^B Ebfl bl2 III liiiililfiiiiiiii uv thin, ii'|i!>U; |ii;Hli!ii!lil!i!!il!iilliii Eeonomic and Moral Aspci of the Llaiior ' Business^ Robert BagneHl jtM^ kiii ti)\2 EXCHANGE LIBRARY OF THE University of California. RECEIVED BY EXCHANGE Class Digitized by tine Internet Archive \n 2007 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.archive.org/details/economicmoralaspOObagnricli ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS AND THE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE STATE IN THE CONTROL THEREOF BY ROBERT BAGNELL NEW YOEK, 1911 SUBMITTED IN PAETIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIEEMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, IN THE FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ^t COPYKIGHT, 1911, BY ROBERT BAGNELL * • « * * . ' INTRODUCTION It is the purpose of this paper to study the liquor prob- lem from the social standpoint. We are concerned with the question of the use of liquor by the individual only in his relations with society. With the question of the wisdom or folly of the use of liquor considered in its effect upon himself alone we have nothing to do at this time. Interesting and important investigations are being conducted by scientists upon the physiological effects of alcohol.^ The total-absti- nence propaganda is being pressed with increasing vigor. All this constitutes a question of extreme importance, but of an individual character, and so does not lie within the scope of this discussion. We are to inquire about the effects of the excessive use of alcohol upon society, and the responsibility of the saloon for this situation. This is our problem. Then we propose to ask what is being done to solve this problem of society, and what the rights of the state are in the premises. In gathering the material upon which our conclusions are based, we not only studied the book and periodical literature upon the subject, but also addressed a series of questions to a considerable number of charity organizations, commis- sioners of the poor, police departments, and commissioners for the insane, and also sent copies of each series of ques- tions to twenty-four consuls-general of the United States in ^See Physiological Effects of Alcohol — Committee of Fifty; also article by Dr. Henry Smith Williams, McClure's Magazine, Oct., 1908. iii 227363 INTRODUCTION. Europe and Canada, asking them to secure information upon the various subjects of inquiry presented. Many of them were very kind in responding to the requests, and through these agencies much valuable information was secured and is embodied in the conclusions reached. IV CONTENTS CHAPTER I. PAOB The Effects of the Excessive Use of Alcohol upon the Individual 1 CHAPTER II. The Influence of the Saloon in the Community . . 21 CHAPTER III. The Economic Aspects of the Question 35 CHAPTER IV. The Study of the Problem 40 CHAPTER V. The Power of the State to Control the Liquor Traffic . 56 CHAPTER VI. The Basis op the Rights and Responsibilities of the State 59 CHAPTER VII. The Individual and His Rights 76 CHAPTER VIII. The Conflict op Rights 86 CHAPTER IX. The Right of the State to Control the Use and Sale op Liquors 89 V ? . '' ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. CHAPTER I. THE EFFECTS OF THE EXCESSIVE USE OF ALCOHOL UPON THE INDIVIDUAL. We are considering man as a social being. As such he has certain relations with society, and his inefficiency, his pov- erty, his insanity, or his criminality increases the burden of society. Hence, the study of the causes of these conditions becomes necessary. Our attitude upon the question of the harmfulness of the saloon and the liquor traffic will depend somewhat upon the conclusions we reach in this chapter. This statement is qualified because there are other factors involved in the problem of the saloon which will be con- sidered in their proper place. The subject of this chapter can be best considered from four standpoints. (A) The relation of alcohol to human deterioration and inefficiency. (B) The relation of alcohol to disease, especially insanity. (C) The relation of alcohol to poverty, and (D) the relation of alcohol to crime. (A) The Relation of Alcohol to Deterioration and Inefficiency. It is universally believed that the excessive use of alcohol causes inefficiency and deterioration. No employer of labor 1 C. '• l/l j;; ECONPMIQ AKD MORAL ASPECTS will hire a man addicted to drink if he can avoid it. The loss of time, the inferior quality of work done while under the influence of liquor, the danger to those dependent upon him in life and property, all render the drinking man an undesirable employee. All employers of labor are becoming increasingly strict about the matter. A correspondence with a number of great corporations that employ large numbers of men revealed, not only a tendency to discharge men who drank while on duty, but also not to employ or retain men who frequented saloons at any time. A few quotations out of a number of answers will suffice. The Pennsylvania Rail- road has " A standing rule stating that the use of intoxicants by employees while on duty is prohibited, and that their ha- bitual use, or the frequenting of places where they are sold, be sufficient cause for removal." The Delaware and Lacka- wanna Railroad: "The rules of our company prohibit abso- lutely men from drinking while on duty, and while we have not, as far as my knowledge goes, any rule forbidding them to use intoxicating liquors when off duty, we have a general rule which states that any employee making habitual use of intoxicating liquors or frequenting places where they are sold is liable to be dismissed from the service of the company per- manently." The New York Central Railroad : " We do not recognize the privilege of our employees to use intoxicants," and the road has a rule similar to those already quoted. While perhaps the railroads are in advance of most cor- porations in the matter, yet other employers are not far behind, as witness this from Marshall Field & Co. : " We never engage a person addicted to the use of intoxicating drinks if we know it, and if we find that anyone in our em- ploy is indulging in anything of this kind, we first interview him and later discharge him, if necessary." Many other firms reported rules of similar tenor to those above.^ The 1 John Wanamaker, Loeser's, Standard Oil Co., The U. S. Steel Cor- poration, etc. 2 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. United States Commissioner of Labor sent a note of inquiry to 7,000 concerns employing labor, and received replies from 5,363 to the effect that the drink question was taken in very serious consideration in employing help. That they had to be careful, because they v^ere held to account for accidents which might involve heavy liabilities.^ Too much is not to be read into these rules, but they illustrate a growing feeling against the use of liquor, and indicate a preference for the total abstainer in all branches of industry. This is due to two considerations: First, the dangers involved, and second, the increasing inefficiency of the drinking man. The great corporations are mainly concerned with the question of efficiency, and their right to forbid the use of liquor on the part of the employees is based upon the bad effects of its use from this standpoint. The state, in its efforts to promote the efficiency of its citizens as individuals, may not go this far, but when there is a positive deterioration of its citizens according to physical and moral standards, then the state in its exercise of its right and duty in the preservation of its own safety and efficiency, must seek to determine the causes of -such deterioration and remove them. An illustration of the exercise of this right and duty, at least so far as to make a careful investigation, is found in a recent case in Great Britain. The British Parliament in 1904 received a report from the " Inter-Departmental Committee on Physical Deteri- oration " which in some respects is very significant. The terms of reference of this committee are as follows : " (1) To determine, with the aid of such counsel as the medical professors are able to give, the steps that should be taken to furnish the Government and the nation at large with periodical data for an accurate comparative estijaate of the health and physique of the people; (2) to indicate generally the causes of such physical deterioration as does exist in cer- * Article by F. C. Iglehart in Review of Reviews, May, 1909. 3 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS tain classes; and (3) to point out the means by which it can be most effectually diminished. The occasion for the appoint- ment of the committee was the large number of rejections of recruits for the army for physical causes, and especially the report of the Royal Commission on physical training for Scotland." ^ This report of the Inter-Departmental Com- mittee was presented to both houses of Parliament in 1904, and contains some striking statements. The report deals, of course, with many things, but notes in particular the in- creased drinking among women, and then says: "The first point upon which Mr. Eccles (Mr. McAdam Eccles) laid stress was the physical effect of alcohol on tissues, illustrating this by the results of experiments on vegetable growth, ani- mal protoplasm, and the development of certain eggs, he argued that this action upon the cells of the human body is similar in character, and operates in the same adverse manner. These facts are held to be of special importance, when the great increase of drinking among women already described is realized. It is true, as was pointed out, that history affords instances of drunken nations whose vitality does not seem to have been greatly interfered with, but this is assumed to have been the case because the mothers of the race were sober, and the conclusion is stated that : ' If the mother as weU as the father is given to drink the progeny will deteriorate in every way, and the future of the race is imperiled.' " ^ Certain statistics are also presented upon the effect of al- cohol in shortening life : " According to which it is estimated that of 61,315 men between twenty-five and sixty-five years of age, 1,000 die in one year, but of publicans 1,642 die in one year, while of total abstainers only 560 die. It was shown by the insurance statistics that out of 100,000 persons aged thirty, some 44,000 would reach an age of seventy, while over 1 Page 5 of Report. ^ Page 31 of Report. OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. 55,000 abstainers might be expected to reach that age or twenty-five per cent more/' ^ That the excessive use of liquor is associated either as a cause or natural accompaniment of moral deterioration, is illustrated by conditions in communities where drinking is very common, as in mining towns. Here all forms of vice are rampant, and the general moral conditions are very bad. The situation in England in the latter part of the seventeenth and early part of the eighteenth centuries, when drinking became very excessive and when moral conditions reached their lowest plane in many centuries, is a further illustration of this fact.^ There are doubtless many places where the race is actually deteriorating, and while there may be many factors, as is pointed out in above voluminous report, still undoubtedly alcohol is one of the most important. Another thing needs to be considered — i. e., that without doubt in many places when the excessive use of alcohol has not effected an actual deterioration of the people, it has retarded very seriously their development, but unfortunately very little study has been given to this phase of the question, and no data are available. (B) The Eelation of Alcohol to Disease. In the first place, alcoholism is an active cause of disease. It is a direct cause of death in many cases. Statistics on this are hard to obtain. Probably no authoritative statistics for this country are to be had. According to Vacher, " the Regis- trar-General's Reports for England and Wales show during the period of twenty years ending 1900 a total of 110,215 deaths due to chronic alcoholism, delirium tremens, and cirrhosis of the liver, these being the only causes of death registered in the reports, which directly represent the mor- 1 Pages 31 and 32. * See Green's History of England, vol. iv., p. 120. 5 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS tality from alcoholic intemperance. The three causes of death in these statistics by no means represent the total mor- tality from alcoholic intemperance, for the agency of alcohol in the causation and fatality of Bright's Disease, diseases of the heart and blood vessels, apoplexy, paralysis, insanity, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and other diseases are not recorded in these or most mortality returns." ^ As this is not a dicussion of the pathological subject, it is not necessary to cite the various authorities upon the effects of alcohol upon the Alimentary and Respiratory Tracts, Liver, Pancreas, Kidneys, Heart, Blood Vessels, and Nervous System, and, as a matter of fact, exact data are not available, for this is one of the fields of investigation in which scientists are now at work. In all things they are not agreed, but they do agree upon the fact that the excessive use of alcohol has a vicious effect upon the human system, and is an active agent in causing many diseases. The thing in particular where they disagree is the effect of alcohol in small doses, some contending that in very small doses it is harmless,^ and others that any of it at all is harmful.^ Too much emphasis cannot be put upon the fact that alco- holism lowers the powers of resistance of the system against disease, especially infectious disease. " This lowered resist- ance is manifested by the increased liability to contract the disease, and by the greater severity of the disease. Physicians generally recognize the greater progress of pneumonia, chol- era, erysipelas, and other infectious diseases in persons who habitually drink to excess, than in others. The belief was once widely held that those who indulged freely in alcoholic liquors thereby acquired a certain degree of protection from tuberculosis, but this opinion is now completely discredited. Alcoholism, if it does not actually predispose to tuberculosis, ^ Physiological Effects of Alcohol, vol. ii., p. 362. 2 Committee of Fifty, Pathological Effects of Alcohol, p. 362. 3 Dr. Williams, McClure's Magazine, October, 1908. 6 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. as some believe, certainly furnishes no protection against it. The course of tuberculosis in alcoholic patients is more rapid than usual." ^ The French Permanent Committee on Tuberculosis, at a meeting held June 11, 1910, listened to a report by M. Lam- cereaux, who has studied 2,192 hospital cases of tuberculosis. His statement of the causes were as follows : Alcoholism 1229 Insufficient air, etc 650 Privation 82 Probable heredity 90 Contagion 482 ^ The relation of alcoholism to insanity has been studied by many students, but it has been with many difficulties, statistics furnished by the various institutions have generally been un- reliable for the purpose in hand. They have at best covered only the immediate cause of insanity, without attempting to give the ultimate cause, and in most cases this could not be given. The figures presented show a very wide variation. Perhaps a few quotations will illustrate this. Glasgow Dis- trict Mental Hospital, Woodilee, 1909, total cases, 269 ; cases where alcohol was direct or contributing cause, 86.^ Glas- gow Parish Council — ^Annual Eeport 1910; total cases, 553; alcohol as a cause in 20.* Glasgow District Mental Hos- pital, 1910, Gartloch; total cases, 235; alcohol as a cause in 34.^ These are from the same community and vary widely, so there must be some cause. There is no evidence in the reports of special facilities for treating alcoholic patients in any one place more than another. 1 Committee of Fifty, Physiological Effects of Alcohol, p. 372. 2 American Issue, January, 1911. 5 Annual Report, p. 14. * Report, p. 19. ' Report, p. 26. 7 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS Take a few illustrations from England: Total Cases. Alcoholic. Winwick Asylum, Lancaster 157 32 Whittingham Asylum, Lancaster. 344 29 Prestwich Asylum, Lancaster 566 74^ The Fifty-ninth Annual Report of the Inspectors of Lunacy for Ireland reports the reception of 3,601 lunatics into the various district and auxiliary asylums of Ireland in 1909, of which intemperance is the probable cause of lunacy in 336 cases. At the close of the year 1909 there were 901 patients remaining in private asylums and institutions, of which in- temperance is reported as probable cause in 79 cases.^ Take some of the hospitals for the insane in Pennsylvania and we have this result: Total Cases. Alcoholic. Philadelphia 182 3 Friends Asylum, Frankfort 77 17 St. Francis Asylum, Pittsburg. . . 209 16 Harrisburg 637 85 In the Massachusetts State Report for 1909, a study of first cases of insanity reveals, according to their method of diagnosis, that for a period of five years, alcohol was a direct or contributing cause of insanity in 23.03 per cent of aU cases.^ The report of the Massachusetts State Board of In- sanity is that alcoholic intemperance is a causative factor in 19.30 per cent of new cases of insanity for the year 1909.* Efforts have been made to sift these figures and to reach the facts of which they are the very imperfect expression, *See Report Comity Lunatic Asylum, Lancaster, Eng., pp. 209, 167, 77. 2 Pp. 17 and 56. 3 Report, 1909, p. 23. * Personal correspondence with the Massachusetts Board of Insanity. 8 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. and some of these are illuminating. Dr. Mabon, Superin- tendent of Manhattan State Hospital, is quoted by Dr. Frank Woodbury as saying : *^ As a result of recent investigation of the causes of insanity of the thousands admitted to that hos- pital, thirty-three per cent are directly due to alcoholism, and if those are also counted in which alcoholism only acted indirectly, the proportion would be increased to nearly sixty- six per cent of the male patients." ^ The famous report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statis- tics of Labor is now old, having been published in 1895, but conditions have not materially changed. The results of that investigation are summarized as follows: ''As to the direct influence of the use of liquor upon insanity, the following appears: Of the whole number (1836) the investigation indi- cated that in 383 instances (20.86 per cent) the intemperance of the person led to insanity. There were, however, 330 cases where this point could not be ascertained. Of the 1,506 cases in which the point was fully determined, the percentage was 25.43." 2 The Committee of Fifty undertook to get some data upon the subject and at their suggestion the American Medico- Psychological Society sent out some 30,000 blanks contain- ing a series of queries upon the subject, and as a result received replies covering 5,145 patients, but as this repre- sents 117 hospitals which must have had many more pa- tients than this, the results must not be rated too highly. However, of the 5,145 cases reported, 1,239 were considered as due to excessive use of liquors or 24.08 per cent.^ It will be seen from these statements that there is a wide- spread tendency to rate alcoholism as a very fruitful cause of insanity, the figures running even as high as 66 per cent 1 Alcohol as an Active Cause of Insanity, Dr. Frank Woodbury, Monthly Cyclopedia and Medical Bulletin, July, 1910. 2 Report, 1895, p. 412. ' Physiological Effects of Alcohol, vol. i., p. 342. 9 y ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS (including alcohol both as a direct and as a contributing factor), but the unreliability of these figures will be seen in two considerations. First, the great difficulty of getting at the facts, for alcoholism may be a contributing factor to forms of disease that eventually result in insanity, and never be counted as a cause, and second, relatives and friends try to keep alcoholism as a cause of insanity in the back- ground. From this point of view, if all the facts could be obtained, these percentages might be increased. The sec- ond consideration, however, presents another side, namely, there is a tendency to count the excessive use of liquor as the cause of insanity in every case in which it appears. It may well be that it had little or nothing to do with it, and it may well be also that the excessive use of liquor is caused by the insanity or is a mark of it, rather than its' cause. A careful investigation was made of this phase of the subject by the Medical Commissioners in Lunacy in Scot- land in 1903, from which I will quote a paragraph : " From the figures given above (detailed account of cases studied), and from consideration of the facts regarding the individual cases furnished by the returns, it appears that insane per- sons whose insanity is accompanied by excessive drinking might be classified as follows: " 1. Those with an inborn or hereditary tendency. {a) To Insanity. (6) To Drunkenness, (c) To both Insanity and Drunkenness. " 2. Those with no discoverable inborn tendency to in- sanity or to drunkenness, but in whom one of the first symp- toms of insanity has been excessive addiction to drink, contrary to the former habit of life. ^^ 3. Those with no ascertained inborn tendency to insanity and with no known constitutional craving for intoxicants, but who have acquired habits of drinking through example 10 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. and unfavorable surroundings, and whose minds, originally healthy, give way owing to organic disorders resulting from inebriety. " It is in this third class only of the insane for whose condition drink can be said to be wholly responsible, and a study of the returns obtained by us indicate that it can con- stitute only a small proportion of the total number of cases in which drink is found in association with insanity. By far the larger portion of such cases is contributed by the first and second classes above referred to, and of these, judging from returns, the prime factor is heredity. It should be noted in the cases of the first and second classes, drink cannot be properly said to be a cause at all, for even in the case of class (&), where only an hereditary tendency to drunkenness has been traced, it must be remembered that hereditary drunkenness is regarded by the highest authorities as a symptom of degeneration closely allied to insanity and often interchangeable with it. These cases, therefore, in which hereditary drunkenness manifested itself in insanity, do not essentially differ from those in which there is an ascertained family history of both insanity and drunkenness." ^ These views may be regarded as extreme. It seems to the writer that not enough consideration is given to the subject of the transmission of physical conditions predis- posing toward drunkenness, and no consideration is given to the possible cure of the inherited physical weakness pre- disposing toward drunkenness, before insanity is reached. While there is a divergence of view herein presented, it is only upon the question of degree ; of the fact that the exces- sive use of alcohol as a prolific cause of insanity there is no dispute. Another thing needs to be remembered in this con- nection, and that is that " Toxic insanity is of such insidious 1 Special Committee on Mental Cases Report, p. 15. 