VOL. XXXI.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., OCT. 17, 1896.
NO. 42
EXPERIENCE DEPARTMENT
What tha Saloon Does for Me   and My
Neighbor--Additional   Taxes Paid on
Account of the Saloon.
J K
1st Prem.—In regard to myself and
family the saloon does not affect us ex
cept In a financial way. Thus far in life
we have found no use for and have had
no occasion to nse intoxicants in
anyway. But alas! we cannot say this
of all our neighbors. We oan see its evil
effects morally, physically and financially every day; and were it not for this
those persons would make the best of
citizens and neighbors. I have noticed
the records of the criminal dockets, and
there I find that 75 per cent of the cases
are the result ot the saloon. The expense to the connty in prosecuting these
cases is considerable. Thus we can see
that a large amount of the tax collected
goes to the support of the saloon, and if
the saloons were abolished our taxes
wonld certainly be reduced In this way-
According to statistical reports there are
over a billion of dollars annually expended for intoxicants, and if this vast
sum of money were invested in legitl
mate channels of trade lt would go a
great deal farther in reviving the present depression in business, and in relieving the distressed, oppressed and starv
ing thousands. Our temperance ag
_mo?__l have hirte'tofore
sued the. wronfe course in presenting the moral side of this question almost exclusively. They •seem to
have overlooked the injury sustained financially. If the saloon sale of
intoxicants were' prohibited "by law
were abolished and the manufacture and
. except for\ medical* ahd chemical pur-
pose's.. the immense sum of money now
spent for the same would to' a large *de-
. gree be spent for the necessaries and luxuries of life, such as beef,* pork, groceries,
flour,   dry    goods,    clothing,    jewelry,
-watches, travel, excursions, theaters, benevolences, and for paying rents, buying
houses and lots and many other Of these
things. Factories and workshops would
be revived; new ones started and run on
full time, and a general revival of bust-
ness would ensue. The litres of 75,000 human beings who are now annually sacrificed on account of thesaloon would,be
saved. Our poor houses would have but
few occupants, police and criminal courts
. would have but little  to do, peace and
' prosperity would reign where degradation and misery now exist. But as to
the remedy:   Our puny strength seems
! to be as nothing as compared with the gigantic force of  this  monster evil.    Our
■ forces seem to be divided, the supporters
• of the traffic are doing all they can to divert our minds from this most important
issue. But let us stand our ground and
leave no opportunity unimproved. Let
'Us hope on, pray on,andby and'by this
serpent will lie writhing beneath our feet.
.   ■ ; .' *    ■ '   '■     C.E.H.
-.   Warren ton, 111. ,'■'. *.,.*
in onr newspapers accounts of men brutally murdering their wives and children
while in a drunken fit. Yet men will
spend the last nickle for liquor and lay
in the ditch along the roadside and wallow in a mnd hole, like hogs in a pond
and complain about their taxes being so
high they can't pay them, not knowing
that they are piling them upon themselves day by day and year by year. I
said in the beginning that the saloons
had done nothing for me. I spoke before
I thought. I will give them credit for
one thing they have done. They bave
raised my taxes as well as tbelr own.
While t give them credit for it 1 don't
thank them for it. Tobacco and saloons
are two things I can do without.
Harrison Co. A Farmer.
their wages go right to the saloon and
spend it before Monday morning. The
saloon keeper gets rich; he lives well; he
dresses well; he builds a nice house; he
furnishes it with costly furniture, and
with costly musical instruments, and
seems to enjoy life, and the poor fool that
helps him do all this with his money Is
blind to his own interest. We have men
here that are good husbands, good fathers, good neighbors and all that when
they are sober, but they will get drunk
and then tbe devil gets into them, and
they are the meanest men living. Well
I could say a good deal more about it,
but tor fear I will got this article too
lengthy, I will close now.
Ripley Co. J. F. Biunkman.
