Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1908-11-23

Of all kinds of reforms I'm the liquor
traffic. To this extent the organiza.
ton proclaims its willingness TO WORK
hand in hand with the Anti.Saloon
League, out there the accord stops
short and sharp. The association nat.
urally makes war on the efforts Of It's
enemy to destroy the liquor traffic
root and branch.
Great Interests Involved
Little wonder that the producers
are making such vigorous defense Of
their interests against the attacks of
the Anti.Saloon League wnen one
studies the figures involved In the
struggle. The ten States most heav.
lily interested in the brewing and dis.
filling trade are the following, which
have capital invested in the industry
to the extent noted:
New York. sl22 AL; Pennsylva.
mia. S79.953.27G Wisconsin, $66.2G7..
276; Illinois, s55. 1884 i69; Missouri,
s44.2G9. $50; Ohio, $ii.lSo.527; New
Jersey, S3O,525,727; Kentucky. s2i..
G74,GG7; Massachusetts, S23,S9i,OiO;
and Minnesota Sl4,SG2.300
In the last fiscal year the Govern.
ment derived revenue OF S59.5G7 SIS
from fermented liquors a:one In these
ten States The producers contribut-
ed other millions to the States In
which they are located. besides ar.
fording distribution of still other
millions by way of wages. II Is these
allied interests, then, that are making
Il desperate fight for lie against the
attacks Of their enemies. With the
vast aggregate OF capital and labor
involved In the struggle the public
need not wonder II II proves to be one
OF long duration and great bitterness.
The producers contenG--and not
without some reason-that prohibi.
ton can never prohibit. and that this
very fact brings the law into popular
cQptumely Armed with bales OF cor.
roborative evidence, they assert that,
law or no law, men will drink. A
mere statute can never subyert or sat
isfy a popular thirst. .r
In face OF this argument the lead.
ers OF the Anti.Saloon League make
the contention with some SHOW OF rea.
son, II must be admitted, that the pro.
ducers themselves are In a great meas
ure responsible for the defiance of the
regulating or prohibitory laws. II Is
argued that they corrupt public on.
| Gals whose duty II 10 to enforce the
laws, and thus create Il moral condi.
ton that would be impossible with
out the connivance of the liquor in
| terests.
Producers Hit Back
| The producers have come back at
the Anti.Saloon League from time to
time with extracts from the report OF
the committee of so of this city,
which made a thorough investigation
OF conditions obtaining In the local
liquor traffic. Some OF the members
of the committee were Seth Low,
President Eliot, Of Harvard Univcr-
sity; Carroll ID. Wright. the late Bish.
OPP Potter, Secretary Bonaparte, and
DR.. Felix Adler M the beginning the
committee found that the producers
disclaimed all responsibility for the
law.breaking and vice-Dreeiing sa.
looms of the city. and that with some
show Of reason on their siie, Tho
various quarters of the city were IN.
vespgated, and the findings of the
committee incorporated IN the general
report. After careful investigation
of saloons In the Jewish quarter Of
he city. the committee reported;
Here, then, we find saloonkeepers
and saloon patrons of most abste'
mious race, thrifty often TO penurious,
ness, among whom drunKarGs are ex,
oeedingly rare. Yet they drink, and
the saloon Is to them an important In.
stitution."
or the saloons In the italian quar-,
ter on the East side, the committee
said:
Drinking to the point OF intoxica,
ttiOn Is the exception In these saloons
for the Italians are temperate peo
pie . To them the saloon means, IN
the first instance, sociai opportunity
unpurchasable' elsewhere FOR any price
within their reach. and without which
their lives would be dreaTy waste
Drink, Though inseparable from the
saloon does not appear to be indulg
ed In by majority for drinks sake
but as means of greater soclability
and an unavoidable tribute for the
, privileges of the place"
All fallacy, aver the leaders of the
AntiSaloon League, In response to
these statements In the saloons de
Tense They say that these arg,l
ments are mere Establishments put
forth for the bedaZzlement OF the
public eye. cloak for the sheltering Of
, a vast traffic that must inevitably cor
rupt and degrade the public morals
And so the battle goes on with tn,
scope of 1t spreading with the dawr
, OF every day. The vast machinery o.
} the league Is extending Its fortified
tions at every possible point while
: the liquor producers are meeting Il
with every munition of industrial war
+ fare at hand.