The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-09-18
WHY REGULATION
DOES NOT REGULATE
BY EMMA l.. TRANsEAU.

If a saloonkeeper had to depend
upon selling only one or two drinks
day to his customers he would not
break even" when Saturday night
comes. is the, assertion of one who
knows the liquor business from the in
side. because he has been there. Profit
begins only when those in front of
the bar begin to spend money freely,
and the art OF making them free
spcnders Is one of the tricks of the
saioonkeeper' trade Naturally. there
fore, he fights early closing and regu-
lation against treating by the house
and against selling to men who are
far gone on the way to intoxicaton,
because late hours and mellow
condition are important essentials to
getting his patrons to spend freely.
In New York 1t is not until the
crowds begin to come from the the
aters that they are available for these
warming-up processes. To require
saloons to close at II or ! 2 o'clock is
as bad for the LIQUOR business as II is
good for the drinking public, and in
cidentaly for the public that does not
drink, hut suffers from the deeds of
those who do.
It is doubtful If we have yet had
a revelation that showed so clearly
why the saloon business cannot be
regulated. and why prohibition is the
only practical and feasible solution Of
the liquor problem as the one in which
the features just mentioned are
pointed out, published in the Septem
Der number of Association Men.
The information comes from a
young college man who soon after
graduation accepted a publicity posi-
ton with two dsttllers because his
a I'm, In, 70 alxo fo
money and make 1t quickly His
abilities soon carried him up to a
high salaried position in the Liquor
I Dealers Association. and there his
conscience found him, and he quit
This youn~ man. whom the Asso-
citation writer interviewed. has more
sympathy with the liquor men than
he would have IL he had not worked
with them, but 1t Is a sympathy now
turned wholly to pity. because, among
other reasons, their business can never
be any cleaner In the future than it
has been in the past and because they
realize that they are themselves
creating sentiment against their own
continued existence. While they will
not admit that they are fighting a los
ing battle, they are really being cor
nered like rats" and 1.-The haunting
look of fear Is in their faces as they
watch election returns
The young man pities them also be-
cause Of the social and business ostra-
cism that the liquor dealers suffer. It
is no pleasant thing to stand before
the community and hear yourself
called a murderer, an enemy to So
city. or a criminal, but that is what
they have to endure. He knows a
we'll educated. strung distiller
worth at least a million. who walks
the streets of his city looking neither
to the right nor the left with eyes
intently fxed on something unseen
about him. He Is the manufacturer
OF a well-known brand of Whiskey.,
Other reasons why he pities these
men who have not yet found a hap
pier service certain to bring others as
we'll as themselves comfort and not
poverty. smiles and not tears" are
stated by this college man who went
into their employ thinking they were
doing all in their power to clean up
the various branches OF the business,
but was disiliusioned when It's prom
inent officials told him that the LIQUOR
forces oppose early closing hours and
other regulations because 1t Is i'm
possible for the retailer to make a liv-
ing II such laws are passed and en-
forced"
This converted liquor official now
back from the trenches Of the VETS
believes that national prohibition is
the logical solution OF the liquor prob