3d Premium.—Two years ago a license
to retail intoxicants in our village was
applied for. The citizens held a meeting
and sent in a remonstrance but though
license was refused a government license
was secured, and that has apparently an
swered the purpose just as well. There
has been a great increase in drunkenness,
brawls and fights, and at least two shooting affrays. A woman said to me, '-My
husband has not drawn a sober breath for
four days. He used to drink occasionally, but since the saloon came he is
drunk all the time." It is our custom to
go to the village on Saturday for the
mall  and any necessaries needed..One
proD_njiri-pin^f«~ram^»»rK^Brdf
started home when a heavy wagon drawn
by a powerful team of mules dashed
around a corner; the drunken driver was
leaning oyer the dashboard, shoutingi
cursing and. lashing his team. A child
or Inexperienced driver would have been
run down, and we barely escaped; the
heavy wheels grazing our light buggy as
we turned out of the road. Ontbe seat beside him sat his wife, with a child in her
arms and another clinging to her dress_
her hat partly off and bair dishevelled,
and such a look of terror and despair on
her face that my heart ached for her. I
wished with all my soul that the man
who sold her husband the whisky had
been in her place on that wild ride, and
as helpless and fearful as she seemed to
be. I confess to getting "fighting mad"
when I think of the wrongs heaped on
the weak and defenseless by this vile
traffic. I have heard of many complaining of high taxes, but I have yet to hear
of any man asking if the saloon has anything to.do with it. A saloon is demoralizing to the community which tolerates it,
and people finally get to look upon it as
a matter of course, and something which
can't be helped and they doze along until
Borne dreadful crime or accident rouses
them and forces reflection. The saloon
is doing this much for us: Of moderate
drinkers it is making confirmed sots, and
of many of our young,men it is making
amateur drunkards. Mrs. W. A. B.
Jennings Co.
i 2d Premium.—The saloon has simply
done nothing for me. But this is more
than I can say of my. neighbors, for some
of them are as poor as Job's turkey from
no other cause than that of drinking
'whiskey and beer. Many families are
half fed and half clothed, which, if
their husbands would not drink could
have plenty to eat and be dressed decent
, anot comfortable.* Our little town has
four saloons and we .can scarcely go to
town without seeing some one almost if
not entirely past going and sometimes.a
.dozen. • And some one is having a trial
nearly every day over some deed done
while under the influence of liquor.
These trials cost from $5 to $50 and this
outlay is also caused by the saloons.
(And the-bills are footed by the .tax
payer.—Ed.)   How many times do we see
I will tell the readers of the Farmer
what the saloon does for me. It is an
aggravation to me to see how they carry
on their business. I do wish to God we
could get rid of them. I say the saloon is
the hot bed of hell, in which the seed ls
sown and from which the plants are
transplanted into hell. We all know that
liquor is the cause of nine crimef* om-
mitted out of every 10. People areVom-
plaining of hard times, but let a saloon
keeper advertise a ball and you would
not think times were hard by the
way the people spend their money
there. We have people here that
think the saloon is a necessity. We have
men here that cannot pay an honest debt
when it comes due, but they have lots of
money to spend in the saloon. Their
wives and children go without food and
clothing, and more than that they will
stoop down to do any thing, will work
bard all day and Sunday, and if they get
REVIEW.
The saloon is a relic of the childhood of
the race, along with duels, bull fights,
witch craft, etc.
We bave outgrown many primitive
ideas, such as that "might makes light,"
and courts of justice have been established to determine right; also the belief
that we can prove and establish a waning faith by the flame or thumb screw.
The world has gone past bull fights,
duels, the Divine right of kings, trans-
substantiation, human slavery, and have
so far out grown tbe drink habit as to
drive it from the harvest field and from
the family hearth stone into  the  towns
writhing in the agony of death.
"The League was much disturbed over
the successful enforcement of the law,
etc. So are gamblers and prize fighters
and thieves much disturbed over the
"successful enforcement of the law." Is
the grocer in your town "much disturbed" on that acoount. Are we farmers much disturbed on account "of tho
successful enforcement of law?" The
law breaker Is the only one "disturbed."
Now notice how the saloon league ashes
its tall In its "alarm" and "disturbed"
condition.
The League resolved to make a tremendous effort to Increase its membership and influence ln tbe next Legislature; "a strong effort will be made tore-
peal the law." 11 has a "large number of
legislative nominees pledged to the repeal." "The League will exert all its influence and money to elect these pledged
men."
