Gunnison news-champion., 1910-02-25


be- aaaied that the absence Of the
saisson draws peaple whe aEe seeking
I.scaslsns IN thls reelon- In iss.ta
che business HeE generally. we he
lseve. prsni on tbssr letter heads a.
an advertising item ct Importance.
'-Na sslooas IN Gar town. And the
pFcsasllng oplnlon down the Slope
seems b. be sbai tie iew remaining
towns about them thai stIil carry
the btaFtieu ct ths -sloas are back
ward and bebinA the times an a
tuslress wav.
Uks psys ~ ~
g. AZ 81 the revenue derived from
saiaons Through hcense ~ - lartber
to he remembered that this money
does not come originally from the
=al8Dns bat from thsIr patrons The
saloons are nat producers a wealth
The property values oi the eomnsn-
~ would certainly have been as
great without saloons as with them.
The actual assossabie wealth of anv
body oi people cannlt be increased
by diverting a part Of 1t through the
saloon channel. Had there been ~
saloons these years past private in-
divlduals, their patrons. Would have
more property than they nov have.
aud other business houses would
have a larger trade aRd casiom.
Saloons cannot pay license moneys
10 the public except as they FIRST
take heavy toll from the public
They cannot by any possible reason
ing increase the taxable properly in
community except by gathering the
llttles OF the poor into few pockets
where IT can he reached by the as
SCISSOR. But who would say that
this process OF taking money con
trlbutions from the many TO enrich
few who have saloon interests is a
wise financial policy Let il not
be forgotten that many a man has
ceased 10 lie a property owner and a
tax payer through enabling saloon
proprletors to pay larger taxes. and
many man also has in the same
way kept himself from ever coming
TO the property owning and tax paw
ing condition in life, and has doom
ed himself and his family TO q per
petual hand-to- mouth sabsi.tence.
II would seem TO be perfectly evi
dent that the money of the people
Kept IN their own hands. or spent
more literally in the ordinary lines
OF trade, could better pay the costs
OF government than 1t can iadirect.
ly by first building up profits for
the saloons and so enabling the sa-
looms to pay their tax IN the form Of
license lees. As rule men are
glad to pay larger taxes IL their
property values and their basipess
profits are proportionately increased.
Blotting out the drink traffic cannot
possibly therefore impair or for
long embarrass community's
ability to meet the necessary bar-
dens OF taxation The saloon bnsi-
ness Is in its very nature parasitic
III produces economic waste n,a
wealth. The individual members
on community grow poorer bv the
,o'ai amouat of money paid the sd
looms, while the community benefits
only IN the amount of the fraction of
Their receipts paid back hv the sa-
looms. 1t is a mighty pour bargain
so lar as the community is concern
ed u
Driak Isaffir makes Tsses
., Still another aspect of this tax
question to be borne in mind is the
matter OF public costs which have 10
oe met by public revenue. Too
often the issue of license or no Ii
eense is discussed as if il were n
matter only of resources and re
oeipts. But it is perfectly IDLE. from
business and econamic point of
Nie@, TO consider the salnns as
'ilahlng the burdens of taxstion
hsh'er In proportion to the amount
Oh Incense lees received from them
ana ignore the fact that TO the mes
ehce oil the saloons and the in,em-
perance and other social and eco
nomie evils which they foster, j. due
as may be proved by our own court
records the following bill OF public
oos's, necessarily aegravatinr cospty
II het city ex :enditures;-GO to-
per cent of ti,e criminal c..ss of
.o"n ana county; GO per cent oi the
- oi,9rees ,p that are granted; 50 per cent
oi the insanity comitmen,.. and f.lIy
as,l a. per cent OF the costs of jsvenile
oei'nqoency and Juvenile de,r,der-
~ oan the intelligent and psbI,c
spirited citizen hesitate in NJ. pref-