The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1910-10-14

legimitate line of business. Listenl- Should
license carry in November, it win mean the
| opening of twenty-one drinking places III the
county. The twenty-one highly favoured and
elect citizens will have to pay rents for their
places. If they do not own them; they win have
to pay from $50 to $500 for a license in addf-
tion to the United States license and Counsel's
fees, for the privilege of engaging In this busi-
ness. These men are not going into this bust
ness for fun. Every one of them is going into
It for gain and the most gain he can get out Of
it. They expect to recover their license fees
and other expenses, pay their high rents, make
q good living for themselves and families and
something in the way of profit besides Sup
pose that the gross income from each Of these
bars is only $500. alyear. Do you know that
the average earning of each of the more than
250,O0O saloons in the United States was SS700
the dreadful drain upon the earnings OF the
people being $24 every day Of the 365 for every
saloon2) / shall be very conservative and put
it at $250O0 This multiplied by 81 will be s52 500
a year for the bunch. That is a suug sum.
Whence comes this money? 1t comes out Of
the pockets of the people Of this county. It is
money that would otherwise find its way to
Savings Bank or the Building and Loan Asso-
citation or to the grocer or to the shoe dealer
or clothingi merchant. Every bar means just
so much good money withdrawn from legiti-
mate business and trade. It means poorer
business for me and my fellow-merchants.
All that talk about our people buying their
goods where they can get drink of whiskey
is simple roti It is foul slander upon our
people and it is well-known that those who
spend much money for rum generally do their
buying on credit. A help to business! 1t is
/ filthy parasite on business. 1t produces
nothing, renders no service It is ruinous to
i business. That is why as business man am
SO bitterly opposed to it. And when think OF
J the return the saloon-keeper makes for this
money! When a man pays me his money,
give him fair equivalent in groceries, shoes
or clothes. The whiskey dealer give what only
HARMS demoralizes, incapacitates for work,
and ultimately ruins physically, financially,
socially morally.
UNDEcDED CITIZEN You do seem to have
right and reason on your side, but If you are
right, why do not all the business men Of the
county apply simple business auditing
methods to the liquor business and oppose Il
as you do? do not see how they can all be
| in favour Of license as the whiskey advocates
declare"
| BUSINESS NANNY dear man, that is<
another of their easy-going lies that so many
people are gullible enough to accept as fact.
It is simply not true that the business men Of
the county are all in favour Of license. Let
me read you this list of business men who de-
: clare themselves on the score Of business
against license and in favour Of the contin-
uance of the present prohibitory law. I'VE
have not space for this list which is a long one
but will give it next week.-EDIToRs.1
| UNDECIDED VoTER-You almost take my breath
away After want you have said and shown,
there is nothing left for me as an honest citizen
| to do but to vote AGAINST license and start at
once to do some earnest work among my friends
| and neighbors who are harboring the same false
notions OF which have been the willing victim,
in the effort to persuade them to do the same.''
BUSINESS Mani am rejoiced at your CONVEX
| sion and conviction of duty, and to complete the
job have only one other thing to say from my
standpoint as business mama thing which
perhaps you have overlooked. You said some-
thing moment ago about preachers and temper
ance cranks interfering with peoples liberty.
Has it occurred to you how completely this
license law takes away the liberty Of the people
| of this county? 1t selects TWENTY-ONE out of
our 25OOO population and guarantees to them the
sole enjoyment of the large profits and emolus
meuts of this business and takes away at single
proper business, everybody ought to have the
right to enter 1t. What would you think of a law
that secured all the business of Elkton to John 9.
Lee, John E. Gonce and Ollie c. Giles. and for
babe under heavy penalties everybody else to
open store or engage in trade? Would that be
tolerated for an hour? But wherein does that
differ from the bestowing the legal right upon the
owner or lessee of the Howard House, the FELTON,
House and the Hotel Elkton to do all the liquor
selling for the entire Third District? That is
destroying liberty with vengeanceI That Is
what call rum monopoly. class legislation Of
the most vicious sort And that Is what we are
so blandly asked to establish when we are ad-
vised to vote for license ON the plea that 1t will
be a benefit to businessp'
/ DECIDED CITIzEN-"By all that's good and true,
old man, you are right Mouoplyi It's bloom
| ing WHISKEY TRUST they are trying to sneak
into the countyl 1t will never come by any vote
of mine. / had not thought of it In this light
before. But this is In itself enough to force any
sef-respecting man to work and vote AGAINST
! LICENSE as shall from this time do"
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