11 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS origin and obscure development, that it is impossible in many cases to decide when the border line has been passed. In the majority of cases it is a fact that the patient becomes mentally deficient and morally irresponsible before the actual existence of his insanity is admitted, and often before it is even suspected." ^ (C) Alcoholism and Poverty. There has been a marked change in the attitude of the officers of charitable organizations toward statistics upon the relation of liquor and poverty. A few years ago while there was a little distrust of figures, yet it was felt that the result would be approximately correct. The Committee of Fifty, The Massachusetts Bureau, and Mr. Chas. Booth, of Lon- don, have made the most careful study of the subject, but they mainly expressed their conclusions in percentages, which are not now valued so highly. But since these three reports represent the best effort made to get a systematic state- ment of the facts, we ought to quote a few of the items they giYe. The Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor reports the investigation of 3,230 cases, of which 1,274 were due to drink, 1,427 were not, and in 529 cases the causes of poverty could not be ascertained.^ Mr. Chas. Booth, in his investigations among the poor of London found drink the cause of poverty in 14 per cent of cases in classes A and B and 13 per cent in classes C and D, the latter being a little higher grade of people.^ The Committee of Fifty in its report states that from the report of the charity organizations submitted to them, about 25 per cent of the cases studied owe their poverty to in- 1 The Potentially Insane, Dr. Frank Woodbury, p. 4. 'See Report, p. 37. » Royal Statistical Society Journal, 1888, p. 295. 12 ^ OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. temperate habits of themselves or others. The reports from the almshouses indicate that 37 per cent of the poverty of their inmates can be traced directly or indirectly to drink. To this is to be added the destitution among children, of which they estimate that not less than 45 per cent is due to drink. ^ In the last few years since these reports have been com- piled, there has been a marked development of the chari- table work of the United States, not only in extent, but also in the scientific value of the work, and while there are still many volunteer workers who are mostly untrained, the num- ber of trained workers is increasing. It cannot be said, however, that as much attention is given to the causes of poverty as could be desired, the work being mainly confined to immediate relief, care of the sick, and securing employ- ment for the idle.^ One effect of the deeper knowledge of the condition of the poor has been an increasing reluctance to give figures. The writer had correspondence with nearly one hundred charity organizations and boards of relief of the poor, selecting them so that they would be representative of all conditions of life, city, and country, in all parts of the country. Without variation, the older, more experienced organizations, with the specialized, trained workers, hesi- tated about giving figures in answering the questions sub- mitted, while the newer voluntary organizations were very ready to tell just what per cent of the poverty coming under their notice was due to drink. A few quotations will illus- trate this point. Taking the latter class first. It would be invidious to give the names of the places to which I refer in this first set of quotations. * Economic Aspects of Liquor Problem, Committee of Fifty, pp. 21 and 22. * This is doubtless due to the great amount of work necessary for the immediate relief of distress, which is regarded as the first object of such organizations. 13 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS The overseer of the poor in a small city of the Middle West puts the percentage of cases of poverty due to drink at 85. The poor commissioners of a large city in the Middle West put it at 35 per cent direct cause and 50 per cent in- direct, making a total of 85 per cent. A small Eastern city makes it 60 per cent. A large city of the Western Coast, 60 per cent direct and 12 per cent indirect. A medium-sized city in New England, 50 -per cent direct cause. A charity organization in a Middle West city says 90 per cent. One in a small city in the same section says 90 per cent direct and 10 per cent indirect cause. A number of others of like character could be quoted, but they are from com- missioners of the poor who are incompetent to pass upon causes of poverty, or from charity organizations of recent origin and without experienced workers. They are almoners, and have simply observed that many of the paupers are also drinkers. In contrast to this are the following: New York City Charity Organization, "We do not attempt to give figures on the relation of drink to poverty. We know that liquor is a prolific cause of poverty, but many times poverty causes drink, and besides there are so many other factors involved in the problem, that with our present light accurate statistics are impossible." Buffalo Charity Organization : " Innocent poverty with a long working day and insufficient food leads to drink, just as much as drink causes poverty. It is a vicious circle." Baltimore Federated Charities : " Nor can I say what proportion of poverty is directly due to drink, or indirectly so, the causes of poverty are, in fact, so compli- cated that it is frequently difficult to tell whether drink itself is the cause or effect." Boston Associated Charities : " The charity organization societies of the country have pretty largely given up labeling the causes of poverty and instead now indicate the condition incurred when the family comes under our care. We have learned modesty, and realize it 14 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. takes a more omniscient eye than that possessed by any human being to assign causes." ^ The reason for distrusting the old statistical method of ascertaining causes of poverty are presented in a strong paper on " The Causes of Poverty/' by Lilian Brandt. ^' The old method proceeds upon the assumption (1) that in every case of poverty there is one chief or principal cause, (2) that the cause will be readily recognized by the person who is told to find it . . . what the decision in any case will be depends not upon the facts of the case, but on the more or less imperfect knowledge of the facts possessed by the in- vestigator phis his own bias, determined by a natural tem- perament and education, plus his ability to recognize a cause when he sees it." ^ The investigators comforted themselves in the thought that although they might be mistaken in any individual case, in the total, the errors would correct each other and approximately correct results be realized, but this does not necessarily follow. Trained workers have discovered that no case of poverty is a simple matter, and' do not assume, as formerly, that liquor is the cause of the poverty, if it so happens that the man himself, or in the case of children or women, the sup- porter of the family drinks. The problems of poverty can- not be studied from the standpoint of any one reform and any safe results be reached. They constitute a very vital and pressing field of their own, and must be studied without any preconceived notions of their relation to any other problem. In the correspondence with charity organizations and over- seers of the poor, to which reference has been made, one of the questions asked was, " Have you made a concrete study of the causes of poverty, and if so, what relation does liquor sustain to it ? " In every instance, whether figures of per- 1 Above quotations are from letters from the several organizations. 2 Political Science Quarterly, vol. xxiii., p. 639. 15 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS centage are submitted or not, the answer is to the effect that liquor is a prolific cause of poverty.^ It is not the contention of this writer that the excessive nee of liquor is the chief cause of poverty, but simply that it is a chief cause in some cases and a contributory cause in many others. Even writers who study the problem of poverty from an economic standpoint, and who believe that vicious industrial conditions are mainly responsible for pov- erty concede the evil part the excessive use of liquor plays as a cause or attendant of poverty.^ Two conclusions seem reasonably certain. First: It is universally conceded that either as a direct cause, or an indirect one, alcoholism causes a great deal of poverty. In many instances it may be the direct or main cause, in many others it is the "last straw that breaks the camel's back." There is poor health, natural shiftlessness, or misfortune, and then drink comes in to complete the ruin. It may be said that drink in that case is an effect, but it is also a cause of further suffering. Second: Another conclusion is also reasonably sure, namely, that there are many who never become objects of public charity, who live an impoverished life and are a weight on the tone and life of the community, and who are in this condition in whole, or in part, through drinking. As a minister of a downtown church in New York City, the writer had an opportunity to observe this at close range, and in order to be sure that his conclusions were not excep- tional, he consulted a number of other ministers who had had similar pastorates, where they came into close contact with the poor, and found that they had come to like con- clusions. They are — First: there are many who do not seek 1 See Alcoholism and Social Problem, Lilian Brandt, Survey, October 1, 1910. 2 See Poverty and Social Decay, Alfred Martin Colwick, Arena, January, 1901. 16 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. charity, who, nevertheless, do not have sufficient food or shelter, because the wage-earner is unable to retain his posi- tion because of drinking habits. Second : the wage-earner is compelled to take a lower grade position for the same reason, and thus is not able to adequately provide for his family. And third: a great many who otherwise might have lived in better neighborhoods and had some of the means of com- fort and culture were denied them for the same reason. The outcome must be still worse in the many cases where no member of the family is in touch with the church or other uplifting agency. What is true of New York City is doubt- less true of our cities generally. The net result is a large section of our people on the very edge of pauperism, and from these most of our paupers come. This is not intended as a reflection upon the worthy poor, of whom there are many, and who are as a class very distinct from this other one to which we refer. (D) The Relation of Alcohol to Moral Deficiency AND Crime. It is very difficult to get the data upon this phase of the subject. Many police departments will give out no informa- tion on the subject, some others present reports that are mis- leading.^ For instance, in the city of St. Louis in 1909 there were 38,128 arrests, of this number 7,455 were for " Drunk on the Street." Undoubtedly there were many other arrests where the real cause was drunkenness, but they were put under other titles, as " Disturbing the Peace," of which there were 9,343.2 rp^j^^ Atlanta, Ga., for 1909; there were 19,071 cases of arrest and of these 3,741 are called "Drunks," but "Disorderly Conduct" had 10,075.^ 1 See Survey, October, 1910, p. 228. 2 Annual Report, Police Dept., 1910, p. 23. 3 Annual Report, Chief Police, 1909, p. 23. 17 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS Correspondence with the Police Department of Chicago failed to secure any information concerning that city. New York gave total arrests 203,738, Intoxication, 36,476, and Disor- derly Conduct, 47,589.^ Birmingham, Ala., reported ten per cent of arrests due to drunkenness. The reports from British cities were much more complete and careful. Take, for instance, Edinburgh, Liverpool, and London as illustrations. Edinburgh, 54.32 per cent of total apprehensions in 1909 were for drunkenness, 18.54 per cent of the balance were under the influence of liquor when ar- rested. Liverpool, in 1909, total arrests 19,378, and of these 9,589 were for drunkenness. London, total arrests, 113,300 — 51,521 for drunkenness.^ These results are in the main in harmony with those obtained by the Committee of Fifty and by the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor. The Committee of Fifty found, "as a final result, that in- temperance occurred on the average in 31.18 per cent of all cases." ^ The Massachusetts report says, " Out of 26,672 convic- tions for various offenses during the preceding twelve months (1894) 17,575 or 65.89 per cent of all convictions were for drunkenness in whole or in part." * Hugh C. Weir gives the figures for the United States for 1909, in round num- bers, as follows: Total arrests, 786,000; for drunkenness, 350,000.** These figures are fairly definite and for the rea- son more reliable than any figures that could be given on poverty or insanity, for they represent the actual condition of drunkenness when the arrest was made, but it must be remembered that the actual arrests for drunkenness do not 1 Annual Report, Police Commission, pp. 9 and 21. * Obtained by personal correspondence with police courts of these cities. ' Summary, Committee of Fifty, p. 123. * Report, pp. 124-125. * Menace of Police, World of Today, January, 1910. 18 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. tell all the story of the relation between the excessive use of alcohol and crime, for many crimes are committed while under the influence of liquor that would not otherwise be committed. Dr. Otto Juliusburger, writing on this phase of the subject says, " There is no doubt that the main source of crime is to be found in the excessive use of alcohol; statistics prove this. The results, for instance, obtained by the municipality of Zurich, Switzerland, are striking. In one week in 1891, 116 persons were sentenced for inflicting bodily injuries. The deeds were committed on Saturday by 18, on Sunday by 60, on Monday by 22, and on each of the other days of the week by four persons. In the City of Edinburgh the arrests for intoxication between eight o'clock Sunday morning and eight o'clock Monday morning were, during two years, 1,357. This was before the closure of the saloons on Sunday. After the closure, the arrests were 328, and in 1896-7 only 223, in spite of the increased popu- lation. In Ireland the imprisonments on Sunday in 1877-8 amounted to 4,555 before the compulsory closing on Sun- days, but from 1885 to 1886 only 2,500 arrests were made, though the law was only effectual in part." He then quotes Sir Richard Temple, of the British Army, to the effect, " that if the soldiers could only stop drinking they would be' practically free from crimes and military faults." He also quotes the Swiss Surgeon General to the same effect.^ The studies thus far presented in this section refer only to the arrests made for drunkenness and to the relation of drunkenness to crime as it has come under the official notice of the police. But it is a well-known fact that only a small part of those that get drunk are arrested. It is from this class that nearly all criminals come. It might fitly be called " the near-criminal class." No data for this class are avail- able; nevertheless, in summing up the relation of alcoholism ^ Alcohol and Crime, Hilfe (Berlin), December, 1905. 19 MORAL ASPECTS OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. to crime, this large class, because of its afifiliation with drink- ing and the associations of drink, must be taken into account. Such a condition as this study of the relation of alcoholism to crime reveals, and the presence of a large " near-criminal " class in the community are a constant menace to the moral well-being of the community, and must be a powerful factor in lowering the moral tone of the whole people. CHAPTEE II. THE INFLUENCE OF THE SALOON IN THE COMMUNITY. The saloon is singled out in this discussion because it is the chief factor in the question before us. There are other places where liquor is sold, as in the grocery store, and some- times illegally in the drug store, then there is the hotel bar, which for all practical purposes may be regarded as a saloon. The influence of the saloon must be studied from two standpoints: (A) The saloon's influence in creating and de- veloping the drink habit; (B) the influence of the saloon itself as an institution. (A) The Character of the Saloon as a Creator and Developer of the Habit of Drink. We are well aware of the fact that many drunkards con- tract the habit at home or in the public restaurant where liquor is freely used. We also recognize the fact that evil companions are often responsible for bringing the young man or woman to the place where the liquor is sold. Still, when all considerations are weighed, it must be evident that the saloon is a great factor in the creation of the habit, and cer- tainly the most potent factor in developing it. The very essence of the business of the liquor dealer must be to increase his sales; this is the essence of any business proposition, and it is not possible for a man to engage in this business without having this spirit. This being true, we find him putting up his wares in all sorts of attractive forms. The mixer of drinks in the high-toned saloons is an artist. The preparation of the article for the market is a business, 21 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS not only of gigantic proportion, but one requiring the highest skill and efficiency. So that we have here a great business, involving many branches, with great capital and business ability and genius, seeking to enlarge its trade. The sale of the various brands of liquor is pushed by every attractive advertising scheme known to men. The saloons themselves are made social centers, chairs, tables, and various conve- niences are provided, the place is nearly always more attrac- tive in the poorer sections than the homes of the patrons. Free lunches, music, and other attractions are provided. Ever3rthing is done to make the place as attractive as pos- sible, and all to the end of doing business. The proprietor has a keen eye to the sales. If one frequents a place and does not buy, he soon finds that he is not welcome, and often when the sales lag the saloon keeper himself treats to start business going again. The social nature of man makes him a prey to the evil temptation, and the treating system so common in the American saloon is one of its vicious fea- tures. In the correspondence of the various charity organi- zations this note is sounded many times. Says the Super- intendent of the Associated Charities of Erie, Pa. : " In my judgment the saloon has undoubtedly some influence in de- veloping the drink habit. I feel, however, that while in the last analysis the saloon may be held to blame, the real cause of developing the drink habit is the treating system. One may go to the saloon, enjoy his glass of beer and leave, but when he meets his friends and has several rounds of drink, the craving grows, and sometimes becomes so strong that weaker persons cannot throw it off." The power of the saloon to make drunkards is increased by several things. First, there may be an inherited tendency toward drink, for even if acquired characteristics cannot be transmitted, conditions produced by the drinking of the mother before birth will result in such constitutional weak- ness on the part of the child as to predispose it toward stimu- 22 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. lants. And again, the dipsomania may be a permanent trait and be directly inherited, but may remain dormant until the occasion arises which the saloon or other drinking places fur- nish. The other thing that increases the power of the saloon in the development of the drink habit is the increasing ten- sion of our modern life, resulting in an increasing number of nervous disorders, and consequently an increasing demand for stimulation. This stimulation is frequently found in the saloon. In the correspondence with the police department of vari- ous cities it was diflScult to get an answer to the question, " What, in your ;judgment, is the influence of the saloon in developing the habit of drink ? " Only four answers were received from forty cities. Two of these were from the IJnited States — St. Louis, Mo., and Birmingham, Ala. The Chief of Police in St. Louis says : " Experience has shown that the well-regulated, orderly saloon does not tend to de- velop or promote the drinking habit." The Chief of Police at Birmingham says: "None! I would rather have saloons