The daily progressive-miner., 1916-07-06
THE VERDICT.

By reason of its population and by it's being the seat of government of Alaska with all the government poll tical machinery properly oiled and working, Juneau should be the balance of power and the decisive element in deciding any Alaska question which is decided at the polls. At least, How goes Juneau?" will be a burning vot- ing question until the result is decided in Juneau.
 Today in Juneau the Capital City takes it's annual vote on the question as to whether the saloon shall exist in Juneau Every year Judge Jen- nings puts this question up to the people after the fashion of an autocrat-
 He puts the saloon on the defensive and makes it pay all the cost of the
 contest and suffer all the danger there is in such a contest. He calls the sa- loon men before him each year and tells them that he is appointing en- umerators to take the census of Ju- neau and the opinion of all voters there as to whether the saloons in Juneau should be closed. He informs the saloon men that they must pay all the salaries and expenses of the enumerators and all Of the expenses of the election. and that unless ma jority of the voters signify their de sire that the saloon shall be kept open Gall who are not in town on election day. or who do not vote on election day being counted as against the saloon) every saloon in Juneau shall be refused a license by the Court. If anyone can detect a desire upon the part of Judge Jennings to give any saloon man in his District a shade the best of it. will the "detec- tive" please communicate with Judge Jennings and point it out to him. that he may correct the oversight
 In Juneau last March there was all sorts of money to bet that Juneau would go dry" today. Also, there was money to bet that all Alaska will go dry" in November Since then the liquor question has been brought home 10 the people Of Alaska from the material side, and there is a diff ference in sentiment and opinion which is marked Dry Alaska towns have been opened and the vot- CTS of cities have at the polls declared that it is not good civic business to close the saloons at this time. The saloon man has learned or is begin ming to learn that his only political power lies in conducting his saloon as a respectabl place of business, and by such conduct has won strength in the community in which he is doing business. What seemed last March a cinche losing for the saloon man to- day is an uncertainty with chances slightly in favor of the saloon man. 4 4ANS AAel z AAlCO llAC lSlAA tO l4lC Ect- loon man, with all the ruffstuff ac- compartments of a bite-and-gouge game, but he is still in business and today will decide whether he remains.
 All subjects of personal liberty or personal right which may possess a dark otherside are generally and by cor,, ,o,, ooDeo1+ ss,aIo-s S, .l,1 --- and pulpit Everybody has an opin- ion Of the merits or demerits of the case at issue, but those who are sup posed to be broadminded are also sup posed to leave the verdict to the good sense and broadmindedness of the people. Sometimes a zealot takes the extreme Of virtuous platitude and runs amuck in a desire to make the whole world think as he thinks and vote accordingly, and sometimes some careful newspaperman discovers that to leave a threatening condition alone may mean lot of harm to his coun- try and he therefore gets into the game and tells the story of the threat boldly and warns his readers against the er.l which threatens. Both cases are exceptional in Alaska. and we find the people on the coast going up against the one-sided game of the Federal courts and putting the saloon man on trial every years without a voice raised in his favor in his home newspapers or a voice of power raised against him in the pulpit. It is a case of the court indicting the saloon man on general principles and making him fight to save himself from conviction and death for the crime of being a saloon man instead of Federal Judge. yet the people to date have saved the saloons life and probably will con- tinue to do so until some way is found whereby the schools and fire depart ments of such cities and towns can live without the money which comes from liquor licenses. Ill Juneau their school is joke of their town papers and to cut out the saloon there would he to further decrease the efficiency