The Irish standard., 1914-02-14

it is a peculiarly American product.
The attendant evils to which it minis.
ters have grown up around it during
it's development and they are largely
responsible for the odium heaped up.
on it.
The saloon is not an Independent
institution. It is unit in system
dominated by the brewer and the dis.
tiller. In some, If not in all, of the
larger cities three-fourths of the sa-
looms are practically controlled by
the brewers and the wholesale deal.
ers whose sole purpose it is to reap as
rich harvest as possible from the
sale Of their beverages without regard
to the methods by which this result
is obtained. Rivalry among brewing
companies has led to a multiplication
Of saloons without reference to the
needs Of the locality; and in order to
minimize this practice SO detrimental
to the trade the United States Brew
ing Association was organized to con-
troll the traffic and render competition
unnecessary.
Even If the saloon is not directly
controlled by the brewer the saloon
keeper is usually under pecuniary OBJ
legations to him. Very often the brew
er sets the saloonkeeper up in busi-
ness by paying the license fee and
providing the necessary equipment
and supplies, in return for which he
takes a chattel mortgage on the Ak.
lures often vastly in excess Of their
real value. The saloonkeeper, in or
der to discharge his obligations and
satisfy the exacting demands of his
master, is often forced to resort to
questionable means to make living.
This pernicious system of patronage
places the burden of responsibility for
most Of the worst features of the liquor
traffic upon the shoulders of the brew
er. A writer in the American Brewers
Review, the official organ Of the Unit
ed States Brewing Association, says:
"The brewer has been the great de.
moralizing agent; he has thrown de.
cency to the winds; he and not the
intermediate vender is to blame" His
greed and rapacity. are responsible for
placing the retail trade in the hands of
men whose moral, tone, to say the
least, is not very high. It is we'll
known fact that. saloonkeepers and
bartenders are usually recruited from
class Of people who are seldom
troubled with conscientious scruples
about increasing profits by illegitimate
means. AS body, they are regarded
as "undesirables" by large number
of American citizens. This is evil
denced by the fact that the better
class of fraternal> societies and many
life insurance companies exclude them
from their ranks on the pleas that
reputable citizens do not care to asso.
ciate with them in fraternal bonds,
and that their occupation renders
them dangerous risks. Even the brew
ers are disgusted with some of the
saloonkeepers, and have inaugurated a
campaign against those whose saloons
are $50 indecently conducted that the
majority Of the respectable element Of
the community have become thorough
ly disgusted." They failed to take
such action, however, until an aroused
public opinion compelled them to do
SO in order to rid their business Of
the opProbrium brought upon it by
their interruptions agents.
What can be expected from a busi-
ness controlled by such vicious ele.
ment? Even it's friends admit that
the saloon as it generally exists in
America, is an indefensible quantity"
Ia thing to be Cleaned up" I'VE
must frankly admit" says former
President Lehman Of the United
States Brewing Association, "that
there are in most of our larger cities
and in many of our villages, saloons
that are run in a disgraceful fashion" {"
Are not the "disorderly and dis
reputable practices" which character
ize the saloon traffic the natural re-
suit of the system itself? The saloon
is conducted solely for the money that
is in the business. The more drink
sold, the greater the profit. Hence,
the saloon fosters intemperance. "The
American saloon is responsible for. the
awful intemperance which desolates
the land, and which is the physical
and moral plague Of our time. In the
saloon is dealt out the drink which
intoxicates, and there temptations to
use 1t are deliberately planned and
multiplied" The saloon panders to
and thrives upon the abnormal ap.
petites of its patrons. It lures them
to drink; and in thousand ways