The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-03-21

| your committee rurtnef states
, that, owing to the decision of the
district court of Hennepin county,
hereinbefore referred to, they were
precluded from compelling the at
| tendance of witnesses and therefore
! ceased to hold meetings or to take
! further evidence.
Benefits of Investigation.
| your committee believes it a mat
/ ter Of common knowledge that the
charges enumerated in the resolution
creating the committee are true and
that the benefits to be derived from
an investigation of such charges are
merely to make the general knowl-
edge thereof more definite and GER
tain and to ascertain as accurately
as possible the extent of the evils
therein specified. Your committee
therefore believes that the informa-
ton gathered prior to the courts de-
cision hereinbefore referred to suffi-
GENTLY serves the purpose of the res
olution.
1T can not be denied that the evil
dence secured clearly establishes the
| facts that in the cities of st. Paul
and Minneapolis more than 81 per
cent of the retail liquor business is
owned or controlled by brewing COM
panies: that these companies aid and
abet the establishment and mainte-
nance of unlicensed drinking places,
commonly called blind pigs" and
| that these companies furnish beer to
houses of prostitution and assigna-
| ton and speedily come to the aid OF
those who are being prosecuted for
conducting blind pigs or houses of
prostitution Your committee believes
| that like conditions exist in other
, portions of the state.
! I'VE are of the opinion that the
brewing companies. being engaged in
| the retail liquor business, whether
/ directly or indirectly, greatly in
creases the number of saloons which
would otherwise exist, making keener
the competition that would naturally
prevail, and makes profit-making in
the retail liquor business so difficult
that, as consequence, saloonkeep-
ers are tempted to and do violate
the law by permitting gambling in
| their places of business, keeping
| open after hours and on Sundays,
permitting women of questionable re-
pute to frequent their saloons, and
engaging in other questionable prac-
tees, all for the purposes of enticing
men and thereby increasing their
| business.
Your committee believes that
/ brewery ownership and control OF sa-
looms is one of the great evils in the
present day liquor traffic and that,
if such ownership and control were
eliminated, the number of saloons
! would greatly decrease, those re-
naming would be more prosperous
and saloonkeepers would not be
obliged to violate the law and COM
bine with any and every form of vice
in order to make living and so we
recommend that legislation be enact
ed which would effectually prohibit
wholesale liquor dealers from in any
way, either directly or indirectly, en-
gaging or being interested in the re-
tail liquor business.
Protecting "eIind Pigs"
your committee has come to the
conclusion that blind pigs would not
flourish as they do were it not for
THE protection given them by the
breweries. The breweries not only
furnish the blind piggers with the
commodities he sells but come to his
assistance and defends him when he
is being prosecuted for violating the
liquor laws. This encouragement and
protection makes blind pigging often
more profitable than licensed saloon
keeping and establishes rendezvous
where men and women are served
and boys and girls are brought in
contact with evil influences. 1t is
very desirable that the breweries be
prohibited from selling liquor to
these violators of the law. We be-
lieve it could be effectively done if
the various municipalities of the
state had the power to license, regu-
late and prohibit the liquor traffic
within their limits at wholesale as
well as retail. The city of East
Grand Forks attempted so to do by
passing an ordinance purporting to
license and regulate the sale Of in
toXicating liquor at wholesale. The
supreme court decided that the mu-
nicipality had no power so to do and
in the light of that decision it is
probably true that no municipality
within the state possesses such
power We recommend therefore,
that legislation be enacted giving the
municipalities Of the state the power
to license, regulate and prohibit the
liquor traffic at wholesale as well
as at retail.
much of what we have said re-
garding the blind pig may also be
said regarding houses of prostitution.
That brewing companies let build
ings for the purpose of prostitution,
furnish beer to such places and pro
tect the inmates thereof in time of
prosecution by the state, is undoubt-
eddy true indictment against the
brewing business. Houses of prOSti-
tuition would not be so many and
would not flourish as they do were
it not for their connection with the
liquor traffic; and your committee be-
lieves that if the municipalities OF
the state could and would exercise
the power of regulating the whole
sale liquor traffic, this connection, in
some measure at least, would be
severed
Pursuant to the recommendations
herein made, your committee is in
Producing herewith two bills which
we trust may meet with your APP
proval and be enacted into law. We
have no particular bride of ODiniOn