Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1910-08-04
EARLY CLOSING
Of SALOONS IN
SO. ORANGE URGED
lnter-Church League Circulating
Petition Against AIIow-
ing Extra Hour.

Urging the death of the proposed or
dinance to leave open all of the saloons
in South Orange an hour later at
night. committee of representatives
from each of the churches in the viii
lage in a petition to the Village
Board of Trustees request that
action be left TO the next spring cleo
tion, when it can become an open issue.
The committee which was formed for
the sole purpose of fighting the ordi-
nance now under consideration by the
trustees and dated for passage oa Aug
ust is, is composed of William S. Wade,
George K. Badger and James E. Doty,
from the First Presbyterian Church:
John 7. Larkin, ]. Budd Smith and
Louis v. Blanchet. from the Catholic
Church of Our Lady of Sorrows:
Frank Wildey and DR.. Edward T. Tay-
lor. from the Methodist Church, and
Frank W. Dinsinore, Benjamin S. Com
stock and A E. Clough, from Trinity
Presbyterian Church. An urgent ap-
peal to sign the petition will be made
to citizens of the village. .
The closing hours of the bars except
ing the one in the South Orange Hotel.
ar South Orange avenue and Valley
street. is now II o'clock. BY the pro-
posed ordinance all of the saloons will
be allowed to keep open until midnight,
as is now the closing time for the
hotel.
I'VE ask the trustees not to grant
the extension, but to allow the present
closing time of IL p. m.,'' the request
de- In fe nd 10 nr.f1o
by proper ordinance, the hotel bar to
do likewise. We think this is desir-
able for the village and that it is only
fadr the closing time should be uni
form. The present condition of allow
ing the hotel bar to keep open one
hour longer than the others Is not
grounded in justice to anyone con-
cerned, is indicative of a spirit of
favoritism and certainly and conspicu-
ously tends to form a nucleus of the
undesirable elements of the village at
that point.
Certain persons have alleged, err
roneously, that the trustees have no
power to close the hotel bar. This Is
unquestionably not true. Judge Davis,
village counsel, has advised in writing
that the village has such power 1t is
indisputable that the hotel bar, like
all others, is subject to the police
regulations of the village.
.Statements have been current" the
committee states, that ante election
pledges were made in favor of this
pending ordinance and in accordance
with the special desires of the saloon
keepers. The candidates have posi-
lively and completely denied having
entered into such pledges In any man
ner, and we believe the word of these
gentlemen to be true This unpledged
position will enable them the more cas-
ily to decide justly. We believe they
should consider that many people who
voted for them would notshave done so
had they known before voting that
these candidates. though unpledged,
held views favorable to the pending
measure. We therefore think the ques-
tion of how to treat the saloon is one
that should come up fairly and square,
Iy and not be a submerged issue, un-
known to a large portion of the voters"
In conclusion the letter states:
"There is, without doubt, in politics
a temptation to f1irt with one side or
the other of this question in a covert
manner, which is certainly objection
able, and which leads to an undesirable
lack of straightforwardness The sa-
loon question should be treated with
wisdom, charity and manly recognition
of all its features, yet with moral con-
victions."