than to have prohibition, because with proper restrictions and high license the liquor traffic can be handled much better than to have blind tigers all over the city." Strangely enough, the other two are British, The report from Edin- burgh is: "Unquestionably the saloon does tend to develop the habit of drink, but the suppression of public-houses would not entirely suppress drunkenness or even liquor selling." London says : " To a certain extent it does influence a devel- opment of drink habit." The reports from charity organiza- tions are all to the effect that the saloon is a factor in devel- oping the habit; a few typical answers to the same question will suffice for our purpose. Eock Island: "The influence of the saloon is very bad; it certainly develops the drink habit." Baltimore : " In my judgment the saloon as now constituted is very influential in developing the drink habit." Buffalo : " Of course the saloon increases drinking and has a 23 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS dangerous influence/' Eoanoke : " Very great factor." Mil- waukee : *' In young men very bad." Pittsburg : " The saloon keeps temptation constantly in the way of those who live in the poorer districts ; congregating in saloons induces treating, which develops habits of drink." This from Birmingham is interesting in view of the statements of the Chief of Police from that city : " I have not a bit of hesitancy in stating that it is axiomatic that the saloon makes a man drink." Thus we see an immense business, equipped with every- thing that money or business ability can procure, at work in the community pushing its wares, although one of the neces- sary results of it must be the making of drunkards ; and many men, because of inherited weaknesses, or because of nerve strain, peculiarly susceptible to i^i (B) The Character of the Saloon Itself as an Institution. We must bear in mind certain facts in this phase of the discussion. That there are many kind-hearted men engaged in the liquor business. That they do many charitable things. That the saloon does attempt to fill a certain social need of the conamunity. This social need is a real need and very little is being done to meet it. To be sure the saloon is making an asset of this need and using it to advance its own interests, but nevertheless it is meeting it in its own way more generally than is any other agency. We must remember also that saloons vary in character to a very marked degree, and what we say may not apply to all saloons, but it will apply to the average one. First. The saloon is a lawless institution. Its whole his- tory, in this country at least, shows a tendency to disregard the law. It makes no difference what the character of the laws. In prohibition states the law is violated. In high- license states the same thing holds true. We are not dis- cussing at this point the relative effectiveness of any particu- 24 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. lar liquor legislation. We are simply pointing out the lawless character of the saloon. There is a good deal of discussion about the failure of prohibition to prohibit, and one would think that the liquor dealers were docile law-abiding men in states where they have what they call reasonable laws, but in license states where there are restrictions as to hours of sale, sales on Sunday, or to minors, etc., every single restriction is violated with impunity, unless the saloon is held down by the iron hand of physical authority. In the State of New York there were 2,424 convictions for excise violations during the year ending September 30, 1909. These are reported by the excise department and include only civil cases.^ There is no means of ascertaining the number of convictions for criminal violations of excise law, but it doubtless was much less. This statement from the Commissioner is significant : " No business that ignores or defies law in the main can continue to do so except during the quiescent period of indifference and inattention on the part of the people, and yet certain dealers continue to break and defy law and to do everything in their power to outlaw the liquor business, thus placing it in a blacklisted class all by itself, and this without forceful or effective protest from the better class of liquor dealers." ^ At the Pittsburg conference for good city government in 1908, Mayor Charles Fiske, of Plainfield, N. J., chairman of the New Jersey Excise Commission, after speaking of a reasonable enforcement of the excise laws in the interior towns, acknowledges its violations in many of the larger cities and along the coast. He ascribes it to four things: (1) Po- litical influence, (2) laxity in granting licenses, (3) brewery influence, (4) law-breaking drinking public.^ A proof of the charge is found in the situation in San Francisco. After 1 Excise Report, 1909, pp. 21-2. 2 Ibid., p. 48. ' Report, p. 62. 25 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS the earthquake and fire the saloons were closed entirely and remarkably good order was preserved, but a few months later, when the saloons were opened, there was a great increase in disorder and crime. ^ A similar situation existed in Spring- field, Ohio, after the lynching of 1907, when the citizens peti- tioned the legislature to increase the license to $1,000 for the express purpose of forcing out the lower grade saloons which they felt were responsible for the disorder. ^ The writer lived in Iowa during the period when prohibition was supposed to be state-wide. The violation of the law in the river towns was notorious. Finally, the situation became so acute that it was felt that something must be done. The saloon men, through their political representatives, promised that they would obey any license law that permitted them to do business, no matter how strict it was. As a result the Mulct law was enacted. About that time the writer moved from a smaller town to Sioux City, Iowa, and found there was scarcely a provision as to closing hours, screens, Sunday closing, etc., that was not ignored. The situation as to Sun- day closing in New York is well known. The Society for the Prevention of Crime made an investigation in the Borough of Brooklyn on Sunday, May 7, 1911, to see if the saloons obeyed the Sunday closing requirements. Their agents vis- ited 250 saloons, found everyone of them open, and were refused liquor in only two places. This has been the situation in New York for many years. During the time that Mr. Roosevelt was Commissioner of Police an attempt was made to compel the enforcement of the law, but his retirement made it short-lived. The situa- tion as it existed ten years ago is discussed in Volume V, " Municipal Affairs," pages 833, 855, and 870, where the lawlessness of the saloon, especially with regard to the Sunday laws is taken as a matter of fact. 1 Outlook, 83, pp. 631-2. « Ibid., 82, p. 820. 26 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. Mr. Ray Stannard Baker gives the results of his investi- gation of the Newark, Ohio, riots in the American Magazine for April, 1911. The lawless character of the saloon business in that city can best be illustrated by an excerpt from a letter to Mr. Baker from a Mr. Bigbee of that city. Mr. Bigbee himself had been a distiller and saloon-keeper for fourteen years, and he says he tried to observe the law. He has this to say concerning conditions prevailing in Newark during that period : " I became a distiller and liquor dealer in a small way in the spring of 1881, and while one of the very first resolutions I made was that I would do business as near ac- cording to law as it could be done, I noticed that the busi- ness, as a rule, was being conducted in exactly the opposite direction ; that is, contrary to law in almost every particular, and by almost every dealer. Of the fourteen years that I was engaged in the wholesale and retail liquor business in this city, it is an undeniable fact that, so far as law enforce- ment was concerned, there was at least ten years of the time that the city had no mayor, or at least no executive. It is true that we had men in the mayor's oflSce, men who never missed a day's pay during the entire time, but also it is equally true that they missed everything else pertaining to the office in an executive way, and lawlessness reigned su- preme. Liquor was sold to anybody and everybody by some of the dealers. Prostitutes were allowed to promenade the streets in company with their gentlemen friends at any time of the day or night. And lawlessness of almost every kind became so rampant that respectable competition in the liquor business was in a manner destroyed, and as the number of saloons gradually increased, the morals of the business became lower and lower." Mr. Will Irwin, in describing the conditions in the South that have made possible the prohibition wave over that part of the country, says : " Everjrwhere the saloons have dis- obeyed in the most flagrant fashion all the rules made for 27 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS their government and regulation, and when put under pres- sure to reform they have fought back through their character- istic alliance with bad politics. So insolent has been the atti- tude not only of the saloon-keeper, but also the brewers, dis- tillers, and wholesale liquor men, that many communities have gone dry simply because of the disgust which this atti- tude has bred in good citizens." ^ That this is the spirit of the traffic is illustrated by the following, taken from an editorial in the Wine and Spirits News of July 2, 1902 : " This is a land where the majority should prevail, but where a majority seeks to determine what the minority should drink or wear, the rule does not obtain^ and it never will, and no one is a lawbreaker who insists on asserting his rights from the standpoint of taste, where an arbitrary sumptuary statute has been forced upon him by a fanatical majority." This lawless attitude has so generally been the practice that it may be safely said that the law- abiding saloon is the exception. Second. The bad influence upon the moral conditions and the well-being of the community. The direct relation of drinking to crime and immorality inculpates the saloon, especially in view of the fact that it is a big factor in making drunkards. But beyond this it is generally known that the saloon business has a direct effect upon the morals and good order of the community. Its very presence seems to have a deadening effect upon the moral sensibilities. The courts throughout the land have spoken decidedly upon this matter. The Illinois Supreme Court in Schonchow vs. Chicago, 68 sec., 444, says : " We presume no one would have the hardihood to contend that the retail sale of intoxicating drinks does not tend, in a large degree, to demoralize the community, to foster vice, produce crime and beggary, want and misery." The Supreme Court of Idaho 1 Collier's Weekly, February 29, 1908. 28 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. in State vs. Galloway, Idaho 719, says: " It is recognized, and also is a well-known fact in history, that much evil results from the sale of intoxicating liquor." The Supreme Court of Indiana in Schmidt vs. City, 80 N. B. Rep. 632, says: " The evils which attend and inhere in the business of han- dling and selling intoxicating liquors are universally recog- nized, and the danger therefrom to the peace and good order of the community everywhere necessitates exercise of the police power." And the Supreme Court of the United States confirms this in Mugler vs. Kansas 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 297. Mr. Justice Harlan says : " We cannot shut out of view the fact within the knowledge of all, that the public health, the pub- lic morals, and the public safety, may be endangered by the general use of intoxicating drinks; nor the fact established by statistics accessible to everyone that idleness, disorder, pauperism, and crime existing in the country are, in some degree at least, traceable to this evil." And more emphatic still is the language of the decision in Gowley vs. Christensen 137 U. S. 86, Sup. Court Rep. 13, which says: "By the general concurrence of opinion of every civilized and Chris- tian community, there are few sources of crime and misery to society equal to the dram-shop, where intoxicating liquors, in small quantities, to be drunk at the time, are sold indis- criminately to all parties applying. The statistics of every state show a greater amount of crime and misery attributable to the use of ardent spirits obtained at these retail liquor saloons than to any other source." The seriousness of this charge against the saloon is in- creased by the fact of its alliance with many forms of vice. It is notorious that the lower grades of saloons are often the meeting places of vicious characters. The gambling in- terests are often allied with the saloon, and most states recog- nize this in their police regulations. The relation of the social evil to the saloon is well illustrated by the history of the Raines Law Hotels in New York City. Under the old 29 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS Haines Law a license might be issued to a saloon with ten sleeping rooms, and these often became nothing more or less than houses of assignation. It was shown by the investiga- tions inaugurated by the prohibition workers in the South that the closest relations existed between the saloon and the houses of prostitution. In some cases the saloon kept what was called "The Blue Book/' which could be secured by anyone desiring it. It was nothing less than a description of the lewd women in the neighborhood and the addresses where they could be found. Now we do not claim that the saloon is the sole source of these dangerous and immoral conditions, but simply that it is a prolific source, and that there is such a natural affinity between the saloon and these things as to make the saloon a menace to the morality and social order of society. This is the attitude of the whole community upon the danger and lawlessness of the saloon as expressed by our laws. The grocer and the baker and other dealers are not taxed as is the saloon. What a protest would be heard if an attempt was made to tax bread and meat ! As it is, there is dissatisfaction over the taxes upon our imports, when the professed purpose is to protect American workmen. The tax upon liquor is avowedly because of its addition to the cost of the police and other departments of government. Also, no other line of business is so hedged about with all sorts of restrictions. The only reason for it is the universal recognition of the dangers and lawlessness inherent in the business. X Third. The saloon is a dangerous and pernicious influence upon our political life. In the correspondence with the vari- ous charity organizations of this country, one of the ques- tions asked was, " What, in your judgment, is the influence of the saloon upon the political life of the community ? " and the answers without exception were that it was very bad and very great. The only qualification given at all was a state- ment made by one of the correspondents who says, "there 30 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. are some orderly saloons," but over against this is the state- ment of another correspondent, who says, " the saloon is the very center of political corruption." The low intelligence and often vicious character of the saloon-keeper makes him a very unsafe man to trust with such great political influence. An editorial in McClure's Magazine for October, 1908, is in point. It says in part : " There is in America a particular and special concern over a condition which may be believed to be unparalleled in human history, certainly in modern civilization — the power of the saloon in American govern- ment, especially the government of cities. " The fact is notorious, yet the condition is not clearly un- derstood; sixty years ago with the first flood of European immigration, the character of American city government changed suddenly and entirely. A great proportion of the peasantry who arrived here from the farms of Europe stopped in our cities ; they were isolated from the rest of the popula- tion; their one social center was the saloon, and out of this social center came their political leaders and the manipu- lators of their votes. The European peasant saloon-keeper, for more than half a century, has been the ruler of a great portion of American cities. The case of Tammany Hall, for so many years the real governing body of New York, is most familiar. Its politicians for half a century have graduated into public affairs through the common school of the saloon. Its leaders at the present time are perfect examples of the European peasant saloon-keeper type which has come to gov- ern us. The same conditions exist to a certain extent in nearly every one of the larger cities. An analysis of the mem- bership of the boards of aldermen in these cities for the past few decades show a percentage of saloon-keepers with foreign names which is astonishing. The results of the political in- fluence of the saloon have been the defeat of many efforts for better sumptuary laws, and the nullification of laws that had restrictive features that were objectionable to the saloon- 31 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS keeper. This influence has always been used to protect vice in the many forms that were allied with the saloons." ^ The influence of the saloon upon the police departments of our cities has been particularly vicious. In our correspon- dence with the police departments of a score or more of our cities, large and small, and from every section in this coun- try there was not a single adverse comment upon the ques- tion concerning the influence of the saloon upon (a) the development of the habit of drink, (h) upon moral condi- tions and social order in the community and (c) upon the political life of the community. Many offered no comment at all. A few attempted to defend the saloon. This answer is from a large city of the Middle West : " Experience has shown that the well-regulated, orderly saloon does not tend to develop or promote the drinking habit." " The immoral phase of saloons in has been eliminated long since. The laws here regulating saloons are rigid and violations thereof by the dram-shop keepers mean the loss of their licenses." Such testimony is interesting in view of the fact that in so many large cities the police department cannot or will not enforce the restrictive features of the liquor laws. In New York there has been not only a close understanding between the saloon-keepers and the police, but in many in- stances graft has made it to the pecuniary interest of the police to wink at violations of the law. There seems to have been an understanding, of many years' standing, between the liquor dealers and the police. The Lexow Committee found that prior to 1892 a general system of blackmail was in vogue. Every liquor dealer was compelled to pay $20 per month to the police for the privilege of violating the law. Through action by the Liquor Dealers' Association this was stopped in 1892. This seems to have been followed by an alliance between the Liquor Dealers' Association and the 1 See Nation, 79, p. 516; also Nat. Con. City Gov., 1908, p. 426. 32 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. dominant party. What the terms were, the Lexow Com- mittee was unable to discover, but the violation of the law was permitted with impunity.^ The result of the work of that committee was a tem- porary improvement, but in 1901 and 1902 the agitation for a change in Sunday laws was based upon the same charges of graft. These conditions were not eliminated in 1908, as the following from a speech of Dr. John P. Peters, at the National Conference on City Government held in Pittsburg, will show. Dr. Peters says, " The city politicians found their profit from the traffic in a manner somewhat different from that of the up-state politicians. Through threats of arrest and criminal conviction for violation of ex- cise law, they levied an illegal tax on the traffic. By this means practically every saloon, whether running legally or not, was compelled to pay a certain monthly sum, which was collected directly or indirectly through the police. This was supposed to be payment for the privilege of running ille- gally, and saloons which would not open on Sunday were liable to special persecution by ' framed ' cases to force them to run illegally. The policy of state and city officials thus tended to degrade and criminalize the liquor traffic more and more, and made the saloon an agent of increasing political corruption." ^ Hugh C. Weir makes a similar but wider charge against the Chicago police.^ Josiah Flynt makes a like charge against the police in the pool-room gambling.* The political influence of the saloon does not depend alto- gether upon the money paid to the police and to "the man higher up," but having assumed the role of the poor man's club, the saloon is one of the most powerful factors in the ^ Lexow Committee (State Report), vol. i., pp. 40, 41. 2 Nat. Con. City Gov., 1908, p. 56; see also Gunton, vol. xx., p. 244. 3 World To-day, vol. xviii., pp. 308-310; see also pp. 599-606, and vol. xix., pp. 839-845. * Cosmopolitan, vol. xliii., p. 161. 33 MORAL ASPECTS OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. primary elections. It controls votes, and if necessary it furnishes the sinews of war. And the headquarters for the work of stuffing the ballot box is usually its place of busi- ness.