Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-02-01
VESTED RIGHTS.

The liquor interests arc HlAhlth N't-
siderable adoo over what they claim
win be- the connscation and destruction
OF Ss.OO00OO Co 100000 worth 90 prop
erty, should prohibition legislation be
enacted, In rendering imperative the
extensive brewing plants In this county
and the supeuumerous saloOs scattered
over the town and suburbs. The usual.
and time worn protest OF interference
with. and destruction OF vested rights
Is offered mere with emphatic visor
Just as it has been urged elsewhere In
the country when the existence there
of the saloon curse has been threat
encd.
The contention may be safely made
that the term Vested Rights IS not
applicable 60 the saloon. or ia fact o.
any form OF property devoted 20 the
manufacture or sale OF alcoholic drinks.
Neither IS it too much to claim that.
as a matter of just equity the liquor
interests have no rights that the law
Is bound 90 respect 1t is growing
belief that were such a question care
ried up % the United states supreme
court on constitutional points, the
court would decide tine saloon. brew
ing and distinlng interests were en-
gagged IN an immoral traffic which the
several states are only acting within
their police rights in suppressing As
hostile 20 the welfare OF society IL
the business OF the liquor interests is
legitimate and ON par with the var'-
Gus commercial activities Of the day.
why does their finished product never
form part of the displays exhibited az
public fairs and exposiuons? This
manufacture, the agriculturaist. thu
dairyman, the horticultur.st, the pack
or, the wool grower, an take pride IN
pushing into public view their various
finished products? Did one ever see
the finished product Of the saloon anl
the liquor interests placed on exhibition
at any OF our fairs? Never You could
not induce a saloon keeper to put his
finished product on such exhibition-no,
not with a shot gun. There are, how
ever, places where such finished prod
uct may be- seen at any time on exhibit
ton, viz, out IN the gutter, unable u
move, or behind prison bars.
The finished product of the saloon
is AN abscess in the side Of the body
polite. whi,h may be cut out By the
legislative or judicial knife for the
same reason that the surgeon cuts out
pustular formations in the individual
anatomy-because dangerous 10 the
body. People complain OF noisome cess
pools asking that they be abated as
a sanitary necessity. The saloon Is
moral cesspool whose absolute abate-
ment is demanded as an imperative
necessity I'm moral sanitation. How can
any fair minded person stand on our
main street corners for hour par
ticularly in the evening, and, after
seeing the molly horde Of profane and
often Indecent humanity stream I'm
and stagger out OF the neighboring
grogshops On rotten, disgusting pro-
fusion, speak Of the saloon as anything
but crying evil that should be wiped
out OF existence for the salvation OF
the growing generation Of the CONF
munity and the cleansing of the chan-
ncls of human life.
Vested interests OF course the
brewer the wholesaler and retail deal
er of this horrible virus win declaim
against any interference with their
'vested interests" properties into
which they have put SO much money,
and from which they are rcaplng such
au outrageous harvest But they an
know, and have known all along the
destructive character of their business.
that they are dealing iu "a stun that
ruins mau-bodN, mind and soul. and
destroys not only the vriuty of any
community. but where che poison o.
allowed 90 run unrestricted win destroy
the nation ITSELF Such "vosted inter-
ests" are interests vested in "a he'll pro-
ducug product worse than that OF a
taantuia. 30 mercy u1 quarter should
be shown the liquor men. They are
evidently frightened iu thls state. with
the outcome of the agitation m the
southern states. and ho probability
that it win bo enectual Boa this. and are
evidently trying TO staye on the day of
Judgment boy posing in the role ~ re-
dJnmefs. But remember the old
adage.
"Wheu the devil WAS sick.
The devil o. monk would De-
Tuf when die devil got we'll