The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-01-11
(Exclusive Service Charities and The Commons Press Bureau.)

States Brewers Association, MT. Fox has been for ten years president Of the New Jersey State Board of Children's Guardians. and a member of the Exc cutive Committee of the New Jersey State Charities Aid and Prison Reform Associa tion, and Tn 1906 was president of the New Jersey State Conference of Charities and@Corrections. He is well known here and abroad in connection with social welfare work and social legislation.)
 At the last convention of the United States Brewers Association, a declara- tion of principles was adopted which set forth the willingness of the brewers to cooperate in the passage and en- forcement of rational laws for the regulation of the drink traffic, and for keeping such traffic free from unlaw- full and improper accessories.
 It would be unreasonable to expect revolution in the six months which have elapsed but enough has been ac- eomplished to make us feel encouraged. It is impossible to study this ques- tior in1partially, without reaching the conclusion that in a number of States the laws are directly responsible for many of the evils which prevail. For example, the Ohio constitution forbfds the licensing of the sale of liquors. and in lieu of a license, an annual tax is imposed, practically without condi- tions. Under such an arrangement, any man who could pay the tax has been able to open saloon, and it will readily be seen that with no restric- tion as to the number of licenses, or the character of the saloon-keeper, the business has often fallen into disrepu- table hands. The law of New York State has also encouraged the multi plication of saloons, and is directly responsible for the establishment of fake hotels to catch the Sunday trade. On the other hand, the Pennsylvania law, restricting the saloons and placing the licensing in the hands of the courts, with power of revocation, has resulted in the saloon being conducted decently and with strict observance of the law. It is true that there are ob- jections to the law from the stand point of the courts. and that Sunday closing of the saloon has resulted in a great deal of illicit Sunday traffic, which is winked at by the police. How ever. this has nothing to do with the beer business, for practically no beer is sold illicitly, and the licensed trade in Pennsylvania has absolutely no con- nection with the evil.
 IT. Greater New York the brewers have established a working arrange ment with the Committee of Fourteen and the Bonding Companies, which has resulted in cleaning up about hun dred disreputable places. The law it. self makes the undertaking very diff cult and it is further complicated by the over-erowded condition of the courts and the attitude of some of the minor judges. Neither the brewers, nor the Committee of Fourteen. are thoroughly satisfied with the result, but they feel that a creditable start has been made, which warrants the continuance of the compact. Similar work has been done in Buffalo, Roches- ter and other upstate cities.
 Tn October, 1907, the Ohio Brewers Association established a Vigilance Bureau to investigate the saloon busi- ness, and report obnoxious places. with proofs of their misconduct, to the au- thorities. They demanded that legal steps be taken to close up such places and if the authorities failed to act. the Association was instructed to bring legal proceedings itself, to drive the disreputable saloon-keeper out of busi- ness. The Executive Board of the, As sociation did not expect to bring about the millennium, but it went at it's busi- ness very thoroughly, employing detec- tives to get evidence wherever neces- sary. A letter was addressed to every saloon-keeper in the State, calling att tention to the law and giving them a warning. Particular attention was paid to the enforcement of the juvenile law, and in many localities the brewers are cooperating with the juvenile courts. A special department was organized with a. corps of twenty-five men whose duty it was to obtain information as to the manner in which the saloons were conducted throE xhout the State. In Cincinnati alone more than a hun dred places were reported to the Chief of Police and in several other cities the Vigilance Bureau succeeded in elimin- ating a large number of dives. The greatest obstacle which the Ohio brew CTS found in their work of reformation. was the evident compact which existed between lawless dealers and grating authorities. In cities where such condi- tions existed, the brewers were com- pelled to prosecute vigorously in their own behalf. The work has been very expensive. and has brought down upon the brewers a great deal of political opposition and misrepresentation, but on the whole the response to the move ment has been most encouraging. Per- haps nothing could illustrate the diff culty of the problem from the brewers standpoint more than a recent con- troversy with the Chief of Police of Cincinnati. The Chief stated that he did not propose to act Gas the brewers agent in assisting to convict law breaking dive" keepers" MT. Percy Andreaea of the Brewers Board of. Trade. reported as follows:
 "We have succeeded in some in- stances-instances distributed over some 50 cities and villages, in the State-in. driving out notorious dive keepers. But in 2 far greater number of instances we have failed, and in every one of these latter instances the cause of our failure proved to be the same cause of which our esteemed Chief Of Police makes so strange boast. In other. words. we. succeeded, wherever the police wel- colned our efforts, and we failed where ever the police adminfstra ation did not welcome our efforts, or, as Chief Mflli- kin describes it where the police proud ly refused to act as the brewers agent.'''
 The Texas Brewers Association was perhaps the pioneer in the cleanup movement. An enormous amount of money was spent m securing evidence as to dis rderly practices, particularly in connection with the gambling evil as associated with the saloon. The Association was obliged to conduct it's own prosecutions in great many cases, and has succeeded in breaking up gambling in the saloons and sup pressing other disorderly practices.
 Here too. the success of the venture has been prevented in some cases by lack of cooperation on the part of the authorities.
 Perhaps Milwaukee represents the ~1~s- e.