Arizona republican., 1907-10-14


 |hours. it would produce a shock like the touch of live wire. If we could compare the wages received by many workingmen with the amount which goes into the home. our hearts would 1throb with a mighty compassion or the wives and children, mingled lsympathy and condemnation for the self-indulgent wage earner,- and a lblazing indignation toward the un- lserupulous robber who has pocketed ithe hard earned money without giv- ing for it value received.
 The saloon not only robs the work lingman of his money, but ;Eso of his health. The highwayman considerably Ipresents an option at the muzzle of his pistol. It is your money or your life" The liquor dealer offers no such kindly alternative but demands your money and your life" It robs the I Iworkingman also of his skill. With the loss of health and skill the inevit- liable consequence is the loss of em- iployment. It steals the workers job.
 The saloon robs the city of general prosperity, as this is indicated by the growth in population, savings bank deposits and increased investments in no license cities. The wholesale at moSphere of clean. no license city attfacts the best class of citizens and investors. Boom the valley appears to be the watchword of the hour. If you want to boom the valley" most effectively put on the lid and hermet- ica1fy seal it. Let the news go abroad that Phoenix is a safe place to rear and educate family Capitalists have turned their backs upon our city after viewing its saloon attractions as an unfit place for either residence or investment.
 If the doors of the saloons are closed the doors of the savings banks will l admit a procession of depositorS. While employers of labor throughout the country are increasingly demand ing abstinence in their wOrkingmen, it is absurd to suggest that the lack of saloons stops the growth of an Amer l ican city. The idea is a threadbare and moth eaten fallacy which every sensible man ought to put into the ash barrel.
 I Allow me to submit one more prop osition. Character is a financial asset and a material element in municipal prosperity as truly as cold cash. When we propose to elect city officers there is a very proper demand that the can didates be men of good character, law abiding and respectable citizens. This is right. This is business. Every great enterprise affecting directly or indirectly the welfare of the public needs to be safeguarded by the char acter of it's administrators. Finan- cially speaking the liquor business is | the biggest business in Phoenix. Now ask, to whom is it proposed to en- trust this great business of dispensing intoxicating liquors, involving such tremendous charges? It may be said in passing. that the character of this business is such that it is not attrac- tive to men of the highest ideals, the finer sympathies, or the nobler .pur- poses. Those engaged in it, who come to themselves. loathe and despise it and turn away from it. Convert a sa- loon keeper and he quits the business instantly. This is not the case in oth- CT lines of business. An engineer. a plumber, a drug clerk or 'even the owner of an automobile must demon- strate fitness before he is permitted by the state to run an engine. do sanitary
 
 take his wife out for a ride. ! What qualifications are required of the liquor dealer? None whatever. either moral or intellectual, save the ability to pay the license fee. The li- eensing board. it is true. usually has the somewhat nebulous privilege of re- fusing to grant a license to a person |, they may deem unfit to receive the same" This may mean something or nothing according to the character of the board. The amazing fact is that this dangerous business is entrusted. without legal safeguards as to hon. , esty. morality or ability. The result is what might have been expected. The 1 liquor business is in the hands of ha- bitual lawbreakers. If there is a li- quor seller in the United States who has actually kept either in letter or in spirit the conditions of his license, he | is wanted at once at the front of the stage for exhibition purposes. I do not believe such a person can be found. I am not alone in this opinion. It is the judgment of we'll informed persons 1 that not a license of the first, second or third class, is issued that is not made void by illegal sales within ten days. not to say rwenty-four hours.
 For days that are dark. and for tricks that are strange" the liquor seller. like the person of whom Bret Harte once sang. "is peculiar We want the saloon abolished entirely and permanently from our city and we have another ten reasons for it: 1. That no license may have a fair i trial here on its merits.
 2. Because it is good policy to make wrong doing difficult and right doing easy.
 1 3. Because it will promote decency and responsibility on the streets. 4. Because it will mean business | prosperity.
 ,. Because it will mean larger de- posits in the savings banks. 6. Because it will mean less poverty, crime and sickness.
 | :. Because it will mean steadier em- ployment for workingmen.
 s. Because not a single good, clean, defensible reason can be given for the continuance of the open saloon in our city.
 9. Because. of the people who want no-license. Who are they? The moth