The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1911-08-31
The Saloon Evil.

Hos ANsELEs' California, August q, 1911
Dear Friend Dow: am very much INTEREST.
ed IN the campaign now in progress in Maine
on 1ne fronloItion issue. My first vote was
cast IN favor of the Constitutional Amend.
ment for Prohibition, and nothing uou,d e,;ve
me more pleasure than to be back in the old
state and help in the good cause in which Won
and SO many other men are now working 7
have lived in High License State for tho ,,s+
twenty years and have studied the saloon
problem from every side, and have come to
certain conclusions about the licensed salmon
Wnich are true as to the majority of saloons.
though not to all; they are as follows:
W The saloon is the gathering place of
the vicious element in the community in which
1t is located. Even if no liquors are sold and
no drunkenness is seen, the fact that the unde.
srable classes meet there as social center
makes the saloon an evil influence in anv com.
munity, even if no liquors were sold.
(2) AS far as have observed about 50 per
cent of all the crime committed in this county
has its origin in some saloon, and what is true
of this county l presume is true of other
counties where saloons are licensed For the
last five or six years l have tried to make
special study of the causes of crimes which
have come under my observation, and have
found most OF them committed by young men,
and In most cases these young men first met
IN some saloon and there planned the crime to
be committed. 1t is an und sputed fact that
as soon as crime has been committed in this
city the officers first visit the saloons in citi-
zens dress, and in nearly every case they will
find the guilty parties within few days.
(3) The saloon is the headquarters for the
worst kind of political corruption. For ten
years in this city the better citizens have fought
the corrupt political gang, and four years ago
we succeeded in driving them from the con-
troll of city affairs. The political meetings
and conferences of the gang were invariably
held in some saloon. Should the licensed sa-
loon ever get foothold in Maine you would
find this one of the greatest evils, for it would
soon build np corrupt political machine COM
posed of the worst element of both old parties
(4) The saloon is the cause of about rs per
cent of the poverty among the working peo-
pie. In this State it is felony for man to
is well and able to work; all such cases in this
city are brought in our Justice Courts; in my
court alone there are from ten to twenty such
cases every month, and the three other Justice
Courts have each number equal to mine |
personally investigate each case as it comes
before me, and can truly say that practically
every case is caused by the husband spending
his earnings in the saloon. Such men are weak
and easily influenced, and cannot resist temp
tation. l can not think of any greater curse to
fall upon any State than the licensed saloon.
All my life time, at least as far back as | can
in the cause of temperance; | know Of no man
in Maine who has done more for the cause than
you have. l hope the work you and others are
now doing will be crowned with success.
In this city of $4,000 people have seen the
saloon year by year crowded into smaller ter
rtory by city ordinances until to-day it can
not exist in any resident district of the city
nor on any business street where the best
retail stores are, nor in any block anywhere in
the city providing the majority of the prop
erty owners in that block sign a protest
against it, 1t is only matter of few years
when the saloon will be driven not only from
this city, but from every city in this country.
1t would be pity for old Maine to take a back
ward step in this matter l do not believe the
better people of Maine will permit it. But
you are doing right to make hard fight. /
hope the majority for prohibition will be even
greater than it was when the vote was taken
on the constitutional amendment Well, must
close now. wanted you to know that am
interested in the work you are doing, and that
you have my best wishes for your success in
the greatest cause in which any man can be
engaged. With best wishes to Mrs. Dow and
yourself, am Truly Your Friend,
FRANK S. FORBES.