Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-07-22
NO SYMPATHY FOR LIQUOR

To the Editor Of the EUentn1 Ledger:
Sr-You have made the Philadelphia pub
lie your debtor by your clear and satisfac-
tory reply in the issue of last evening TO
Clarence Gibboney's communication Local
Option vs. Purchase" AS one of the
temperance secre taries of the Presbyterian
Church ! should like to make a few addi-
tional remarks.
and fallacious arguments. but fear he Is
appealing to ignorance only We are not
living in England but under good old Uncle
Sam. Mr.. Gbboney is a lawyer, and of all
people In Philadelphia he ought to know
that the United States Supreme Court has
twelve times declared that there is no in.
herent right In citizen to sell intoxicat-
ing liquor. while nearly every State Su-
preme Court in the Union has ruled that no
person has an inherent right 10 keep
saloon. Licenses are issued for one year
only, and the public has just as much right
to revoke them as property owners have to
notify their tenants to vacate the premises.
. Booze holsters, to borrow a vernacular
term. deserve no sympathy whatever. War
brides are not in IL with the profits of the
liquor traffic Let Mr.. Gibboney go up
Whisky Hill In Chester, Pa. and view the
splendid residences built by wet-goods men.
Now, should their gamblers chances go
against such men, surely the public should
worry. II ought to be pointed out, how
ever that large proportion of the saloon
belongings OF the country are owned by the
brewerles, of which there are, roughly
speaking. about 1900 in all These are the
concerns on which Mr.. Gibboney's tears
should be expended. AS matter of fact
they are proving themselves quite capable
of meeting changed conditions. In Wheel
ing. w. Va, one of these concerns went into
the pork packing industry. Others, rec
ognizing the inevitable are preparing for
similar changes, as in st. Louis, where
matted milk has been adopted as a side line
Mr.. Roosevelt remarks that the friends of
the saloon denounce their opponents for
not treating the saloon business like any
other. THE best answer to this is that the
business is not like any other business, and
that the actions OF the saloonkeepers them
selves prove this 10 be the case, 1t tends to
create crimlnality in the population at
large, and law-breaking amongst the sa-
loonkeepers themselves. When the liquor
men are allowed to do as they wish, they
are sure TO debauch not only the body social,
but the body polite also"
/ am sorry to note that Mr.. Gibboney,
long the efficient secretary of the Law and
order Society, and whose knowledge OF un-
derground Phila delphia conditions Is nothing
less than mastery. has jumped the fence
Could golden finger have beckonedl Yet
his letter is an encouraging sign of the
times 1t is clear that the liquor industries
OF the country have seen the writing on the
wall. and hope to save at least few square
inches OF their hide. 1 rejoice to add that
the Presbyterian Church Is exerting more
and more or its immense power and prestige
for the total abolition Of the evil traffic, and
that more than score OF sister denomIna-
tions are falling into line and establishing
educational agencies
EDWIN J. REINKE
Associate Secretary, Presbyterian Board of
Temperance
Philadelphia, July 21.