Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-05

night after payday" Thus he dismissed

night after payday" Thus he dismissed
the subject.
Last winter one Of the members of the
Edinburgh town council introduced res
oluttOn. which was adopted calling upon
the chief constable for a report upon the
alleged increase of drunkenness among
the working people of that city. and the
cause therefor. The report has been
suppressed. When it was called for at
recent meeting of the town council. the
lord provost (mayor) explained that it
had been printed privately for circulation
among the magistrates with a view to OBJ
tanning their views on the subject. but he
would not promise when the facts it con-
tanned could be made public 1t is known
unofhcially. however. that the chief con-
stable reports that drunkenness has in
creased % per cent in three years; that
more than 1000 special licenses were
granted in Edinburgh last year for 800
600 population. while London with 5000.
600 residents. granted only LOO; that the
number granted in Edinburgh exceeded
those granted in Manchester. Liverpool.
Birmingham. Leeds and Newcastle. the
London. combined.
No Steps Taken to Remedy Evil.
No steps have been taken. SO far as l
can learn. to correct these conditions.
There is no particular activity or inter-
est in temperance reform. While the Ro-
man Catholics of Ireland are organizing
for crusade to suppress the liquor traf-
fic. in that country and are appealing to
parliament for a law that will reduce the
number of saloons. the Presbyterians of
Scotland seem to be entirely Indifferent
to the curse from which their neighbors
suffer more than any other people in the
world. Only the other day 1 read an ap-
peal from the chief inspector of police
in Ireland to the clergy of Scotland on
q ca no
here making an investigation and had
come to the conclusion that the chief
cause of drunkenness in Scotland was the
lenient manner in which street drunkards
and saloonkeepers were treated by the
Scottish police and courts.
A Remarkable Appeal.
I'VE in Ireland. who are interested in
the cause of temperance the chief in
spector of police in that country writes
earnestly appeal to the Christian churches
in Scotland to take up this important
question and have their law regulating
the offense of drunkenness raised to the
| laws of England, Ireland the United
States, Canada and the Australian colo
MES. The clergy of the Christian churches
are the legitimate leaders in such a mat
and morality. How can it be expected
that the youth of Scotland can be brought
up in the principals of temperance with
| the fearful examples seen by them night
ly in the streets of their cities and towns.
countenanced and encouraged by the low
morality of the present Scotch law"
This is an appeal from Roman Catho-
lie policeman to the Presbyterian min
listers of Scotland. and 1t continues:
"A person drunk. whether in the streets
or highways or in a public building. who
thereby sets such a bad example to the
public. ought to be heavily fined for the
second and following offenses and the
| fine in such cases should be fixed by the
law and not be left to the discretion of
| magistrate, whose position Is dependent
upon the votes of people who may be
brought before him. And repeated Of
lenses of drunkenness within the year
ought to be punished by fixed penalty
| Of imprisonment. or detention in an in
ebriate home without the option of paying
a fine. In that way, only. can drunken
| ness and intemperance be effectively sup
pressed in our land
Disgraceful Scenes Described.
And the inspector proceeds to describe
the disgraceful scenes he witnessed on the
| streets OF the Scotch cities he visited-I
have seen the same things myself and any
person who cares to see them need only
go to the sections of the city inhabited by
the Wage-earning classes to see for them
selves. There is no secret about it. no
ADMISSION Zee Is charged, no questions are
asked. but the shameful exhibitions occur
at the same places regularly the night
after the working people are paid. There
| is difference Of opinion whether Glas-
cow. Edinburgh or Dundee has the great
| est amount of drunkenness The weight
of opinion is in favor of Dundee. but it
does not seem possible that anything
could be worse than what can be wit
| messed every Saturday night In Edin-
burgh.
| The Irish inspector continues: II visit
ed Glasgow. walked about the principal
streets at night. talked with the police
men on duty. who seemed to me to be
fine. intelligent. courteous men and we'll
suited for their work. l found toward
the closing hour of the public houses
(saloons) that the streets are crowded
with drunken men. In no city in Europe.
the United States or in Canada that l
have ever visited did 1 see so large a
number of drunken persons. The scenes
I witnessed were most disgraceful to
civilized community. / was told by the
manager of a public house. who read
| from register he kept. that an average
of 1l6 drunken persons daily were re-
| fused intoxicating liquors at his bar. 100
| for six days in the week
What the Law Says.
The police have no mower whatever un-