The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-01-05

UP of gentlemen. He must conduct hiH
house IN every department in a way
that would appeal to a gentleman
Wherever no flpds that he has been
imposed upon, 1t Is his duty to expel I.
the offender All this Is commonplace,
1t goes without saying. No well-in-
formed hotel keeper could consistently
have any other Wow of the case The
hotel bar must be n resort At for Il
gentleman. sa
Business Injured.
But there Is an economic reason why
the hotel man, as n matter of business
is compelled to take this stand against
the menace Of statutory prohibition.
We all know that any political policy
which proves to be n detriment to mer-
camille business must, In consequence,
he injurious to the hotel business. We
know that In prosperous days hotels
are crowded and III panicky days they
are all but deserted. AS n class, there
fore. we must stand for n policy of
government which would conduce to
business prosperity, and we must, on
the other hand, be opposed to any poll
icy that has proved to be positive
menace to material prosperity and com
mercial expansion. I find upon n brief
study of this ubject that there is a
vast difference between the effect pro-
duccd upon the people OF d State in
consequence of statutory prohibition
IL
community which banishes the saloon
under local option. It seems that the
financial world is controlled by the
conviction that state winch provides
statutory prohibition is composed of
people majority OF whom are mar
row minded and fanatical, and there
fore apt to enact laws inimical to tho
best interests of investors. et
As for my own city, believe the
people are thoroughly disgusted with
local option, and Will get rid OF it
now in very short while. 1t has
worked great many hardships on
our citizens, 1t has kept large build
ings idle. including the newest and
largest hotel in our city. 1t sends
thousands OF dollars out of the city
every month 1t has Il wonderful eff
feet on business Iii general. Aside
from the loss of business to the hotel,
the merchants have complained, and.
as for the use OF whiskey. the testi-
mony is that four times as much
liquor is consumed in the homes OF
the Staunton people as was the case
when saloons were open.
gentleman who Is In position to
know tells me that no less than $500
n day is spent by the citizens of Staun-
ton for liquor that is shipped to them
by express from Harrisonburg, Rich
mond and other places. Men who
never thought of bringing whiskey
into their homes and only OCCASION
ally took II drink at their clubs or
ut some hotel bar. who never entered
saloon in their lives. are now i'm
porting whiskey and other liquors by
the case. and keep it in decanters on
their sideboards for their own use
and to treat their visitors. The habit
Is growing. 1t is the fashion now
for nearly everybody to have Wits
key in his home to offer It to his
friends when they call. In that way
the consumption of liquor among the
business and professional men Is much
greater than 1t ever was before
This habit is also extended to
minors. II is asserted that many
young men who never thought OF
drinking more than an occasional
glass now habitually keep liquor In
their rooms for, their own use and to
treat their friends. Under the license
system 1t was possible to prohibit the
sale OF liquors to minors. but any
minor can send to IIarrsorburg or
Richmond for case OF whiskey and
when he gets II he feels II his duty
to drink up: and yet we are told
that prohibition does actually prohibit
congratulate the people of Lynch
burg on the fact that they have dis
covered the folly of the prohibition
policy and had. nerve enough to dis
card It.
In these brief reflections attempted
10 stick TO my text. and to call to
Your minds only few reasons that
must, in the very nature of the case,
actuate hotel men in their opposition
to prohibition. The subject Is one
which cannot be covered In a few
minutes talk. simply scrapc the
surface OF IT, and the lack of time
will be my excuse for the imperfect
presentation of the case.
L. D.