The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-01-15
MUST HAvEL|QUOR
IN CANAL ZONE
Gocthals Believes 1t Necessary to
Contentment OF
Men. Is
IT NOW HAS AZ SALOONS
Worknen Accustomed to Drink
ing, and Should Not Be
Deprived OF 1t.

Washington. January 1.-THE fact
that the sale OF liquor in the Canal
conc Is permitted by Colonel George
w. Goethals, engineer in charge of
the work. and is upheld by him 4s being
necessary for the 'contentmeilt" OF the &
lnDorers has shocked some members
oil the House Committee on Interstate 4
and Foreign Commerce who ma from
dry States and have just returned I
from trip Of inspection to Panama.
ihere are now four distilleries and
iorty-seven saloons In the Canal Zone:
iasl year there were ntty-nine saloons
An order from the chief engineer would
wipe them out at once but bc re-
luSes TO Issue that order. He believes
IN an army canteen, and uses the same
argument In support of the sale OF
iiuuor under strict regulation on the
territory under American supervision
that was advanced by General Leonard
Wood. chief of staff, In favor OF the
re-estaolishment of the army cantccn
Liquor Is cold In the cities undor
the Jurisdiction of the republic OF
Panama. and the army engineers In +,
charEe of the work III the Canal Zone
say that thousands of the workmcn
are accustomed TO liquor and could
not be Kept at work II deprived OF
It. IaXes on distilled liquors are the
same under the act or the republlo
OF Panama and the executive order
soNc'HinS inc zone.
Although the sale OF liquor is not
permitted on any other government
reservation, In any soldiers homo or
In any army post, liquor IL oeinE sold
to and consumed by the army in tho
Canal Zone.
Governor Thatcher. head OF the de-
partment OF civil government In the
zone, said In his statement before the
congressional committees: II would be
glad to have the disti!leries go now;
they are no source OF revenue and
cause good deal OF trouble"
He was asked by Representative
Stevens why the distiller.es were not
closed " they were a source of dis
turbance
Il did not moan that" Governor
Thatcher hastily added: II meant so
far IA the collection OF taxes and SUI
pervision and administration WIS cou-
cerned the distilleries have caused
more trouble than they are worth"
Asked II he thought 1t desirable for
liquor to be manufactured In the zone,
he said mo"
Colonel Cocktails, sitting at the elbow
CT the witness, remarked with ccnsid-
cradle emphasis:
They are not disturbance. they
are n source OF contentment Our la
oorers here are all human. and our
court records show that cases of dis
ZION towns than in open towns in ths
zone Colonel GorSUs testified MS to
the habit OF certain OF our workmen OF
feeding rum to Infants from a bottle
and having rum before meals. our
workmen have got To have their liquor.
and II We do not sell IL to them they
are going to get II elsewhere. Ii.
towns where liquor is not sold they
get II by tho bottieful. and they stand
py that bottle until 1t Is gone: then
there Is trouble. In towns whore they
g., -,
bar: no tables nor chairs man
STANDS up and takes his drink and
goes home. There Is no inducement
toward convlrialty so the tendency
Is for temperance in the open towns.
In the Zone we exercise supervision
ever the character of the liquor sold;
q II Is NOT good we close the saloon.
so we nave the advantage of Offering
our men who do drink good liquor"
Under an executive order the distil-
tatlon and let them open as many
tax assessed by Panama. There are
Tour distilleries.
The largest distillery was at Cor
g sona. ana was owned by Greek. This
the .distillery and his land under rhe
award of Joint commission.
Mhcn we came here" Colonel Goe-
thalS said, there were certain locnli-
ties In the Zone whore liquor was soid
and certain other localities where II
was was not sold We never extended the
VI iiQuor 10 towns where liuuOr
mad not been sold. and we attempted
TO limit the number OF licenses In 9TH
er towns. AS a result we created a
monopoly or trust In these towns in
the lGuor business. There was CON
siderable criticism and talk, and we
concluded to give licenses to every
body who would establish n fair repu.
thtlo nand let them open as many
saloons within certain district II,
Which liquor had been sold before as
they took out licenses for.