^ It is the testimony of students of the problem that with the increasing effort to control the saloon, there has come an increasing degeneracy of the saloon. This is due perhaps to the fact that the effort to defend itself has led the saloon into all sorts of extreme measures, but the fact remains nevertheless that the American saloon is steadily growing worse. To review the charges against the use of, and traffic in, liquors we have : The excessive use of liquor means the deteri- oration not only of the individual, but of the community itself where it prevails. The excessive use of liquor is to be charged with a large per cent of poverty, sickness, especially insanity, and crime of society, and is a contributing cause of much more. The saloon, which in this country at least is the repre- sentative of the liquor traffic, is a powerful factor in the development of the drink habit. The saloon on the average, although there may be exceptions, is lawless in character, is an ally of vice and crime, has a demoralizing influence upon the morals and social order of the community, and is a pernicious and powerful factor in the political life of the city and state. ' See CoUier's Weekly, February 29, 1908. 34 CHAPTEE III. THF ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE QUESTION. The study of the economic aspects of the question is very important. Not because it has to do with larger values, for the opposite of that is true. But because of the fact that the economic bearings of a reform have much to do with hastening, retarding, or even preventing its consummation. When a reform must contend against large financial in- terests its progress is very slow and if it so happens that these financial interests are helps to material advancement, then progress is practically impossible. On the other hand, if an evil is an economic burden to the people the chances for success are increased. This chapter will not be an at- tempt to exhaustively consider the economic aspects of the liquor business, for the data cannot be secured for such a thing even if it were desirable. But there are certain facts which will clearly set before us the proportions of the case. (A) The Misdirection of Capital, Labor, and Material. For the year ending December 31, 1910, there were $659,- 547,620 invested in the manufacture of liquor. There were 68,340 wage earners employed. There were 29,327,437 bushels of grain and 42,293,073 gallons of molasses used in the production of liquor. This product does not represent any food or other value, that in any way can increase the re- sources or advance the development of society. If it is said that 68,340 people found employment through the business, it can also be said on the other side that the amount of 35 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS capital invested employs fewer men and women than any other line of business. The following taken from the Bureau of Census Reports for 1905 will illustrate this fact: Iron, steel, and their products, number of wage earners for each $1,000,000 invested 496 Lumber and its manufactures " " 726 Leather and its finished products " " 580 Pdper and printing " " 439 Vehicles for land transportation " " 858 Liquors and beverages " " 104 This means that if that amount of capital had been invested in some of these other lines of business, that the entire product of the business would have been added to the re- sources of society, and that in addition 500 to 800 per cent more people would have been employed. A few comparisons will show what that capital would have meant to society if invested in other kinds of business. In the manufacture of flour and grist mills' product $218,714,104 are invested, there were 37,073 wage earners, wages $17,703,000, and $415,826,345 worth of raw material was used. Clothing, $120,620,351 invested, 120,950 wage earners, $45,505,778 wages, $145,295,248 worth of materials used.^ In addition to the above there is the money invested in the wholesale and retail trade, for which there are no avail- able data and which must be a large sum. There are 259,780 wholesale and retail dealers.^ If this money and these men could be turned to a useful industry, an immense impetus would be given to business activity of the country. (B) The Direct Cost of the Liquor Traffic. (a) For the year 1909 the people of the United States spent $1,745,300,385 for drink. These figures are so large ^ Twelfth Census Report, vol. ix., Manufacturers, part 3. ' This does not include bartenders, etc. 36 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. that it is difficult to appreciate them. The United States debt is $913,317,490. Our National Government expenses were $622,324,445. Exports, $1,663,011,104. Imports, $1,311,920,224. If this immense sum were spent for food, clothing, and other necessaries and comforts of life, there would be not only a vast improvement in general conditions because of the great abundance, but the employment for nearly two million more people than are now employed by the liquor business.^ (h) There is another item of direct cost of the liquor traffic, but we have no means of expressing it in dollars and cents. It is the loss in labor. There is (1) the loss of the labor of the thousands who are prematurely cut off by ex- cessive use of liquor. We have no means of knowing how many there are in this country. It has been variously estimated up to 100,000 per year. At least there are many thousands. The shortening of life on the average could not be less than ten years. If the most conservative estimate is adopted, it will be seen that the economic loss is enormous. (2) In addition to these there are the many unemployed and incompetent because of the drink habit. The many who are working with diminished efficiency for the same reason and the multitude who lack the physical vitality and courage to do efficient work because of their own or another's exces- sive use of drink. As has been said we have no exact data upon this phase of the case. It may be that in most cases liquor is one of many causes. Still it is evident that . the facts are sufficiently clear to suggest an appalling loss to the economic assets of society. (C) The Indirect Cost of the Liquor Tkaffio. By this we mean the increased cost to society of police de- partment courts, hospitals, prisons, jails, care of the insane * Year Book Anti-Saloon League, 1911. 37 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS and paupers, etc., because of the presence and evil effects of the saloon in the community. There are many friends of the saloon who declare that the license fees take care of all this and leave a good balance. For reasons which are ap- parent we cannot reduce the evidence to statistical tables, for as has been said, the exact data upon these subjects cannot be obtained. Yet the facts themselves can be known. Take the case of New York City, a most favorable illus- tration for the saloon because of the high license paid. The standing committee on hospitals of the State Char- ities Aid Association has this to say upon the single item of intoxication : " The report of the Boston Committee estimated that one-eighth of the expense of the police de- partment of Boston was necessitated by the cost of arresting and caring for cases of intoxication; this estimate applied to New York City would mean that $1,650,000 are expended in New York annually for this purpose. The actual cost of maintenance of the Magistrates' Courts is approximately $400,000. Twenty-three per cent of all cases that come be- fore these courts are arrested for intoxication; in other words, it costs the city $92,000 annually to try the persons charged with intoxication. The annual cost of maintenance of the Department of Corrections is approximately $1,000,- 000, at least one-fourth of the inmates of the institutions under its care are serving sentences for intoxication, i. e., about $250,000 are expended annually by the City of New York for custodial care for persons arrested for intoxication. " In Bellevue and allied hospitals there are annually from 7,000 to 9,000 cases of alcoholism, and in the hospitals under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Charities there are annually 2,000 cases. This means that the persons treated in the municipal hospitals for alcoholism alone, to say nothing about other diseases brought on by alcohol, cost the city at least $320,000 annually. " The present annual cost to the city of New York for the 38 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. treatment of public intoxication is, therefore, if these con- servative estimates are correct, $2,412,000." ^ As has been said this is for the single item of public in- toxication. To this must be added the following: (a) The permanent care of the alcoholic insane of all kinds. (&) The whole cost for the arrest, trial, and conviction of criminals made such by the excessive use of liquor. (c) I'hat proportion of prison expenses which is charge- able to the care of criminals who have become such through drink. (d) The permanent care of the paupers who have become such in part or whole through their own intemperance, or that of parents upon whom they depended for support. The totals of these items would be very large, and it is very doubtful whether the license money of New York's between 10,500 and 11,000 saloons would pay the bill. Then, besides this, all the graft and waste resulting from the cor- rupt alliance of the saloon and politics must be taken into account. The most dangerous phase of the revenue question is the national one. The cost to the national treasury for the saloon evil is comparatively light, and the revenue derived is a very large sum. The report of the Commissioners of In- ternal Revenue issued August, 1910, shows receipts of $208,- 601,500.09. This immense revenue paralyzes the moral nerves of the authorities at Washington, and little help in controlling the evil can be expected from that quarter until the work in the various States is far advanced. Fortunately the beginnings must be made in the smaller unit. 1 Treatment of Public Intoxication and Inebriety, March 1, 1910, pp. 315-16. 39 CHAPTER IV. THE STUDY OF THE PROBLEM OF LIQUOR. Our studies have settled beyond reasonable question the proposition that the habit of drink and the saloon are fruitful causes of ineflSciency, poverty, disease, especially insanity, immorality and crime, and are a very serious drain upon the economic resources of society. The functions of the state require the exercise of the right to interfere with a man's personal habits the instant they infringe upon the rights of others. This the drinking man can hardly fail to do the moment he becomes drunk. And, further, the state has the right and duty to control or abolish the saloon because of its cost to the community financially and morally, and because of its menace to the safety and well-being of society. But the recognition of these facts does not solve the liquor prob- lem. The habit of drink is deeply imbedded in the customs of the people, and the traffic in liquor, because of its chance for wealth and political power, appeals to the cupidity and selfishness of men, and although many plans involving moral suasion of the individual and all kinds of restrictive and prohibitory laws for the saloon have been tried, the solution of the problem has not been reached. That progress has been made we fully believe, but it has not been so much by the intelligent application of the moral principles involved as by the trial and error method. Men have seen the great evils of drunkenness and have endeavored to persuade other men not to drink. They have seen the evils of the saloon and have tried to lessen them or eliminate them by putting the saloon 40 MORAL ASPECTS OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. I under certain restrictions, by imposing heavy penalties for violation of law, or by prohibiting the traffic altogether. The enforcement of restrictive and prohibitory laws has consti- tuted one of the greatest difficulties in the way of progress. It may be true that much of the progress of the world has been by the trial and error plan, and that men have not ap- preciated the moral principles involved until they saw them in operation. And it may be true that when they have tried to break up existing institutions and put into operation fine- spun but untried theories, there has been a lamentable fail- ure. Yet, on the other hand, in all the great departments of knowledge the scientific study of the factors of a problem has greatly aided in its solution, and in the solution of this problem its greatest need at the present time is just such, a' scientific study of its various factors. The saloon for the past century has been an increasing power in our American life, and has had a most pernicious and demoralizing influence. Much has been done to attempt to crush it or destroy it, but the whole problem has received very little scientific study. The best work that has been done is in the study of the physiological effects of alcohol. Some of the results have been collated by the Committee of Fifty, and the work is still being carried on by individual scientists. Some noteworthy attempts have been made to study the rela- tions of alcohol to poverty, insanity, and crime, but they have been spasmodic and have depended too much upon statistics. They have made their case in proving the trend of the effects of alcohol, but have not done much more than that. The two most notable attempts to study the question have been those made by the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics and Labor and the Committee of Fifty, and what may be said of the failure of these to do scientific work will apply to all others. To illustrate our objections to their methods we might take their study, the relation of alcohol to poverty : A. It was superficial. The data of the Bureau of Statistics 41 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS of Labor, comprising an immense number of statistical tables covering occupation, sex, age, nationality, etc., of the paupers studied, are based upon certain questions and answers, no other effort to learn conditions was made, and probably could not have been made successfully. The Committee of Fifty sent questions out to many charity organizations throughout the country, and upon the answers received based their con- clusions. Now, there are two faults to be found with this method that render it untrustworthy: First, the well-known low average of intelligence among paupers that renders them incapable of intelligently understanding the causes of their own poverty. In most instances, if the pauper drank at all, it was assumed that that was the cause of his poverty, when other causes might have had more to do with it. As one of my correspondents said, "the drinking might have been an effect rather than a cause." In the second place, it was assumed that the pauper told the truth, and anyone who has had much experience in dealing with indigent classes knows that they will misrepresent on that question more than on any other, and especially if their poverty can be charged to the drinking of someone else, as husband or father. Not much scientific value can be expected of investigations based upon the question and answer method, as we have seen the most experienced and best-trained charity workers of to-day place little reliance upon such statistics. B. These investigations are inconclusive because they are incomplete. The Committee of Fifty ought at most to call their study The Relation of Alcohol to Pauperism, not Pov- erty, for they only attempt to study pauperism. That the pauperism due to drink is only a small part of the poverty due to drink we have already noted; for everyone that goes to the poor house or becomes an object of charity, there are many others who live impoverished lives, having the scantiest necessities of life, and failing through sheer lack of nutrition and care to reach their natural physical and mental, and per- 42 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. haps moral, development. It is generally supposed that much of this is due to drink, but we do not know. Charles Booth, in London, is the only one that has made any attempt to study it, and he doubtless depended much upon the question and answer method.^ C. Another objection to the work done thus far is its spasmodic character. You cannot cut a cross section of the poverty or crime or insanity of a people and put it under a microscope and then say a certain per cent is due* to this or that cause. It must be studied through long periods of time and with great care and patience. To send an agent to the poor house to question a pauper, or to a poor home to talk to the family, and then undertake to give the causes of their poverty is preposterous. The work done in studying the legislative aspects of the liquor question has still less scientific value. There has been a great deal of legislation on the liquor traffic, but it has been done because the voters demanded this or that, and in the stress and strain of legislative conflict much of the final result has been compromise law. When the reformers have had control they have been guided not so much by the moral principles involved as by their hatred of alcohol, and the whole liquor business, and their determination to utterly annihilate it. The study of legislation has, therefore, been generally from the practical standpoint by men in the tur- moil of conflict. Some study has been given to the subject outside of this, but there was little difference in the stand- point, and no effort to apply the moral principles involved. The Committee of Fifty made such an attempt, and its book on The Legislative Aspects of the Liquor Problem has in it much useful information, but its conclusions are only the conclusions of two men, Mr. Wines and Mr. Koren, who in- vestigated for the committee. Mr. Wines did his work in St. * Reported in Royal Statistical Society, 1888. 43 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS Louis, in Iowa, Ohio, and Indiana; Mr. Koren worked in Maine, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, so that we have only the work of one man in any given place. Two things are to be said about their work: First, it is done purely from the utilitarian standpoint, their only question is. How does it work? There was no attempt to study underlying principles in a broad way. The other thing to be said about their work is that it was done with an effort to be fair, but with an un- doubted bias against all forms of prohibition and in favor of some form of license. The thing that makes one pause is the fact that except in the laboratories where the physiological aspects of alcohol are being studied, and except as an occasional student takes up some phase of the question for dissertation work, no scientific work is being done toward the solution of the problem. Prof. A. R. Hatton, of Cleveland, in an address to the National Conference on City Government, 1908, says : " Con- sidering the importance of the subject, the amount of liter- ature of solid value on the liquor problem is exceedingly small. ... In the face of these difficulties and in part be- cause of them (difficulties in the study of the problem) the problem of the liquor traffic stands more in need of an im- partial and comprehensive investigation to-day than ever before. . . . Since the work of the Committee of Fifty ten years ago no general study of the question has been attempted in America." ^ No great university of this country is giving the subject the subject any special attention. An immense amount of valuable work is being done on the field by the reformers, but the scientific part of the community is render- ing little help. If the excessive use of liquor and the traffic in liquor are the menace to society, and are the cause of suffering and immoralit3% that the facts we have been studying seem to indicate, and if the rights and duties of the state are ade- » Nat. Con. City Gov., 1908, pp. 422-3. 