Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-05-31

par OF the same description, nor Will
permission be granted by the au-
thorities unless they are satisfied
that the public require such addi-
tional saloons for it's convenience.
Besides the regular income tax, a Ii
cense tax has to be paid according
10 the rent which the saloon keeper
has to pay. The proprietor must
keep an accurate account and return
a certain percentage on the profits
Of his business. The hours for open
ing the beer saloons and wine houses
are ordinarily from a. m. closing
at II p. m. including Sundays and
holidays, the tea rooms and coffee
rooms closing at 700 o'clock p. m.
The question Of prohibition is UNI
hnown The moral zealot would be
considered a crank. Beer is not only
drink, but food, for q large proper
ton Of ,he population The manu-
gaetrer of beer is under tie strict
supervision Of the law which is ~is-
idly enforced, and me hing 8a malt
ANA hops can lie used.
The consumption OF concentrated
alcoholic drinks in proportion TO that
of beer is exceeding small. Beer
and light wines constitute the ma
tionaI beverage equally for the
wealthy and the lowly, the rich and
the poor The many beautiful gar
dens where drinks are dispensed.
having comfortable tables and chairs
and good attendants, are crowded
during pleasant weather with the
most respectable classes of society,
ranging from the highest in rank to
the peasantry, all joining together
in republic of pleasure, drinking
in moderation while enjoying the
best of music. This is furnished as
rule by some one of the numerous
military bands. 1t is the same dur
ing the winter months with the in
door places.
Upon many journeys through Ger
many l have never seen one single
case of drunkenness in any of these
halls or gardens. Treating, with its
concomitant evils, is practically un-
known. Each man pays for what he
requires, drinking no more than he
wishes. Sometimes the general thirst
on a warm summer day ia titanic in
its capacity for consumption. But,
Notwithstanding the vast quantities
consumed, beer does not seem to en-
gender the combativs element arous-
ed by alcoholic drink; 1t has rather
the reverse effect, for it not only sat-
isles the thirst, but contains q food
quality, which resists the small per,
centage OF alcohol, rendering the re-
cipient conte0ted with himself and
his surroundings; . kindly beverage.
one might fancy. to smooth
away the cares OF Life and the work
aday world. satisfying at once the
spirit and the man.
II
THE CRIMINAL RECORD.
have never doubted that the re-
lation OF strong drink to crime and
of the lighter wines and beer to
crime would, as indicated by the po-
lice statistics In every land, show
much to the advantage Of the latter
as against the former. That the
brewers Of our country have to an
swer for an over-plus of low dives
set up by them where liquors as we'll
az beer are sold, Is true enough. On
this point Adolphus Busch himself
spoke in no uncertain terms less
than a year ago. But this Is an In
cident which does not affect the ar
gument in favor of the vinous and
malt fluids.
Washington, though himself dis
tiller, was Of this opinion. Jefferson.
who had seen more of the world
assuredly more of the European
world-than Washington, went the
length of making a strenuous effort
to introduce wine and beer to Vir-
ginia by Offering a bonus to the vim
tiers and brewers who would como
and try the experiment. Not until
the Germans arrived in great num-
bers, however, did the beer industry
prosper.
Touching this relation of drink to
crime, as revealed by the police rec
ords, ! am permitted by Consul Gen
eral Peters to make the following
quotation from the latest data COM
piled by him:
The statistics of arrests for all
causes will give some idea of the eff
feet of beer on crime, although il
does not necessarily follow that the
crime was directly the result of beer.
On the contrary the percentage of in
toXication which influenced crime
possibly was very small indeed, the