The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-12-04
. GREAT VICTORY FOR The
CAUSE OF LOCAL OPTION

stone county considers that the meet
ing of a number of the business me,
at the Billings Club Rooms, Monda,
afternoon and the resolutions ther
passed in regard to the regulation o
the liquor traffic in Billings is one q
the signal victories of the Campaign
that has been started. The facts O
that meeting must be understood t,
show how complete a victory it reall,
is.
A careful analysis and investigation
made of the situation, by a committe.
of the Local Option Club finds tn.
matter is most gratifying to the caust
of Local Option.
First it is discovered that this meet.
ing of business men was brought about
by the liquor interests largely through
the invitation OF j. Collins West, thei,
official representative.
Second, the meeting was not a public
meeting of representative business
men as might be inferred. It was q
meeting held in an exclusive club
room and upon select invitation. The
committee interviewed thirty promin-
ent business men located along the
streets in the city and found that only
five of them had received an invita-
ton, four Of whom were invited by j,
Collins West
Third, it was found that the meeting
was called as a direct result of a
meeting Of the saloon forces Sunday
afternoon. These forces having be-
come alarmed at the growing senti-
ment for local option in the community
felt that 1T was necessary to take steps
to stop some of the gross evils of the
traffic Therefore through their re-
preventative they offer to do anything
that the business men wish in order
thus to keep the county from going
dry. Instead Of calling a mass meet
ing of the business men in a public
place the meeting was held as ex-
planned. And yet this meeting has
much in it to give joy to the hearts of
those working for a better COM
munity.
That a meeting called together at
the instigation of the liquor forces
should upon the motion of the official
representative of the saloons vote to
regulate the business by closing the
saloons at II o'clock each night is
even o than the forces of local
option had hoped for so early in the
campaign. A confession on the part
of the saloonists themselves that the
business has gotten away from them
and needs regulating by city ordinance
is considerable more than would have
been admitted two months ago.
Why was this meeting not made a
truly representative business mems
meeting and opened to the public?
Why was almost every business man
known to be favorable to local option
left out of the invitation? Where were
the representatives of the common
people that have made the money for
many of those who attended the meet
ing? There are now upwards Of a
thousand of the best common citizens
who have signed the petitions. Is their
opinion worth anything in this matter?
Where we're the ministers? Are they
not representative men of the COM
munity also? Are they fighting the
aus of local option selfishly or in
the interest of the people? is it true
as n of the prominent men is quot
ed as saying at the meeting that the
local option people have not studied
this question and that the ministers
are ignorant of the facts in the mat
ter? Were the educators present at
this meeting? Does the question effect
the schools of the city in any way, the
establishment of a great Polytechnic
Institute for instance. Is it possible /
to build a great educational institution
in a wide open town where the boys
run in out of the saloon and dives at
will? Which is of most Importance to
a city, a $25O,00O brewery OF a s. ,O00,-
900 institution of learning? Have these
educators studied the effect of a wide
open town on a school and should not
their opinion have some bearing upon
the question of saloon regulation?
If an investigation of the business
transacted at the meeting is salts
factory to the Local Option Movement,
the words spoken by some Of the lead
ing citizens are more so. When the
saloon in this day and age bases it's
to exist on the fact that it has
large property in the business, it
always be remembered that
these investments in the business have
been made in the face of the fact that
the local option law has been on the
statutebooks for years. The risk in the
business has been hazardous and the
profits have been large because of
this risk. Is the property to be pro-
tected now upon the ground of sympa-
thy only at the expense of principal
r14 -.--L--l r., - - - - AIok -,o 49, 1