be power1sA
to circumvent them Therefore, the excuses now.
made for the police that they have not men
enough, that there is more important work to do,
that public sentiment would not favor it, ETC.. are
not worth the paper they are written on AS
our readers have for years been aware, we have
no sympathy whatever with any Sunday law
which would close harmless places of amusement,
like bowling alleys. skating Kinks and genuine
concert halls But if the law is there, it ought to
be obeyed. If it drives the youth of the city into
the back rooms of saloons or into vile Raines
law hotels, it is all the more reason why the
liquor law should be rigidly enforced until such
time sensible legislature shall give sane
Sunday laws Meanwhile, General BINGHAM
ought not to lose minute in closing the saloons
as it is, he violates his oath of office every Sun
day."
The Times, which, of course, is always friendly
to the saloon, said
"It is a significant fact that while the Sunday
amusements law was being so strictly enforced
yesterday the liquor law was nearly dead letter.
In many neighborhoods the saloons were doing 4
thriving business"
NORTH ADAMS VOTES