Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1911-08-17
..rnr Thin crust of Civilizations.

u~HhteuuieHtl hHu tufu poys dhu 81"
loose for amusement 10 a town infested
with eighty saloons and thirty o fort,
houses of prostitution"
In his study Of the liquor traffic III @
modern American city, entitled THE
THU Crust Of Civilization, appearing III
The American Magazine, Ray Stannard
Baker thus characterizcs the folly and
the ~futility Of ouY American civilization
in its treatment of the saloon evil.
While be uses as the subject of his study
the town Of Newark, Ohio, where was
perpe,rsted last July the awful tragedy
involving the death Of Carl E~theriugton
In an effort to enforce the law, he well
says that in thus describing Newark, he
has described also the typical American
town, indeed has described the essential
charscteiistics of our modern prosperous,
intelligent, u%,ateriaiistic American civili-
cation.
"All its life long this town Newark J."
says Mr.. Baker, 'has been a moderate
driuker Of Intoxicating liquors. In that
respect It was no worse than most Amer
lean towns, no worse than the world at
large. . But the point of attack
in the recent struggle was not the drink.
sng habit. The point of attack was the
saloon. The modern saloon is social
evil which cannot be reached except by
social action the conscious effort of
towu or counties or states"
How IT GREW.
Mr.. Baker goee on 10 trace the history
and development of the saloon from the
time when it was a domestic enterprise,
carried on by a man and his family, to a
vast, centralized. niore or less monopo-
,istic business entcrprise!" He continues:
"Now, the breath in the nostrils OF
business is profit; and the more business,
the uiore profit. With new methods Of
making aud preserving beer. with ex-
traordiuary improvements in methods of
transportation, it was easy and cheap for
brewers in Milwaukee. brewers in St.
Louis, and brewers in Pittsburg to place
their wares in every little town in the
Middle West. Aud these. with the local
breweries, all struggling for trade, had
the effect OF stimulating the business to
a degree scarcely realizable. Before this
competitive onslaught, the old.fashioned
respectable saloonkeepe who owned his
" place and his own fixtures almost
disappeared. Hundreds Of irresponsible
men. ulen not only of no standing and
no property, but often men with evil or
criminal records. crowded into the bust
hess. The brewers. greedy Tor profits,
paid their rent. furnished the saloon fix
lures aud supplied them with all the
goods they sold.
IN 1908, Just before the local option
election Newark had ovey eighty saloons!
Think OF it, III a town Of less than 25,.
0VJ people! In other word, it had one
saloon for every s,A,y or seventy adult
msM.
Think further. what this meant ia
Newark. With the best Intentions in
the world. but with q plentiful lack Of
Imagination, the people Of Ohio had
sought to check the evils of the saloon
WHICH they had ttgua 10 see so clearly
around them by the easy tnoney method
by taxation. Each saloon was forced
TO pay 81 900 into the public funds.
TO gNrrrr THE Bows.
what was the result? Why, /, u,ade
tine poor devils of ssloonkeepers scratch
harder than ever. For q ssloonkeeper |.
4 human being, who has to ca. ,hre.
meals a day, wear clothes, a.,d often sup
port . family and a home.
"Think then, what this Drot,!rr, WAS
First he hal to sell enough beer al,
whisky in u year to pay the 81. 900 tax
after that he had to sell enough, more I,
pay his rent and his OTHER taxes, if any
he htt to pay the inevitable and ofte,
profits to the big brewers VIII,
stood behind him-all this before h
rou'd make a penny for himself. Is i
am wonder that me had TO push his busi
ness? Is it any wonder that he began I
break laws right aud iei, il. order 10 il,
crease his ssirs' \ man mus; live!
1t became necessary, then, tot saloou
keepers NJ all hazards to stimulate trad,
They aisst not only keep all the Of
driuLers end ,nduce thsm to buy mo,
jiquog and becouis more drunken. b.
they must Het N plenty of fresh youn
ciicuts-fress SHshg boys from Il
schools cod factories.
DKUkKRS SeHo0laOva,