44 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. quate to its responsibility, then society and the state must take cognizance of the situation and remedy it. We have introduced the term society at this point because we believe that the solution of the liquor problem must involve the voluntary cooperation of the better elements of society work- ing outside of the power and authority of the state, as well as through the power and authority of the state. The question which has been the most perplexing in deal- ing with the liquor traffic has been the question of law. The objective must be the determination and enactment of legis- lation which will be most in harmony with the moral prin- ciples which lie at the very basis of the authority of the state, and at the same time meet the requirements of existing con- ditions. This purpose must be steadily held in view in all legislation. All laws and all institutions are tolerable only in so far as they do this. If the facts concerning the evil effects of drinking and the work of the saloon are as have been stated in this paper, then the duty of the state is either to eliminate the evil results of the liquor traffic or to suppress the traffic. A great many think that the former of these alternatives is possible, and is the only possible thing for the state to do. They reason that drinking cannot be stopped, and so long as this is true, it is better to regulate the saloon and have it according to law than to have an illicit traffic. They argue further that the saloon really fills a social need in the community and that to regulate it and make it decent is better for the life of the people. Many who have not given the matter enough attention argue for the saloon, for the sake of lower taxes they think the license money of the sa- loon makes possible. Before any of these views are accepted a number of doubts must be cleared up. (a) Is not a well- regulated saloon a place where the owner is seeking to do business ? And will not the principle to which we have called attention, i. e., that the very genius of any business is to 45 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS increase its sales, hold good? If this is true, does not the fact that it is a well-regulated saloon make the saloon a more potent agent in securing customers among the men who have not, as yet, contracted the drink habit, and who would not be found in a low place? It will be seen that while the fact that the saloon is more orderly eliminates some of the elements of danger, it increases others, (h) The next ques- tion is, Are there any well-regulated saloons ? There may be a few, but as a rule the saloon is lawless. One of the diflB- culties in the case is the fact that the saloon, no matter what the type of legislation, will not obey the law. Much ado has been made about the violation of prohibitory laws, but the violation of law has been quite as bad, if not worse in license states. No legislation has been devised that can make the average saloon orderly. There is a natural affinity in the saloon with crime, (c) Another question involved is the relation of the saloon to the state revenues. This complicates the whole matter very seriously. It is true that the argument in favor of the saloon from the revenue stand- point is not urged by men who know the facts, and there is no question but that the state receives revenue from the saloon. It puts the state in one of two attitudes, either it is a party to the business; allowing a business that is con- fessedly evil in its tendencies to prey upon the community for a consideration; or the state is helpless to abate the evil and is ready to impose a tax to help pay the additional cost the saloon makes. In either case the position of the state is in direct antagonism to the moral principles that ought to govern it, and therefore cannot be a permanent position. No sincere effort is being made to regulate or control the saloon outside of the money consideration involved. We believe that the principle of regulation is vicious in itself, and that even if the question of revenue were eliminated the problem of the saloon would remain unsolved. But there are many people who believe that if the revenue question were not in- 46 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. volved, the saloon could be regulated, and for that reason it would be worth* while to try the experiment. The other alternative of the state is the suppression of the saloon. This position is logically correct. If the saloon is a potent cause of inefficiency, disease, insanity, poverty, and criminality, and if it is the right and duty of the state to protect the individuals composing it from infringement of their rights, and to eliminate conditions harmful, and pro- mote conditions favorable to their development, then the only possibly consistent policy of the state is the suppression of the saloon as an institution. The objection offered to this proposition is that it is im- practicable, that it has never worked and never will work. In answering this objection certain considerations must have weight, (a) The prohibition legislation has had to encoun- ter almost insuperable opposition. It flew into the face of the habits of a large portion, perhaps the majority of the population. It had as its foe a business organization in- volving great money interests and controlled by men who would resort to any means and spend any amount of money to break down prohibition measures. The promotion of sys- tematic violation of the law, and the wide advertisement of all violations found, in order to prove that the law was a failure and thereby secure its repeal, was a favorite plan with them. Moreover, a perfect enforcement of the laws was expected by the friends of prohibition and demanded by its enemies, notwithstanding the fact that few laws are per- fectly enforced, and none are, if money interests find them to be irksome, (b) In the next place it must be remembered that no study of the moral principles involved had been made, except the very obvious one that the state ought not to enter into a co-partnership ^ith an evil that preys upon the community. That the progress made has been by the trial and error plan, and in the very nature of things a great many mistakes would be made which would retard the 47 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS cause and would have to be rectified. Radical reformers took no account of method, they sought state-wide prohibition at once, or even nation-wide prohibition, and if anyone sug- gested that that was not the way to reach the goal he was looked upon as a traitor to the cause. The most serious mis- takes have been made. First, a tendency to take too large a unit at first. To enact a state-wide prohibitory law where universal licenses have prevailed, in the very nature of things, cannot succeed, for there will be many places in the state where the sentiment is strongly against it, and this is a government of the majority. It has been universally true that the larger unit has not been able to force unwelcome legislation upon the smaller unit, so in every state where prohibition has been tried the cities or counties where there was an adverse majority have failed to enforce the law. The next mistake which seems to be very serious is the universal cleavage between responsibility for the enactment of the law and for its enforcement. One unit would enact the law through the legislature or by popular vote, and an entirely different unit would be responsible for its enforcement. For instance, the state would enact the law through its legisla- ture and the city would elect the mayor and council that selected the police commissioners. Or the county by vote would go dry, and the same condition would exist in the city. Newark, 0., where the recent riot and mob law execu- tions took place is a case in point.^ It would seem to be absolutely necessary that the same constituency that votes the unit " dry '' should also elect the officers that enforce the law. Although the problem fairly bristles with difficulties we believe it can be solved, but only upon the cooperation of three great agencies. First. The general body of men and women who seek the 1 Cosmopolitan, vol. xlix, p. 762. 48 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. betterment of society must work out, by such plans of cooper- ation as may develop, some unified course of action. The points of disagreement must be lost sight of, and the points of agreement for the betterment of conditions must have the united support of all who seek to solve the liquor problem. One of the gravest difficulties that all reform movements have had to contend against has been the difference among their friends. The radical wing would draw drastic plans and require everybody to adopt them upon pain of being excommunicated from orthodoxy. On the other hand, the conservative faction would be afraid of reactions and would adopt as their motto " Make haste slowly." The result would be that nothing would be accomplished. The tem- perance reform has not been an exception to this rule. On the one hand were those who demanded state-wide prohibi- tion or nothing; at the other extreme were those who plead for " Gospel temperance '' and were mortally afraid of get- ting into politics. All intermediary steps in a reform move- ment must, in the very nature of things, be compromises. Not with principle, nor with the evil perhaps, but in method. Three propositions are herewith laid down which are neces- sary for the advancement of the temperance reform and form the basis upon which all friends of the movement can cooperate. (a) The first and most important work to be done is the creation of public opinion. In a democracy nothing good can abide that is not grounded upon the intelligent convic- tions of the people. It must be "line upon line and pre- cept upon precept." Agitation is in itself a good thing, if ideas and principles are being agitated, but merely stirring things up is of little value. Appeals to the emotions are helpful if the work of education has been done, and the appeal is to secure action in line with conviction, but other- wise it may do more harm than good. Back of agitation and emotional appeals, there must be such education, such 49 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS presentation of the facts and principles involved as shall produce convictions grounded upon knowledge. This holds good equally in the training of the young in their personal habits, and in the training of the citizen in political opinion. (&) The second proposition is, the law must not be in advance of the average convictions of the people. This is a government of the majority and a law to be effective must not only command the assent of the majority at the time of its enactment, but must continue to do so. A second best law supported by the convictions of the people is better than the best law if it is in advance of them. It is not a case where the army must be brought up to the colors. The course of human development is not the framing and en- actment of ideal laws and then the development of the people toward them, but it is the development of the people by service and culture, and then the crystallization of the con- victions of the majority into law and institution. There have been instances where in a tremendous emotional ex- citement a state has been carried for prohibition when that did not represent the average conviction of the people, and the net result has not been the best. (c) The other proposition suggested by common sense is: every advance made must be safeguarded and defended. One of the most mischievous weaknesses of the temperance forces has been a tendency to take for granted that if an advance was made the ground gained never could be lost again. The real movement is that among the people, the laws are only the mile posts along the way, and it is entirely possible for the movement to be backward instead of forward. Two things must be done to hold the ground already gained. They are, first, to continue the work of education. Second, to entrust the administration of laws only into the hands of men who are in sjTnpathy with them, or at least are not opposed to them. Second. The great graduate schools of the country must 50 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. take up the serious study of the problem, not for a day, or a year, but until it is solved. The physiological, sociological, economic and legislative aspects of the case are phases of the subject that must have the most careful scientific study. Attention has been called to two facts, i. e., that for ten years practically nothing has been done in this country in scientific investigation of the problem from the social stand- point, and also that what was done before that time was of a very inadequate character. This has been true for the most part because no competent, responsible body undertook the task. The Committee of Fifty was a body of eminent \/ gentlemen, anxious for the good of the community, but few of them gave any time or effort to the work. Their names simply were used to give character to the work of a few men who for that matter did not need it. In many respects the work of the Massachusetts Bureau of Labor Statistics is the best work that has been done, but it was based upon the statistical method, which, as we have seen, is not the most satisfactory. The graduate schools of the country, backed by the resources of the great universities, must take up this task. This would provide scientific training for a multitude of workers, and would be the means for the scien- tific study of the whole subject. Without attempting to exhaust the subject some suggestions might be made for such work. (a) Some valuable work has been done upon the psychologi- cal and psychopathological aspects of the subject, but there is nothing conclusive except the very general conclusion that the excessive use of liquor is harmful. The experiments made have not been sufficient in number nor adequate in character to determine at what point the use of liquor becomes exces- sive. It is claimed by some investigators that this point is before any visible or conscious evidence of intoxication is per- ceived. That is, the various tests of efficiency reveal the pres- ence of alcohol in a lowered tone before any one would say 61 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS the man is intoxicated.^ Now, this ought to be within the possibility of verification, or refutal. (6) The relation of liquor to poverty is a phase of the subject upon which there is little scientific data. Much has been done but it has been done in connection with some other branch of work, as, for instance, the various relief organ- izations. Or it has been the work of a temporary organiza- tion of some kind and was based upon the methods which we have criticised. It is doubtless true that the relation of liquor to poverty cannot be expressed by statistics. Still much more definite data is needed and could be obtained. (c) The social aspects of the liquor problem could be taken up under university direction and better results ob- tained. At the present time there is much talk about the saloon being the poor man's club, and about the social need the saloon is filling. The investigations made of this phase of the subject have been very limited and necessarily very superficial. The most extensive work done was under the direction of the Committee of Fifty,^ and that was very un- satisfactory, but even that was over ten years ago. There are many phases of this question that must be taken into ac- count. For instance — what are the home conditions in these various poorer sections in their relation to the man's life. Often a man is driven to some other place by disagreeable home conditions, and many times the best temperance work can be done by making possible a better home life, cleaner, more comfortable, and more healthful home life. Again, the social needs of a community is a very vital question. Play ground or play place in the sense of common social centers is as truly a need of the adult as of the child. And public play grounds for children is one of the demands of the times. Why not for men and women as well? It must ^ See Dr. WiUiams' articles in McClure's Magazine, October, Novem- ber and December, 1908. * Substitutes for the Saloon. 52 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. not be a mission center, or some benevolence. It must be something which the people believe belongs to them. (d) The relation of the saloon to the political life of the community is something we know about in a general way, but upon which we have very little reliable data. This fact involves issues of fundamental importance because of its menace to the body politic. The real situation can be dis- covered only by such an investigation as that suggested. Not only so, but the best method of dealing with this part of our problem, must depend upon such investigation. While in these various lines of work there must be many inde- pendent investigators who will render valuable service, yet much of the most difficult work must be undertaken by the university trained man. The results must be used by the universities in working out the principles involved and in putting the data obtained into usable condition. If it is ob- jected that such a task would be costly and demand much time and effort, the manifest reply is, if it is worth while for a rich man to pay all the expenses of an anthropological expedition, and a great university to equip it with trained men led by one of the greatest authorities of the day upon the subject — and we believe it to be very much worth while — then surely it is a worthy undertaking for rich men to pay for expeditions that have for their purpose the study of problems that bear upon the moral well-being of the present day. Third. The National and the various state governments must take up the study of the problem. The National Gov- ernment has a Department of Agriculture for the study of conditions among the farmers, and to suggest improved methods, etc. It is proposed to establish a permanent board for the study of tariff questions, and the value of the work of such a board of experts is very evident. The various states have their railroad commissioners or transit commissioners to take up the intricate phases of the transit question that 53- ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS need expert knowledge. There are also the various state and city boards of health to secure the most competent service in the battle with disease. Why should not the same course be followed in the study of the liquor evil. The National and various state governments have power and facilities to carry on the work of investigation beyond the ability of any private organization. The National Government now has its Internal Eevenue Bureau and every state where any form of license prevails has either an excise department, as in the case of New York, or a board of commissioners on excise matters. In states where license is not recognized and yet some form of tax is imposed, as in Ohio, the collection is made by the County Treasurer. These boards are now noth- ing more than collection agencies in many instances. They take cognizance only of such infractions of the law as are related to the license question and in many cases they are in partnership with the saloons. There are some exceptions to this general statement. In New York, for instance, the Commissioner is supposed to be the plaintiff against the saloon in all civil suits, the police taking sole charge of the criminal prosecutions. With the facilities at their dis- posal these bureaus have the best opportunities to study the working of the laws and are most competent to suggest im- provements. A step in this direction was taken by Excise Commissioner Clement of New York in 1910, when at his request several bills, known as the Conklin bills, were intro- duced and were passed. Among other things these laws provided for earlier closing hours, for increase of the dis- tance permitted between a saloon and a church or school from 200 feet to 300 feet, and provided also that no new saloons could be started in any community until the ratio of saloon to population reached 1 to 750. It would seem to be peculiarly the business of such a bureau to study the problem of the enforcement of law. The failure to enforce the law is the most lamentable thing in the whole matter of liquor 54 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. legislation. The state itself ought to enforce the law, out- side parties or private individuals are incompetent to do it properly. Another question that belongs particularly to the work of the state is the determination of the relation of the saloon to vice, crime, and disorder. This is a matter vital to the very functions of the state, and the state can most effectually carry on the investigation. It must be evident that it will be necessary for these Excise Departments to be very much widened in their scope. That the highest scientific experts must be secured, and that the department must be absolutely independent of party politics, and beyond the power of the liquor traffic. In making these suggestions the fact is not overlooked that no such hard and fast division of work is possible, and that there would be much over-lapping. Still it is believed that development must be substantially along the lines marked out. 55 CHAPTER V. THE POWER OF THE STATE TO CONTROL THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC. In this discussion it has been assumed that the state has the power to control the liquor traffic, but we must not let the subject rest without presenting the basis of that power. This power of the state is questioned by a large number of people. The saloon interests have organized what are called Personal Liberty Leagues. Their claim is that the state transcends its authority when it attempts to control the per- sonal habits of the individual, either in drinking or other- wise, and that the power to prohibit the sale, so that liquor cannot be obtained, is equivalent to forbidding the drinking itself. It is evident that the latter part of this statement is true, and the control of the traffic is equivalent to the control of the habit, but it must be noted that the state does not approach the matter from the standpoint of the individual. It is because of the social status of the question that the state has the power to exercise authority. This power of the state has been contested in every court of the nation, and has been maintained. In Mugler vs. Kansas (IT. S. Rep. pages 662- 663) the Supreme Court of the United States says: "Such rights (the rights to manufacture for one's own use or for sale) does not inhere in citizenship. Nor can it be said that government interferes with or impairs any one's constitu- tional rights of liberty or of property, when it determines that the manufacture and sale of intoxicating drinks, for general or individual use, as a beverage, are or may become hurtful to society, and constitute, therefore, a business in 56 MORAL ASPECTS OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. which no one may lawfully engage." This is met by the statement that whether it is legal or not, it is tyranny. This brings ns to an examination of the authority of our laws, and we find it to lie in the consent of the governed. The govern- ment of this country is based upon the rule of the majority. This is the only possible rule consistent with the largest lib- erty in a social situation, in a country where representative government is a necessity. In a city or town democracy, everybody may have a direct voice, but even here the rule of the majority must prevail. The only alternatives are the rule of the minority in some form or anarchy. This country was settled in the main by lovers of liberty, who fled from the tyranny of the old world. During the Colonial period, and under the authority of the mother coun- tries there was considerable latitude. When the attempt to coerce became strong rebellion followed, and at the conclu- sion of the Revolutionary War a constitution was adopted. Each of the original states adopting it by the vote of the majority of delegates selected by the people and assembled in convention for that purpose. Every state government in the Union has been inaugurated in the same way, so that the government and laws of this country represent the wishes of the majority. From time to time we have had great in- fluxes of foreign peoples who have come to make this land their home, and strangely enough, often the cry of tyranny and the plea for personal liberty come from some of them. They had very much less liberty in the land whence they came. They came to this country voluntarily, thus giving their approval to the laws and the government, and still more when they became citizens of their own free will and choice, they formally adopted the government and its laws. So that the entire body of citizens, native and naturalized, have passed upon the form of government and constitution. More than this, every change in statutory law is made by repre- sentatives of the people whether in state legislature or in 57 MORAL ASPECTS OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. the National Congress. Every change in the constitution whether of state or nation must travel the same original route. So that in a very complete way the Government rep- resents the convictions of the majority. This does not preclude the right of any citizen or body of citizens to seek to change the laws, constitution or even the form of government itself, but it does mean that so long as they are in the minority they must abide by the law and cannot fairly charge it with tyranny. It means also that any effort to change must be itself in harmony with prin- ciples laid down by the majority in the constitution and laws themselves. There are many who are not satisfied with this as an ulti- mate position and insist upon going back of it, and inquir- ing into the right of any government, whether representing the majority or not, to coerce the individual even in his social relations. This involves in a fundamental way the right of the state to control the liquor traffic. And in view of the fact that this question has not been answered from the stand- point of the moral principles involved, it will be well to give this subject careful consideration at this time. 58 CHAPTEE VI. THE BASIS OF THE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE STATE. There are certain facts which must be accepted in this discussion without attempting to describe their origin. The first of these is the fact of society itself. The state exists. The second is the fact that the state exercises authority over its citizens or subjects. With the origin or development of society and with the evolution of the authority of the state we are not immediately concerned. The questions with which we are concerned in this inquiry is the question of the neces- sity or naturalness of the state and the validity and scope of its authority. (1) The state is the natural and necessary expression of man as a social being. The doctrine that the state is artificial rather than nat- ural, that it is a " social contract " was the view held by Eousseau, Hobbes, and some later political writers. Accord- ing to Rousseau, the state has no natural, inherent authority but must go back always to a first convention. He says, " Since no man has any natural authority over his fellow- men, and force is not the source of right, conventions remain as the basis of all lawful authority among men " and " the act (or convention) by which a nation becomes ... is the real foundation of society." ^ Hobbes is just as emphatic in his assertions of the natural rights of the individual as 1 Social Contract, vol. i., pp. 4, 5. 