Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1916-06-02

i
Does not the Commercial know that
gambling of all sorts and grades -four
ishes here, without an! interference
! whatever?
Does not the Commercial know that
pools of various kinds have long pros
pered here, all of them in violation or
law and many Of them rank frauds be-
sides?
Does not the Commercial know tha-
the principal profits of certain shops
in Bangor come from the operation of
gambling devices. many of which are
| SO fixed" that the PLAYERS have no
| chance at all?
Does not the Commercial know that
there are laws forbiddng these
things?
| Does not the Commercial know, or
I has it never suspected, that all this
gambling could not exist-that the
proprietors and managers of these IL
legal and fraudulent enterprises could
not do business without seeing the
right parties or making proper ar
rangements" with somebody?
Does the CONNER cial advocate
continuance of this state of affairs and
the collection of this sort Of officials?
IF so. then the Commercial is well
come to all the infamy and all the APP
plause of the slums to be gotten out
of it.
Also the Commercial is welcome to
all the ridicule it can earn by its silly
attempt to saddle all the blame for
the sins of a city run wild upon the
backs of the woodsmen, who at times
are here in considerable numbers. but
who are now very few, and who have
very little money to spend at any time.
These men seldom leave the imme
date vicinity of their boarding houses,
| which are clustered chiefly in the
block bounded by lower Exchange
Hancock. French and Washington
streets. or in Hancock street above
Pine. They flock by themselves. and
seldom bother anyone else. They do
not play poker, nor patronize the
pools. They do not wear modern city
clothes. smoke cira gettes and infest
the uptown corners. They do not go
JOY riding with lady friends in pub
lie motor cars. They are not to he
found living in drunken stupor upon
the lawns of State street, waiting for
votes and are not interested in the
Z, fortunes of any candidate. They are
quite apart from tho rabble that makes
the streets of Bangor daily and night
! ~. at all times of the year. disagree
able, often dangerous. to passers-by.
The" are not of these who are side
tracked to the city house of correc
ton in order that there may be an
empty Jail as campaign argument
for the reelection of delinquent
sheriff. Oh, no, Bargors sins cannot
he laid at the door of "woodsmen," es
pecially when there are few or no
woodsmen here.
Neither has the salary or the official
or personal motive of Rev. Wilbur F.
Berry anything to d" with the subject
under discussion. The question, and
the only question, is: Shall Bangor
! he allowed to run completely wild?
Shall debauchery thrive and be en-
couraged here? Shall the peace and
the moral cleanliness of the city. with
its rising generation looking on, be
! imperilled. Just because certain
class of politicians, lacking any sort
Of ability in any other direction. see
n pandering to the worst elements of
the populace an assurance Of fat if
illegal profits and a continuance in
cffice?"
From half hours personal obser-
walton on the day Of the Progressive
State convention, through seeing.
smelling and hearing, we should say
that the News had not exaggerated.
Bangor may not be as bad as its
morning newspaper paints it. but it is
bad enough and Will be held in the
clutch of the booze interests until it's
decent citizens rise up and reclaim it..
We hope the News has the courage of
its convictions to lead the people of
indecency and outlawry. But it will
| be confronted with a determined op-
I position which is the inevitable out
growth Of such as the Bangor Plan
generations grown up absorbing a
policy of acceptance of unholy condi-
tions If not actually participating 1t
! is easier to let bad conditions alone
/ than il is to exert oneself to reform
them. especially if cne's friends are
deriving revenue from illegal cussed :
ress
! In his Memorial Day address, Hon.
Patrick Fl. Gillin, the we'll known
! bangor attorney is said to have given
a brief but terrible Indictment Of
the drink evil which he said is the
greatest menace to American happi-
ness and prosperity. The great struc-
gle of the future, he declared, is
I against intemperance intemperance
! in every form, that vitiates and de-
bauches our American manhood And
/ II is the duty of American men to
crush the drink evil; to write pro-
! hibition into the nations laws; to
make a cleaner and less DANGEROUS en-
vironment for growing boys. Up.
American mem" he said, referring to
the liquor traffic, and down this