The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-05-04
COMPENSATION IS DUE BREWER FOR
 LOSS OF BUSINESS
Representative-EIect Meeker Protests Against PrOhibi- ton Without Remun-
 eratiOn.

from. prohibition that it can take without compensation the property of the brewer and distil1er it will learn also that it can take over the prop erty of the railroads and of the banks said Jacob B. Meeker, repre- sentative-eIect from St. Louis, in a statement. issued following his debate with Sam Small of Georgia, at Wor-
 cester, Mass.
 s.In sore respects there is more 1 justice abroad than in the United States where we are prone to boast of our democratic fairness to one an I other and the fact that there are equal rights under the5law for all. | For example, T note that Mr. l Charles H. Randall, g. prohibition l party congr ressman-e1ect from Cali | fornia, has outlined a series of four
 proposed laws to destroy the legiti-
 mate liquor interests without provid- i ing in any way comp for the | loss of their business, notwithstanding | the fact that the United. States gov ernment has leaned so heavily for
 support on these liquor interests and
 their business has been fostered and
 built up under the laws, national,
 state and local.
 l ''The agitation for prohibition in l England during the war serves to
 demonstrate how differently these
 things are done abroad and that there I they recognize property rights and 1 the necessity of protecting the in
 dividual in those rights. While they
 are considering prohibition as an ex- l pedient war measure, there is a great 1 reluctance to put it into effect; first,
 because of it's interference with the personal liberty of their citizens and more especially, beckuse of Great FBritain's spirit of fairness to her mer- l chants, as the government feels it to l be imperative to compensate those l whose trade and business would be l cut off. Therefore, instead of de- I creeing prohibition. the government from the king down has set an ex- IampIe of voluntary abstinence during the war; but along with every sug- gestion for prohibition is coupled the i purpose of the government to pro- vide full compensation.
 I ''This guarantee of compensation to
 those who would be affected finan-
 cially by prohibition in England is in II decided contrast with the action taken
 wholesale liquor houses, breweries,
 and disti1leries, whose business has
 been built up under the protection of
 cur laws is absolutely destroyed with lthe innocent traders. either for loss
 on their stocks of goods on hand,
 their property and appliances that can be only utilized in the liquor busi- 1 ness. or their good will or franchise lwhen a district or a state is put under ] prohibition laws.
 l ''It is not in England alone, how ever. that the doctrine of compensa- } ltion is unequivocally ndaintained. when any part Of the 1eEaIized liquor 2 traffic is destroyed or wiped out, } ostensibly for the welfare of the peo- pie. The Board of License Comnnis- sioners for the Province of Quebec, ) Canada, for example, has decided on [ a cancellation of 10 licenses for the f1seSt 91fI FNf fvR oft @f : Montreal for the year beginning May l., 1915, in order to bring the num-
 Der of licenses in that city down to 1.-the legal maximum of 400. This ac- 7 ton will cost the province $350, 900. : as each holder Of license will be | lpaid as compensaticn for his loss of business the sum of $5,0O0.
 Il "In France, recent law went into : effect to prevent the manufacture and sale of a,bsiuthe.s as it was claimed
 consuming too much of this beverage for their own good. Contrary to what
 happens in this country when the
 manufacture and sale of liquor is
 stopped by law. the French Chamber
 of Commerce passed a bill allowing
 the sum of 14,SOO, oe0 francss appro1d-
 nnately $2,16o,ooO.o0, as reimburse ment for taxes paid by liquor deal CTS on absinthe in their possessio
 and for the purchase of their stock . Even these measures which are
 so liberal in comparison with the lack 2 of any compensation provided for ir this country, are almost neagre wher compared with the splendid example ! set up to the world for fairness anC . justice to its citizens by the little re : lpublic of Switzerland, when it decree6
 prohibition of the manufacture, sale
 and consumption of absinthe Switzer I land not only compensated to the full : lest extent the manufacturers. tht
 wholesalers, the retailers of absinthe f but went beyond that to the grower . of the herbs used for the manufactur,
 of absintlle, and even the workers il < the field who gathered these herbs - e remuneraHng them all for the los
 occasioned by the prohibition law
 ''H should. be noted in regard t,
 the workmen, however, that this fea
 ture has not been. lost sight of il
 England, as the government is con
 ployment for the thousands of mel
 and women, who would be throwl IT out of work if it should finally de ', eide on prohibition, before doing SC # It should also be noted in connectfol d with this subject that in Russia, tn
 other European country, where, as l "a temporary war measure, certai .y-t forms of prohibition. especially in re . l gard to vodka, have been put int
 effect, private individuals nave no "a suffered loss like under prohibition i ;s this country, for the vodka shop - have all been operated by the govern n ment which had monopoly op thi
 traffic, and therefore, when it de "a cided to close up these shops durin =, the war, it was the government, on1 5 1f that suffered financially"