59 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS Eousseau/ but differs from him in affirming that in the natural condition men were natural enemies, and while both insist upon an original convention from which the state de- rived its authority, Hobbes believes it is due to the fact that men became tired of constant war and became willing to surrender some of their rights in order to secure a meas- ure of peace and be protected in the remainder of their rights. Rousseau and Hobbes differ also in the effect of this original convention. The latter taught that when the de- cision was reached and the control of society had been passed over to a ruler, it never could be recovered.^ The logical outcome of the doctrine of Rousseau was that the right of the state to rule continued only as long as it met the terms of the convention, and when it did not, then society reverted to a state of nature, and no man was bound by the laws of the state. This doctrine reached its boldest expression in Marat who "proclaimed to the starving Parisians in 1793 that society is based upon a contract terminable at will, that the rich having violated it, the state of nature was restored, and that all were now free to take what they could." ^ This joint doctrine of the state of nature and the artificiality of the state seems to have had a considerable following in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Locke speaks in this strain in his essay on civil government. Part II, Chapters 1 and 2, and Bentham says, " The community is a fictitious body, composed of individual persons who are considered as constituting as it were its members." * The two serious fal- lacies in their view are: (a) It regards man as capable of being separated from his social relations or of having existed outside of these social relations. Man is a social being, the ^ See Leviathan, Part I., chaps, xiv. and xv. « Green's Works, vol. li., p. 366. ' H. J. Tozer, Introduction to Social Contract, p. 93. * Introduction to Principles of Morality, chap, i., sec. 10; see also Montesquieu, bk. 1, chap. ii. 60 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. facts of his life and the demands of his nature require so- ciety; it is the social side of his nature that helps to make him an individual. It is probably true that Rousseau and Hobbes were rationalizing and did not believe that man ever lived in such a natural state.^ But it is just as impossible logically, as it is historically, to segregate man from his so- cial relations and still retain his individuality as a human being. (&) The other fallacy is the failure to recognize the fact that the state is as real a necessity to man as is his physical environment. If man is a social being and cannot live in isolation, and association with others is fundamentally necessary, then this is the natural state, and the so-called natural state is unnatural and impossible. Now if it is a natural thing for men to associate together, it is certainly inevitable that these associations should take regular lines, and the relations of life be established, as in the family or the state where they are based upon the necessity of physical laws, or as in the more voluntary relations of the more com- plex society. Aristotle, towards whom modern thinkers are turning more and more, bases his whole political philosophy upon the two propositions, (1) Man is a political animal, and (2) the state is a creation of nature.^ Aristotle here expresses more clearly than could Plato himself, the primary principle un- derlying Plato's entire discussion in The Laws and in The Republic. The importance of this view is increased by the fact that man's capacity for development and civilization require society as the means, as Lieber says, " Men, led to keep together in families, and induced by every farther progress of their species to live in society, discover its importance the more civilized they become . . . civilization is man's truly natural state." ^ 1 Social Contract, vol. i., chaps, i. and ii. 2 Politics, vol. i., p. 8. » Lieber's Political Ethics, pp. 130, 131. 61 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS The whole structure of human society is dependent upon this view. If society was not grounded in the very laws of our nature, and therefore necessary, no civilization and no development would be possible. It is in the permanence of society itself, however forms of government may change, that the growth of knowledge, the development of the in- dividual and the increasingly complementary character of human service are made possible. (2) The Sphere and the Purpose of the State. In early society, when the state was in the first period of evolution, it was very loose confederation and there seems to have been very little conception of its purpose and func- tion, except the mere matters of the temporary convenience of the parties concerned, and it was looked upon as having no binding authority beyond the immediate purpose at hand, but when this loose federation was welded together into a state by the genius of a man or body of men, it came to have a definite purpose and value. (A) The State the Booty of the Strong. So far as history can trace the currents of life in the na- tions of the earth, there never has been a nation in which this doctrine did not hold sway at some time. In a word, it is the doctrine that the state, its power, its wealth, is the just prey of any man or set of men who have the power or wit to secure it, and when secured can be used for any selfish purpose consistent with safety to the victor. Many people have been so thoroughly the property of their rulers that the individual had no rights as against the sovereign's wishes. The sovereign might order a subject's wife to his harem if he fancied her, and if the man objected, might order him to be executed. This has been true, not only of some African chieftains but of many of the great Asiatic kings. Some- 62 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. times the intelligence and strength of the people would not suffer such tyranny, and the king would be driven out, as happened in old Rome, but in due time Rome came to a worse condition in the period of the emperors. Even Athens had her periods when men regarded the state as almost their private domain. In modern times there is scarcely a nation, whether the government is monarchical or democratic, where this doctrine does not more or less prevail. Take, for in- stance, the United States : here the doctrine, " To the victor belongs the spoils/' is widespread, and not only do grafting politicians practice it, but many of the people accept it as a matter of course. Such a doctrine is utterly vicious, whether in Persia, Africa, Athens, or America. (B) The Greek View. The Greek view of the state swung away from the old absolutism, of which Persia was a type. Even when there were kings in Sparta there were restrictions which increased in number until finally the title of royalty disappeared. Yet the Greek States were not free states in the sense that every person there was represented in the government, for in Athens and Sparta the citizens were always a small minority of the population. And for those who were regarded as citi- zens, the state had an authority and power which we would be far from tolerating in our times. The rigid discipline and control over men's actions in Sparta, and the measure of life by its service to the direct objects of the state, would not be accepted now. There was a great difference between Sparta and Athens, the former suppressed individuality, and the latter, in its large democracy, developed it.^ Moreover, there was among them a personification of the state that was very real, suggesting somewhat Mulford's description of a state as a moral person, " The nation exists as an organic 1 Morris', Hegel's Phil, of History, pp. 200-1. 63 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS and moral being." ^ This almost sounds like Plato, who in the Eepublic, conceives the state as a great personality and in his inquiry concerning the nature of justice, proposes to study the state first as ideally conceived to exemplify justice as it ought to be found in the individual. It is doubtful whether Plato himself regarded his conception of the state as at all practicable, for he attempted a compromise in the laws, in which he was not altogether successful. It is also true that Athens did not go all the way with Plato in his dreams. Aristotle had the conception that " The state exists for the sake of a good life." ^ But the conception of the state among the Greeks tended toward the deification of the personality of the state. (C) The Modern Conception of the State. Through a period of fifteen hundred years there was little change in the conception of the state from the two concep- tions cited. With the dawn of the modern era, and the struggle for the rights of the individual, a new conception of the place of the individual in the state arose that com- pelled new conceptions of the state. The most influential note struck was that of Rousseau in his Social Contract, to which reference has been made. In this, all personality and inherent integrity are lost and the state is only a contract that can be declared null and void, upon the failure of either party to meet its conditions. Hobbes' position is different in that he argues for monarchy, and insists that the king has been no party to any covenant made, and therefore can for- feit nothing.^ Between these extremes there were many variations, but the different note from that of ancient times is in the fact that whatever view is taken of the form of government, or the terminability of the covenant between the 1 The Nation, p. 65. 2 Politics, vol. iii., p. 9. • Leviathan, Part 11. , chap, xviii. 64 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. ruler and people, the common good must be the supreme aim, as Locke says, " And all this (the measures of government) to be directed to no other end, but the peace, safety, and public good of the people." ^ In some respects the modern view has greatly cleared up. Lieber, for instance, says, " A state is a society. What is a society? A society is a num- ber of individuals, between all of whom exists the same relation — the same as to its principles, however modified it may be in some respects, who have the same interests, and strive unitedly to secure it"; then after considering the various relations that human societies are founded upon, he comes to the consideration of the relation of right as be- tween man and man, and says, " The Society founded upon this relation is the state." ^ Thomas Hill Green's position in general, is that " The state is an institution for the promo- tion of a common good." ^ The position of Herbert Spencer is, as might be supposed, that the state is in process of evolu- tion, and that that fact must be taken into consideration in undertaking to get a just idea of the state.* If we may summarize the views of various modern writers of the nature and functions of the state, giving what seems to be the logical, reasonable phases in a consistent way, we would say: The state (1) is a necessary organization, having/ / individuality and moral responsibility. The particular or- yganization may not be necessary, but some organization is necessary and one that will meet the responsibility of the state. It differs from voluntary organization in that men 'must perforce belong to it. (2) The state has for its object \ '■• the good of the individuals composing it. That good must be promoted by safeguarding the rights of the individuals and by securing such conditions of life as shall be most fa- vorable to the realization of the highest good of these in- ^ Treatise on Government, sec. 29. ' Works, vol. ii, p. 437. 2 Political Ethics, sec. 29. * Ethics, p. 187. 65 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS dividuals. If this proposition is true, it follows that the state has certain responsibilities and certain rights. The responsibility of the state has had its clearest enunciation in modern times. Wherever the view has obtained that the peo- ple are the property of the state, and that they and their property are subject to the pleasure of the state, the state has been irresponsible. This was clearly true of the old, ab- solute monarchies. An old Persian king never dreamed that his subjects had any rights he was bound to respect, and thought that any priviliges they might have were purely of mercy and grace. We get many glimpses of this in the Old Testament which, perhaps as well as any, will serve to illus- trate this fact, especially in the Books of Esther and Daniel. In these stories, whom they would, the kings exalted, and whom they would, they put to death. Nebuchadnezzar was astonished beyond measure when the three Hebrew young men refused to bow down to his golden image. Among the Greeks, Sparta, though not a monarchy, was tyrannous in its rule, so far as its subjects and citizens were concerned. In Athens, the responsibility of the government to the body of its citizens was more direct. In the modern view, the fact of this responsibility to the people is tremendously empha- sized. There seems to be a very clear line of distinction run- ning through men's thinking between the state and nation. It is the nation that has heart and history, around it we weave our poetry and music, we glorify it with personality. The nation is the object of our patriotic love and devotion and for it we fight, and bleed, and die. But the state we have come to look upon as the organization that we must necessarily use to carry out the purpose of our complex so- ciety, the means with which to protect the rights of the in- dividuals and to prevent or reduce to a minimum their clash- ing. There is a constant effort among all civilized peoples, to change and to improve the government. This is the mean- ing of Parliament, Congress, and Legislature. This effort is 66 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. not confined to minor matters, but extends to the funda- mental functions of the state. In England there is a move- ment for the abolition of the House of Lords; in America for the election of Senators by the people. Provision is made in the Constitution of the United States for its own change. This goes so far that the complete change of the form of government is conceded to be within the power of the people, when they think the government is failing to meet its re- sponsibility. This was the express claim of the Revolution- ary fathers in breaking away from Great Britain and estab- lishing this government. Rebellions are not an invention of modern times. All through history when tyranny became unbearable, or when an ambitious man desired to become king, a rebellion would break out. Yet not until civilization had made considerable progress did men believe that a people had a right to change their form of government. This does not mean that men should change governments within a state or overthrow the state itself, and rebuild upon every change in public opinion. The natural development of civ- ilization has thrown around us many things that act as a brake in order to give time to mature our thinking, and yet the whole . trend of civilization is to prevent these brakes from becoming impassible barriers. This new emphasis upon the responsibility of the state to the people in our modern thinking is due in part to the doctrine of social contract as taught by Rousseau, and to others who to a greater or lesser degree, followed in his footsteps. Of course the presumption of a state of nature with which he started, is not now con- sidered seriously, nor it is true that all government can be overthrown, and men, at will, return to primeval conditions, suggested by such a state of nature, for since man is a social being, and since the state is just as natural an institution as is man himself, he must have some form of organic gov- ernment. There is a real contract between the state and the individuals composing it. The relations existing between 67 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS them are involuntary on either side, but are none the less real. For relations involve duties on either side toward the other, and rights on either side which must be respected by the other, and these have all the force of a contract. "We have referred to the spirit and purpose of the state as viewed by the modem mind, and have concluded that the responsibility of the state is a very real and tangible thing. It now becomes necessary to study a little more closely, the contents of that responsibility. Mark Hopkins says, " Government has no right to be, ex- cept as it is necessary to secure the ends of the individual in his social capacity and it must, therefore, be bound so to he as to secure these ends in the best possible manner. This is the whole principle, and only the full application of it is needed to make governmental and social movements on the earth correspond in their order and beauty to the movements of the heavens." ^ This conception of the responsibility of the state involves two things: (1) The protection of the in- dividual in his rights, and (2) the promotion of such condi-, tions of life as will secure the highest good of the individual. The (1) protection of the individual in his rights involves the protection of these rights against outside attack. Thus, if an American citizen is falsely arrested in London or Can- ton, it is the business of this government to secure his re- lease. If a foreign nation should send an army or fleet to attack one of our states, it would be the business of the general government to protect the citizens of that state. We pay many millions of dollars in taxes every year to ensure the state the power to thus protect our rights. Again, the protection of the individual in his rights involves the protec- tion of these rights from interference from other citizens. It is for this purpose the police power of the state is estab- lished. No man or set of men shall interfere with me in the 1 Moral Science, p. 266. 68 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. exercise of my rights, my life shall not be attacked, my per- son confined, my property taken without due process of law and then, if at all, by the authority of the state itself.^ The state cannot fail in this responsibility. No government can endure that cannot protect its citizens against a foreign foe. Napoleon Bonaparte and Louis Napoleon both resigned their government when the enemy took Paris, and when the Northern Armies overran the South, it became only a ques- tion of time when the Confederacy would fall. The excep- tion to this rule, as in the case of the Revolutionary Fathers, or the Netherlands only goes to show the unusual heroism of those peoples. On the other hand, when a state cannot pre- serve order among its citizens, when life is endangered, prop- erty pillaged and the police powerless, either the people rise up, take the power into their own hand or anarchy prevails. Herbert Spencer strikes a true note when he insists that the protection afforded by the state should be such that a man/ should be able to reap the benefits of his good deeds on the one hand, and on the other that he should not be shielded from the results of his evil deeds.