The last election proved that the
League's bragged-about power was not as
strong In elections under tho Kangaroo '
law as they claimed, and If we farmers
will wake up and set our foot on their
pledged  nominees  there  wouldn't be a ;
greasy spot left of the whole kit of 'em. '
When I was a boy I heard a paper read
in a literary society which was all irony, {
that is it said just the opposite of what it j
meant.   And in reading Mayor Taggart's .1
formal address nf welcome,  if I  didn't 1
know how ftusjfrm ^^ cgfflB8i9, nnjfitek^^X----^^;
I
"pj-^^tllfra-nm^^ and powerful as-
above of those gigantic evils which have
cursed the race to serve its baser passions.'
Are we not getting on pretty well? Not
a foot of ground in these United States
can be found where a prize fight can be
held. Lotteries have been excluded from
the malls and driven from the country.
But the saloon still lurks in dark corners and does business behind curtains.
A large part of its business is in violation
of the best public sentiment and of law.
It makes one smile to see how oppressed the liquor business is, and how
very sensitive it feels to any expression
of public sentiment. Kvery one should
be law abiding, but the saloon keeper,
but it is at once persecution and fanaticism to insist on his obeying the law.
I wish every one reading this would be
sure and read the report of the State
Liquor League of September 17th, part of
which we publish elsewhere. It Is rich
reading for the general public and tbe
pitiful waitings of the much abused
.'legitimate industry," as they see themselves sinking beneath tho rapid growth
of public morals is laughable indeed.
It Is exceedingly interesting to we farmers who so strongly supported the Nicholson Bill, to note that the thorn v. hich is
piercing deepest into, and threatening
tbe vitals of the traffic, is the Nicholson
Law. Fotice their own statement, that 700
groggeries have actually been closed in
our State. That's awful—interesting reading.
Their taffy and balderdash abont license fees, school revenue and restricting
personaHiberty suggest to my mind the
bantering proposition which the Devil
made to Jesus to give him all the kingdoms of the earth, etc. Only think how
one might have reasoned that I can use
all that immense wealth and power to relieve the poor, make just laws and .establish a thousand reforms. If I just fall
down and worship him. Jesus did not
care to do evil that good may come; it
don't come that way and you know his
answer.
rheir great anxiety about dismissing
school, revenues etc, sounds funny. You
know that when printing was invented it
was said by some we must destroy printing or it will destroy us. And since public schools are-the surest and speediest
slayers of the saloon it shows tbe great
extremity to which the saloon has come
and it reminds you of a great serpent
_
sociations, I would take the Mayor to be
talking in irony.
Public opinion has grown so far ahead
of the thought expressed byjthe Mayor,
that a member of the League might well
have felt that the situation was so ridiculous that the Mayor was making fun of
him.
You will notice, however, in the Mayor's address, and in tho resolutions of the
League that they carefully mention tho
fact of the business being licensed as evidence of its being "lawful and honorable."
The mayor says, "we must recognize"
the fact although he knows that morally
and ethically it is absurd. To read these
thoughts in their report makes one think
that they feel condemned by publio opinion, and that the only proof they can offer of the business being honorable is its
being licensed and defended by law. Imagine such anxiety displayed by speakers"
in an association of merchants or railroad
men.
Fellow farmers what do you think of
the "excessive taxes in certain localities ■
where the saloon has been driven out?'*
Our quaker town ot course has never had
a saloon. We have splendid schools and
churches. I guess the League must be
indulging in irony when we know that -
the cost of jails, court expenses and common crime, resulting from the saloon,
contributes a large part of our taxation.
If "the Band of bigots who style themselves good citizens" could induce mon
to spend whiskey money for family needs
it would change a large number of people who are burdens to socioty to. tax.
payers.
I see they are much opposed to.coercion, so are all law breakers and bummers. Ain't a business in a great strait
when public opinion and law and the
courts are all against It? What do you
think of our quietly allowing that kind of
a business to live? ■ __ '..
Judge Klrkpatrick writes me in answer
to questions that "our public institutions
are largely necessary on account of the
liquor traffic." He adds, "The real estate
and buildings of our State for charitable
and corrective institutions cost $5,257,168.-
18; net total cost for '93 to maintain same,
$963,457.15; county expenses in Indiana in
'92 of criminals, $l47,i.87 ocunties paid
for poor '92, $867,016."
Did you ever wonder that the English
Co-t-.m.e-t on llth page.