New Ulm review., 1914-12-30

| tars in municipal assemblies and State
Legislature. The saloon must sbe. de-
stroyed as q center for the political and
criminal gang. This can be done. The
late Mr.. Adolphus Busch, this country's
greatest brewer, told the other leaders.
in the business it had to be done. The
brewers must stop using their political
influence to protect saloon n men IN dis.
obedience Of the laws. They must
protect the decent saloon keeper against
the indecent fellow who conducts. a
dump or "deadfall. This reform
is the more easily workable now that
the saloon is on the doWn-grade, anyhow.
Social progress and economic i necessity
are diminishing the number OF saloons.
Custom now keeps people who & have,
regard Tor their standing out ot saloons. On /
The obviously best thing 1or tne brewery
interests to DO is to diminish the number
OF saloons, raise the character OF the
saloonist, and discourage saloon activity
in politics. The more the saloonisti IS in
politics, the greater will grow antagonism
to the great beer industry.
Furthermore, it seems to me that
the time is about here for the making of
distinctions as between liquors. The
popular mind is ready for some sort of
regulation that will distinguish between
the sale of beer and light wines and the
sale of the harder spirits. 1t is recognized
that the use Of beer and light wines is
consistent with temperance in sociability.
Beer and light wines do not bring about
such consequences as does the con-
sumption of the ferier fluids. The beer
or light wine drinker isn't the man who
becomes a sot, bum, thief, burglar,
a murderer. Beer and light wine go
with edibles and are but mildly stimu-
lating. They are not socially dangerous.
They are not so dangerous either to the
Individual or the public. In the coun-
tries where they prevail as potables there
was no social protest against them, no
anti-liquor agitation until the consump-
tion OF stronger drinks brought on
conditions in revolt against which all
drinking was condemned. Beer and
light wine drinking have never excited
the reformers' wrath in Germany, France
Italy or Spain. The people OF those
countries like not drunkenness and
crime any more than we do. They are
as moral as we are. They don't crusade
against liquor because the liquors they |
drink do not produce the effects OF the
liquor drunk in this country, Great
Britain, Russia. AS soon as absinthe
comes into general use in France, Italy
and Spain, there is a prescription upon i
it. So Germany has no trouble over beer,
but it is concerned about the increase
of the consumption of spirituous liquors.
The inference for us is obvious: that we
should restrict the output and sale of
the more dangerous and deadly stuff
and cease our attempts to abolish the
use OF the milder forms OF stimulant. IL
The government, State, National,
municipal, could very well adopt an
attitude toward the LIQUOR question
that would discourage the harder and
not interfere with the softer drinks.
There could be different rates of license
and taxation to burden one and un-
burden the other product. There could
be different regulations for the sale of
one and the other. They might not be
permitted to be sold in the same place.
There could be limit to the amount
to be sold to any one person at any one
time, and restrictions as to whether the
liquor could, or could not be consumed
on the premises where sold. All this
may sound fanciful to the liquor dealers
in this country who have not had much
regard for any laws, but such laws are
enforced in Europe and the liquor busi-