^ The second thing involved in this conception of the re- sponsibility of the state is, the promotion of such condition of life as will secure the highest good of the individual. It took men a long time to learn the value of working together, that a thousand working together could accomplish very much that they could not do at all working singly. They first discovered this in war, families came together for defence or warriors came together for conquest. Later, they learned that cooperation in peaceful pursuits was also possible, and we have learned that it is a tremendously more significant thing. Men have associated themselves together for all kinds of enterprises. There are all sorts of societies for all sorts * Spencer, Principle, Ethics, vol. iv., p. 213. « Ethics, vol. iv., p. 213. 69 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS of purposes. With many of these, the state can have noth- ing to do in a direct way, because they are matters of in- dividual taste, and in no way involve a conflict of rights, either between individuals or between the state and in- dividuals. But there are certain cooperative enterprises which are beyond the power of men to undertake as indiv- viduals, and which are imperatively necessary for men's pro- tection against harm, or for the progress and well being of the community, and which might be blocked by the selfish- ness or blindness of some individuals, if it were left a matter of voluntary cooperation; which the state, because of its physical power over men, is able to undertake, and must un- dertake for the community. The state must undertake the protection of the health of the community. It is manifestly impossible for the individual to protect himself against foul conditions in his neighbor's yard that breed disease. It is impossible for him to stand at the gates of the city to keep out smallpox, yellow fever, or the black plague; he could not do it alone if he would. It is impossible for him to do the many things that are now done for him, to give him security against such attacks. So a Board of Health, with state authority, does the work. The individual citizen is compelled to cooperate with it, willingly or unwillingly; he is quarantined, he is compelled to observe certain hygienic conditions on his premises. The Board of Health will even go so far as to compel the children of the public schools to submit to having their eyes examined, and be vaccinated. No one will question the responsibility of the state thus to protect the health of the people. The state deems the educa- tion of its children to be necessary, not only for the general good of the community, but indispensable for the safety of the state. So provision is made in the great public school system for the education of the children, and laws are enacted to compel the attendance of the children at school. Truant officers are appointed to see that the law is obeyed. More 70 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. than this, night schools, and colleges, industrial schools, technical schools, etc., etc., are provided, in many instances at state expense. Hospitals are not within the reach of the individual. When a man is taken sick he cannot build a hospital for himself and equip it, nor can he maintain one lest he should become sick. So hospitals, of necessity, must be cooperative enterprises, and in many instances, because of the imperative need, the state must build and maintain them. Certain enterprises which seem to be necessary for the public good are taken up by the state. The state builds the roads through the country, or the city lays out the streets and avenues, and paves and improves them. A postal system is established, it seems absolutely necessary that it should be done by governmental authority, and no one is disposed to dispute it. In many instances the authority of the state goes even farther. A new railroad or an extension of an old one is deemed necessary, a subway or a bridge ; not only does the city or state actually build it, as in some instances, but proceeds to condemn property necessary for the purpose. Athens was beauty-mad and used the authority and money of the city to adorn it with temples, statues, and works of art. Moreover, the state feels a certain responsibility for the moral well-being of its citizens, particularly of its children. It has gone to many extremes to meet this responsibility. Against some of these extreme measures there has been a reaction, but it has never been a reaction that lessened the sense of responsibility of the state for the moral well-being of its citizens. The state now sharply distinguishes between this and religion. The state does not care anything about a man's religion, but very much about his moral character.) For this reason obscene literature is suppressed, and certain safeguards are thrown around the young, as the provision of the law that liquor shall not be sold to minors. Again the state feels responsible, to a certain degree, for its indigent and pauper population, and makes provision for them, like- 71 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS wise for the insane, blind, and other afflicted classes. These things are part of the responsibility of the government. How far the state should go in attempting to improve condition and how much should be left to individual initia- tion, or that of voluntary organizations is a much mooted question. Herbert Spencer lays down as fundamental the position that the state has the right to safeguard the prin- ciple of equal liberty and that only; he says, "What, then becomes the duty of the society in its corporate capacity, that is, of the state? Assuming that it is no longer called on to guard against external dangers, what does there remain which it is called on to do ? If the desideratum alike for the individuals, for society, and for the race, is that the in- dividuals shall be such as can fulfill their several lives sub- ject to the conditions named ; ^ then it is for society in the corporate capacity to insist that these conditions shall be conformed to. Whether in the absence of war, a government has or has not anything more to do than this, it is clear that it has this, and it is clear that it is not permissible to do an3rthing that hinders the doing of this. Hence the ques- tion of limits becomes the question, whether beyond main- taining justice, the state can do anything else without trans- gressing justice. On consideration we find it cannot." 2 in working out this theory Spencer argues for the increasing restriction of state powers and state duties, for the larger scope of individual freedom, and the larger field for volun- tary cooperation. He would hold that the individual must be absolutely free in working out his own destiny even if it is an evil destiny, so that it be his own, the result of his own free act, and so that he shall enjoy or suffer the fruits of it. * Other things being equal, the greatest prosperity and multiplica- tion of efl&cient individuals will occur where each is so constituted that he can fulfill the requirements of his own nature without interfering with the fulfillment of such requirements by others. Spencer, Ethics, vol. iv., p. 221. 2 Ethics, vol. iv., pp. 121-2. 72 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. It is not clear, however, how far he would protect the weak against the strong, and he does not seem to think that the state has any responsibility for the improvement of condi- tions. He says that *' Money taken from the citizen not to pay the costs of guarding against injury his person, prop- erty, and liberty, but to pay the costs of other actions to which he has given no assent, inflicts injury instead of pre- venting it." ^ A direct application of this principle would bar out public schools, charities of all kinds, and public utilities, except as they were controlled and supported by voluntary cooperation. T. H. Green objects to this view of the function of the state on the ground that it tends to be obstructive to advancing civilization,^ and he says, " That the ground of political obligation, the reason why certain powers should be recognized as belonging to the state and certain other powers as secured by the state to individuals lies in the fact that these powers are necessary to the fulfillment of man's vocation as a moral being, to an effectual self devotion to the work of developing the perfect character in himself and others.'^ ^ With the varying conditions of society and the varying stages of human development no clear lines of demarcation can be drawn between the spheres of the state and voluntary cooperation in the improvement of environment; instead the line itself is variable, but that it is the obligation of society to seek to secure the best conditions for the development of the individual and of the race is clear. To meet the obligation involved in this, Spencer's theory of equal liberty to all must have a wider interpretation than he gives it, and must mean that rights must be safeguarded impartially, but it must also mean that all surrenders of individual rights for the higher good of the community must also be impartially required, 1 Ethics, vol. iv., p. 223. 2 Works, vol. ii., p. 345. » Ibid., 349. 73 MORAL ASPECTS OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. for as Green has well said, "Advancing civilization brings with it more and more interference with the liberty of the individual to do as he pleases." ^ The fact of the responsibility of the state carries with it also the power necessary to meet that responsibility. Some writers would say that since the state is of divine origin this power must be given the state of God, and the simple recog- nition of the inherent necessity of the state in the natural order of human development carries with it the same prac- tical conclusion. But while we may acknowledge this as an ultimate statement, there is yet a very real sense in which the people are the source of power in the modem conception of government, especially in popular or representative gov- ernment. It is impossible in such a government to enforce laws sustained only by a minority of the people. Laws against the opinion of the majority of the people have been a dead letter, except when the larger political unit has forced its will upon the smaller one. The necessity of such power to meet the responsibility of the state is unquestionable. It is tacitly involved in the involuntary but real contract be- tween the state and the individual to which we have referred. ' Works, vol. ii., p. 345. U CHAPTBE VII. THE INDIVIDUAL AND HIS RIGHTS. The state is composed of individuals, personalities. This statement is so palpably true as to seem superfluous, and yet in the very fact stated lies the whole problem of the staters duties and rights. These individuals are not blocks of wood all the same size and of the same general descrip- tion, which some mystical power we call the state uses to build any kind of a structure it desires; but each individual has character of his own, powers of mind and will, responsi- bilities and destiny of his own, and this being true it follows that each individual has rights of his own. We have already said that it is to preserve these rights that the state exists, so it would seem necessary to study them and their bases a little more carefully. What are the basic rights of the individual and their bases? When we think of the prominent place the sense of the possession of rights has in our own consciousness, we are surprised that the discussion of it should have arisen so late in human development. There must have been some such sense in the consciousness of men as far back as we can go, for in no other way can we explain their seeking vengeance for wrongs suffered and their rebellion against oppression and tyranny, but it must have been a very inarticulate thing in the mind. Even when civilization reached the high level of the Greeks, and the palmy day of philosophy found expres- sion in Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, we find no discussion of rights as such. We find discussion of ends, of goods, and 75 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS of justice, in all of which the thought of rights finds more or less expression, but does not segregate itself clearly before the mind, for instance, " But justice is the bond of men in states, and the admiuistration of justice, which is the deter- mination of what is just, is the principle of order in political society." ^ The Romans made no contribution to the philosophical discussion of the subject, but did make a real contribution to the practical development of the doctrine of the respon- sibilities of the state for the safeguarding of the rights and privileges of Roman citizens. The right of a hearing before being punished for any crime charged, and the right of an appeal to Caesar were among these rights. It is true that these rights and privileges were confined to a certain class, still the fact that they were recognized at all was a distinct advance. It was not until the beginning of the modern era that the term, rights, found its way into political and philosophical dicussion. One of the earliest to discuss it was Thomas Aquinas. He says "Right, or a just settlement, is some work made adequate to another work according to some measure of quality. Now a man may get an adequate re- turn in two ways; in one way, by the very nature of the thing, as when one gives so much to receive exactly so much ; this is called natural right, another way is by convention . . . this is called positive right." ^ As might be expected there has been quite a difference of opinion in the discussion and it might be as well to quote a few of the representative views before we take up the discussion of the question itself. " The Rights of Nature which writers commonly call Jiis Naturale, is the liberty each man hath to use his own power, as he will himself, for the preservation of his own nature: 1 Aristotle, Politics, vol. i., pp. 2-16. * Aquinas Athines, Joseph Rickaby, vol. ii., pp. 8, 9. 76 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. that is to say of his own life : and consequently of doing any- thing, which in his own judgment and reason, he shall con- ceive to be the aptest means thereto.'^ ^ This statement is made from the standpoint of nature and the whole chapter is given to the discussion of the proposition of the liberty of surrendering rights and entering into the social contract. Locke conceives of the state of nature in similar terms. He says, "To understand political power aright, and derive it from its original we must consider what state all men are naturally in, and that is a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature, with- out asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man," ^ Rousseau has the same view of the state of nature in which man has absolute control of himself and the right to such means of good as seems best to him within the limits of natural law. But they differ in their methods of effecting the social contract and the status of the individual within the contract. With Locke the purpose of the contract is " to guarantee an impartial judge and efficient enforcement of the law of nature." ^ Rousseau seeks " To find a form of association which may defend and protect with the whole force of the community, the person and the property of every associate, and by means of which each, coalescing with all, may nevertheless obey only himself and remain free as be- fore." * Hutchinson makes two distinctions in rights: (2) Perfect rights or that which tends towards the public good, and imperfect rights, such as when universally violated would tend to make all men miserable. (6) Alienable and inalien- able, such that when we may by transferring serve some good are alienable, and such that cannot be so transferred as 1 Leviathan, pp. 1-14. ' Government, vol. ii., chap. ii. » Green, vol. ii., p. 386. * Social Contract, vol. i., p. 6. 77 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS our right to serve God are inalienable.^ Thomas H. Green, in discussing the question, has this to say : " There is a system of rights and obligations which should be maintained by law, whether it is so or not, and which may properly be called ' natural ' : not in the sense in which the term * natural ' would imply that such a system even did or could exist independently of force exercised by society over in- dividuals, but * natural ' because necessary to the end which it is the vocation of human society to realize." ^ Blackstone classes the rights of persons considered in their natural capacities as of two sorts, absolute and relative. "By ab- solute rights of individuals we mean those which are so in their primary and strictest sense, such as would belong to their persons merely in a state of nature, and which every man is entitled to enjoy whether out of society or in it." He defines these absolute rights as of three kinds. (1) The right of personal security which consists of a person's legal and uninterrupted enjoyment of his life, his limbs, his body, his health, and his reputation. (2) Personal liberty. (3) The right of property. By relative rights he means those rights of persons which are incident to them as members of society and standing in various relations to each other.^ Mulford divides rights into Natural and Positive. Natural rights are founded in human nature. They are inherent; they are written in the law and constitution of man. Posi- tive rights are enacted in the law and embodied in the insti- tutions of the nations.* One more quotation is needed to complete this view. Herbert Spencer finds "Eights, truly so-called, are corollaries from the law of equal freedom, and what are falsely called rights are not deducible from it." He then proceeds to deduce as corollaries from the law of equal freedom the following rights. (1) The rights to physical ^ An inquiry concerning the original of our ideas of virtue or moral good. Sec. vii., pp. 6-7. ' Commentary, vol. i., p. 1. « Vol. ii., pp. 339-340. « Nation, pp. 75-77. 78 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. integrity. (2) The rights of free motion and locomotion. (3) The rights to the uses of the natural media. (4) The rights of property. (5) The rights of incorporal property. (6) The rights of gift and bequest. (7) The rights of free exchange and free contract. (8) The rights of free indus- try. (9) The rights of free belief and worship. (10) The rights of free speech and publication.^ There has been much confusion in the discussion of the subject because of the effort to segregate man as an in- dividual, an effort to determine man's rights as an individual independent of society, or in a natural state so-called. The fact is that he simply does not exist, never has existed, and never can exist independent of society, or some form of social order. This confusion has resulted in overlooking the very qualities that make the individual what he is. By the con- stitution of Nature every man has an original endowment that makes him distinct from all other men, but these very qualities that constitute his individuality are only operative in a social order where many such individuals of distinctive ability and service are complementary to each other, and moreover, the whole trend of the influence of society in the development of the individual is to emphasize these very in- dividual qualities, and as necessities arise create new ones. Man is a social being just as really as he is a moral being. He is a moral being because he is a social being, he could have no moral responsibility if he did not sustain the rela- tions with God and man that make him a social being. Therefore he has no rights merely because he is a man or an individual unless the term man is understood in this larger moral and social sense. It is because he is a moral being with social relations that he has any rights at all. If this view is correct, there can be no rights without cor- responding obligations or duties. The very basis of any right ^ Ethics, part iv. 79 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS I may claim is the recognition that every other man can claim a like right, and if I ask society to guarantee me in that right as an integral part of society I must guarantee every other man in the same way. Man's rights, therefore, are based upon responsibility. From this point of view there are no inalienable rights. A man may surrender his life for the common good, he may forego his own happiness to society because of injury done it. But we may safely say that from this point of view there are certain fundamental natural rights, and that all other rights are deducible from them. I. The Right to Life. Life is so sacred that we regard murder as the greatest of crimes. The right to life, or to physical integrity as Spencer puts it, is universally recognized. It is diflBcult for us to understand how slow has been the development of this conception of life, but if we look back over the path the race has travelled, we can see the various stages of that develop- ment. It is not long since that men were put to death for minor crimes; further back we see cripple children put to death at birth, as among the Spartans, and then the aged and the useless put to death because they were a burden on society. Further still, the murderer compounding with the relatives of the murdered man for his crime, the elders of the clan only seeing that the terms are fulfilled. It is sig- nificant that the progress of the development of the sacred- ness of life has been parallel to the development of man's realization of his social nature. A very brief survey of human history will make this clear. When life was held at its cheapest value the race was in savagery. As clan life developed its social side, a rise in the value of life is ob- served. With the more settled conditions of agricultural life and later city life, murder became a crime; and the margin between men and starvation becoming greater, the aged and 80 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. crippled were permitted to