Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1911-03-23

What Return To License Means In
Dry Counties

In the pamphlets and newspaper
articles recently printed on What
| Return to License Means in Dry
Counties" the purpose and fallacy of
| the writing is so evident that IL
would seem not to require answer
ing and yet however unsound an
argument may be on its face there
are always some who are misled by
| 1t.
| The article says There have been
so many saloons heretofore in many
| places that there has been such a
fierce competition between license
holders, and such struggle to make
expenses and live that many saloon
keepers have been forced to quit
the business and lose their invest
ment but there will be no such con-
ditions in the dry" counties that
return to the license SYSTEM for
] there can be but one saloon for each
500 of population and this will en-
able the saloonkeeper to do legiti-
mate business and strictly obey the
flaws" That statement looks al
most ludicrous on the face of 1t to
a citizens Of Belding. Think of it, we
had only four saloons before the
county went dry and those four
claimed to be making only a good
/ living Now under the Warner
Champion law to which the writer
refers the city could have eight
and perhaps nine saloons according
to the recent census and yet they
say the competition would not be
so great but that they all could make
a living and strictly obey the law.
If that number of saloons in Belding
could make a living and their ex-
penses without struggling for 1t then
they are making an immense amount
of money off of some poor men who
can't afford it. Think of it, one
saloon for 500 of population. That
means for every 500 men, women
and children there could be one
saloon in Bedding and in every town
ship and city in Michigan. The aver
age number of men in 500 of popu-
lation would not exceed 125 and that
lis placing the number high. The
number of men among that 10
who would patronize the saloon
would not exceed rs, on the average,
and yet they say one saloonkeeper
can make a living on every 70 men
without struggling for business. If
those are facts it is high time every
decent man arose to put an end
to the traffic for it is taking that
much money away from men who
can not afford ii and out Of the leg
itimate lines of trade.
The article says further License
can only be issued hereafter TO
citizens of the United States and OF
the State of Michigan and can not
he issued to any one who has ever
served time in any state prison or
Ipenitentiary in this state or any
state" There again is their argu-
lment unsound. 1t isn't the saloon
man the dry" forces are after, it
is his traffic. 1t is quite probable
that liquor does man just as much
harm If sold by a citizen of the
United States or the State of Mich
Iigan as it would if sold by for
Ieigner or a criminal. We have a good
lot of citizens here in Michigan but
we don't suppose they can take
away the bad effects of liquor by
selling 1t any more than a foreigner
can and it is just as harmful if one
man sells it as another. 1t isn't the
Imam but the trade We are after.
| Neither would the danger of los
ing his license keep the saloon
keeper within the law. We have
had stringent laws in the past; laws
(which forbade them selling TO minors
Or intoxicated persons or to any
lperson to whom they had been for
hidden to sell and yet they have
Violated those laws year in and year
tout without the fear OF punishment
land what reason is there to believe
this law will have any different
effect?
They say even boys can get whis-
key from the mailorder houses.
They can and perhaps some of them
do but you viii be obliged to show us
a few. Even If they do how would
the return of the license system
change that condition? They could
get il from the mail order houses
then as they do now, could they not?
The only benefit from your argu-
ment then that boys could have from
the return to license would be to
get liquor at home instead OF send
ing out Of the state for it and save
the transportation charges. That
is undoubtedly your insinuation and
you are contemplating breach OF
the law in advance. However here
is the great good that is being done
| for the boys. If 1t should be true
that now and then boy sends out
of the state for liquor there are hum
| dreds of others who do not have
the temptation thrown in their way.
1t can't be kept from everybody
| any more than smallpox but ike II
| can be confined. A return TO
license is just as dangerous as under
the old system.