live. Finally, with the wonderful development of social relations in the last two centuries, greater effort has been made to protect life, and laws were repealed that executed men for minor crimes. So that it is undoubtedly true that the sacredness of life is based upon the fact that man is a member of society rather than that he is an individual. (a) This carries with it, as a corollary, the right to physi- cal integrity, to the free use of my members. No one has the right to temporarily or permanently deprive me of them; no one may attack me and put out my eye or cut off my hand, neither may one bind me and thus temporarily de- prive me of the use of my limbs. (&) This carries with it also the right to protection from harmful conditions, as unsanitary conditions of the house I rent, or the neighborhood in which I live. The trains or steamships upon which I travel must be as safe as possible, and it is the duty of the state to surround me with the best safeguards of personal safety and physical health. (c) Moreover, this primary right to life carries with it the right to the very best conditions for the best possible development of life, for the most efficient physical life. It is for this reason that the state provides us with playgrounds and parks, that it attempts to regulate the number of hours that shall constitute a day's work. Now this right of mine carries with it a corresponding re- sponsibility, first, to protect my life, to earn my living, to defend myself against unfavorable conditions. In the last analysis the right to life carries with it the responsibility for it. If I fail to meet that responsibility, I cannot hold the state responsible for it. I must be the sufferer, a highet authority than the laws of the state, the laws of nature, has ordained that. If the state fails of its responsibility by the authority of the same laws of nature, the state will suffer and repeated failure will mean its loss of right to rule. And 81 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS second, the duty of fulfilling my part as a member of society in guaranteeing the same right to others. II. The Right to Happiness. By happiness we mean that condition of feeling in which the pleasant and the agreeable predominate over the painful and disagreeable. It is to be distinguished from pleasure by its greater permanency and by the greater emphasis upon the intellectual and moral. We have no concern with the age-long controversy about the place of pleasure and pain in this life, whether it is the aim and controlling motive of life or only the indicator of health and disease. In any event man has a right to happiness so far as he can win it. If he can so protect and develop his physical life as to experience the pleasure of health, he has the right to that enjoyment, and society, as far as it can, must protect him in it. So he has the same right to the enjojmient of the happiness that comes from intellectual and moral well-being. A man's happiness involves many factors in addition to those of physical integrity already referred to, for instance, the right to work and earn a living is an important factor. One of the most difficult and delicate problems with which the state has had to deal has been that of securing to every man the just rewards of his own toil. In the complementary character of the work of men, and in the various types of service rendered, skilled mechanical work, brain work, physi- cal labor, etc., it is exceedingly difficult to determine the various values, but that it is the supreme task of the state to aid in determining these values and to so adjust the laws that everyone shall receive his just due, is beyond question. These rights recognized, it still remains the duty and respon- sibility of every man to earn his own living. The world owes no man a living, only an opportunity to earn it, and the failure to recognize this is the cause of much poverty. More- 82 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. over, every man for what he is, what he has, and what he has an opportunity to do and be, owes the race the best service he can render toward the carrying on and development of the world's work, and only as he recognizes this claim upon him has he any rights of labor. Intellectual culture has very much to do with man's hap- piness, and the state is providing the many means of educa- tion, has recognized man's right to an education and its re- sponsibility to provide the means up to the full limit of its ability. It has even gone so far as to seek to compel its youth to improve these opportunities up to a certain age, and its justification for this is the fact of the service it has a right to expect from its citizens. But a man's right to an education by no means involves an education without the toil of securing it, and again the responsibility is his, and if he fails the evil results are his also. Without doubt the moral factor is the most important one in man's happiness, and it necessarily follows that if man has a right to happiness he has a right to such conditions, so far as the state and society can provide them, as will give him a chance to reach the moral requirements of happiness. This right involves for the state two things: First, responsibility of securing, so far as may be, such condition of life that every man will receive the just fruits of his own good and evil deeds alike. ^ His deeds must be his own, the result of his own free thinking. This means, of course, freedom of opinion and worship, even if that opinion is erroneous. This is based again upon the same fact of personal responsibility for moral character as a factor of happiness. If nature did not pro- vide that man must be good, perforce, neither can the state, except within certain limits involved by the rights of others. Every man is responsible for himself, and it is the business of the state to give him an opportunity. In the second place, 1 Spencer, Ethics, vol. iv., p. 213. 83 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS it is the business of the state to see to it that conditions are as favorable for morality as possible. This is not in conflict with the above position, for the state is more than a referee between men. Its spirit and purpose are to secure the highest good of men, and the whole evolution of the state is toward such organization and conditions as shall more and more promote the highest good of the individuals composing it. If this is not true, then the state is transcending its powers in many of the things it is now doing in an educational and philanthropic way. It is significant that the perpetuity and well-being of the state itself as such is dependent upon these moral and educational agencies, so that it is not going too far to say that men have a right to expect the state to promote the conditions that make for moral good of the community, and to curb and destroy the influence that seeks to lower the moral tone. It is to be noted that while the right of hap- piness is based upon the laws of equal freedom, and is espe- cially applicable to the lower and more ephemeral types of pleasure, that there is scarcely the possibility of conflict where men seek to exercise this right in harmony with the lines laid down herein. III. The Eight of Destiny. The sense of the right of destiny is comparatively new among men. In former ages, here and there, a man would feel that he must achieve a destiny worth while and render a great service to the race, but he was rather exceptional. The masses of men felt that they were only expected to earn a living and keep soul and body together as best they could for a while, and pass on without the world being any better or worse for their lives. But with the development of the social side of human life, and the corresponding development of the individual there has come to men a profound sense of responsibility for service to the world, and a like sense of a 84 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. right to an opportunity to meet it. Men are learning that the achievement of such a destiny means two things — Char- acter and service. Thus men have come to feel that society has no right to impose upon them conditions inimical to their rights, but on the other hand, ought in every way to promote conditions which will be favorable to them. But the right of destiny does not mean any lessening of personal respon- sibility, rather the increasing of it, for while society will be a great loser in a man's failure to realize his destiny, still he, himself, will be the chief sufferer. All this is from the stand- point of this life. If immortality is taken into the account, an immortality vitally related to the laws that govern this life, then these principles are emphasized a thousandfold. Growing out of these principles are many rights not necessary to discuss here, but these general principles form the basis upon which all rights are founded. 85 CHAPTER VIII. THE CONFLICT OF RIGHTS. This study of the functions and responsibility of the state, and of the rights of the individual and their bases, must re- veal to us the fact that a conflict of rights is inevitable. The positive aggressive character of men, the wide divergencies of temperament and ability, and the absolute necessity for men to live together, and that in close proximity, renders conflict inevitable. When we add to this the ignorance, sel- fishness, and greed of men, the fact becomes still clearer. On the other hand, all efforts to make a state perfectly serve its purpose have failed because it is made up of these same posi- tive, selfish, greedy men to a large degree. The salvation of the race is in the fact that some men, and in these modern times in increasing number of men, are seeking the public good. The course of history confirms this view, for the trail of blood has been the result of the conflict of rights between individuals and between them and the state, and the result also of a vast selfishness that passed beyond the thought of right or justice, and regarded anything it could get, by any means, as its own. The adjustment of rights thus far reached has been brought about by the rubbing of men against each other, where each was compelled to give and take. With increasing intelligence and developing character what men should give and take be- came crystallized, and first in custom and then in both cus- tom and law, until finally the level of our time has been reached. There are many rights that are now settled in that 86 MORAL ASPECTS OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. old-fashioned way of men rubbing against other, and many rights that men claim are not within the range of law at all, but the vast majority of our rights are compassed in the laws and institutions of the land, and it is the profoundest task of statesmen to so mold the state that it shall be able to most perfectly meet its responsibilities in maintaining men's rights and providing favorable conditions for the development of human character. In the performance of this task on the part of the state, certain clearly defined principles must stand out. (a) The maintenance of the law of equal freedom.^ This law as laid down by Spencer needs interpreting, as Spencer himself admits when stating it. Loosely stated, an anarchist might use it. We take it, therefore, to mean that I must concede to others whatever rights I can legitimately claim for myself. I claim the right of life, with all that this means as interpreted in this paper, then I must concede that right to others and respect it. I claim the right to be happy and to work out my destiny, as a human being possessing a social nature. I must also concede to every other man the same right. It is the function of the state to enforce this principle. (b) The second principle which must stand out is the principle of the largest good to the largest number. This will be important especially in application to the positive functions of the state, and it is upon this principle that the state is enabled to carry out all its work for the improvement of the conditions of life. Oftentimes men are prevented from doing things that might seem to involve rights because of the larger good, and, on the other hand, for the same reason, property is confiscated and other measures adopted for the public good. (c) The final principle involves the safety and efficiency of the state itself. Self-preservation is the first law of life * Spencer, Ethics, vol. iv., p. 46. 87 MORAL ASPECTS OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. for the state as well as for the individual, and as the state is a necessity to man, so its efficiency depends upon the integ- rity of its authority, and as the authority of the state is neces- sary for the maintenance of the rights of the individual, so it must have the right of way above the rights of anyone, or any group of individuals. This principle justifies drafting men in time of war, or taking property for the use of the state in times of war, as churches have been taken for hos- pitals at such times. 88 CHAPTEK IX. THE RIGHT OF THE STATE TO CONTROL THE USE AND SALB^' OF LIQUOR. / (A) To what extent can the state control a man's personal habit of drinking? The highest theory of the right of the state to interfere with the habits of the individual has never gone so far as to meddle with them when they, in their effects, concerned himself alone. There are some exceptions to this general statement, as, for instance, the man who attempts suicide will be arrested. It is only when the individual's habit or conduct infringes upon the rights of others that the state exercises authority. However anxious the state may be to promote morality, or however beneficial to the aims of the state morality on the part of its citizens may be, and however much the state may seek to improve conditions of life with a view to the better moral development of the citizens, it may not coerce the individual into personal habits of morality. It is when the profane, unclean, noisy, or drunken man disturbs his neighbors or interferes with their rights, or when through his immorality or drunkenness he fails to provide for his family, or in any way endangers their safety or morality, that the state steps in. The state will take children away from cruel or immoral parents. While it is true a man may have the right to get drunk so far as the laws of the state are con- cerned, yet being a member of society, he so speedily comes into conflict with the rights of others that it may be said that, practically, he has no such right. On the other hand, the state has the right to do everything possible that will make it 89 ECONOMIC AND MORAL ASPECTS hard for a man to get dnink, and to promote such conditions that it will be easy for the man to keep from getting drunk, and this from three considerations, (a) Experience teaches that the man that gets drunk will be troublesome to the state and an expense and a menace to public peace, (b) In the next place, it is well known that man's habits of drink will lessen his ability to render the state and society the service he owes them, and (c) such effort to protect the individual is consonant with the very purpose of the state itself, the promotion of the conditions of life that will make^ for the highest development of the individuals composing it. ^(B) To what extent can the state control the sale of liquors and why?_ If Herbert Spencer's theory of the limits of the state duties holds good, it is doubtful if the state has any right or duty to interfere with the sale of intoxicating liquors. " It is a fair field and no favors," and so long as a man is not forced to bu}^ the state has no function. And yet, Spen- cer might hold that the moral influence of the saloon is such as to seriously interfere with a man's free right to work out his own development. This might be urged especially by the innocent victim of a man's habit of drink, as the dependent wife or child. From the standpoint of increased taxation he might hold that the state has the right to control the saloon. If we accept the larger theory, which is universally accepted as the working basis of government in the civilized world to-day, that the purpose of the state is more than that of being an impartial umpire. That it must seek to secure the largest and best development of the individuals consonant with the free exercise of choice by the individuals. Then it follows that the state has the right and power to protect its citizens against the evil influences which would unfavorably affect that development. ■ The following Supreme Court de- cision is in point : " No corporation or individual can acquire any rights by contract or otherwise which the government may not annul or take away if the exercise of such rights 90 OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. becomes detrimental to the public health or the public mor- als." Gas Light Co. vs. La. Light Co. 6 Sup. Ct. Rep. 262. Under two conditions the rights of the state become para- mount. / First, when the rights or the development of the larger number are endangered, the state may interfere with what otherwise would be the right of the individual. For instance, a man has the perfect right to the unhindered use of firearms if he is alone on a desert island, but when he becomes a member of society and that use of firearms en- dangers other people, the state has the right and duty to prohibit it. So also if he is alone on a desert island he may be vaccinated or not, as he chooses, but as a member of so- ciety he may be compelled to be vaccinated. T^Second, the state has a right to override the recognized rights of the individual when they imperil the safety or well-being of the state, or when it becomes necessary to do so to save the state, so the state will take a man's property, or draft him for military services in time of war?| , From these considerations we conclude that, even if the selling of liquor were one of the inherent rights of a man, the state has the right and duty to control, restrict or prohibit it if it proves that such business interferes with the rights of its citizens or affects unfavorably the welfare of the com- munity. If the saloon, through its relations to crime, sick- ness (especially insanity), and poverty increases the cost of the police, *^prison, hospital, and charity departments of the government, and thereby increases the cost of government, so that the taxpayer in one way or another, by direct or in- direct taxation, is compelled to pay the cost of saloons, it manifestly becomes the duty of the state to protect its citi- zens against such infringement of their rights. It is impos- sible to secure exact data upon the fact involved in this statement, for even in a comparison of states where prohi- bition exists with states that have the license system, there are so many other elements involved that we cannot be cer- 91 MORAL ASPECTS OF THE LIQUOR BUSINESS. tain that the conclusion is safe. The enforcement of law may be better in one than the other state. There may be very great difference in local conditions, or in the type of popu- lation, etc. But if the conclusions we have reached upon the effects of the habit of drink upon the individual and the com- munity, and the influence of the saloon upon the creation and development of the habit and upon the moral tone and po- litical life of the community be true, it is beyond doubt that the cost of saloons to the community far exceeds the revenue derived from licenses. As suggested, even Spencer might concede the staters right of control from this standpoint. On the other hand, if the saloon is so related to crime and immorality, if its presence in the community has an unfavor- able effect upon the moral tone of the people, if it is an im- pediment to the moral development of the whole community, and if its relation to the creation and development of the habit of drink is such as to make it responsible in part or in whole for any loss of efficiency, or any physical deteriora- tion of the community, then it becomes the right and duty of the state to take such measures as will abate the evil, even if what under othercpnditions would constitute individual rights are overridden. JAs a matter of fact, a man has no inherent right to sell liquor. He has a right to an opportunity to earn a living, and no man is so peculiarly constituted that the only thing he can do to gain a living is to sell liquor, so that selling liquor is not an inherent right to earn a living. This view is maintained by no less authority than the United States Supreme Court, which says in the decisions already quoted (Crowley vs. Christenson 137 U. S. 86. 11, Sup. Ct. Rep. 13) : "There is no inherent right in a citizen selling intoxi- cating liquors by retail. It is not a privilege of a citizen of a state or a citizen of the United States." It is only upon this ground that the universal practice of civilization in enacting aU sorts of laws of restriction or prohibition of the liquor traffic can be justified. 92 BIBLIOGRAPHY. In the preparation of the paper the following books were consulted : Morals in Evolution — Hobhouse. Origin and Development of Moral Ideas — Westermarck. Principles of Ethics — Herbert Spencer. Principles of Political Obligation — T. H. Green. Law and Politics in the Middle Ages — Jenks. Aryan Household — Hearn. The King's Peace — Essay in Pollock's Oxford Lectures. Folkways — Sumner. Politics and Ethics — Aristotle. The Kepublic, The Laws, Georgics — Plato ( Jowett) . Aquinas Ethicus — Joseph Eickaby. Political Tractates — Spinoza. Civil Government — John Locke. Leviathan — Hobbes. Spirit of the Laws — Montesquieu. Nature of the State — Bosenquet. Social Contract — Eousseau. An Inquiry Concerning the Origin of Our Ideas of Nature or Moral Good — Hutcheson. Introduction to Principles of Morality — Bentham. Philosophy of Law — Kant. Philosophy of Right — Fichter. Philosophy of Right — Hegel (Morris). Village Communities — Sir Henry Vane. The Nation — Mulford. Moral Science — Mark Hopkins. 93 BIBLIOGRAPHY. Primitive Property — Lavelaye. Political Ethics — Lieber. Ancient Law — Henry Mains. Philosophy of Rights— Stahl. Introduction to Social Contrast — H. J. Tozer. Commentary — Blackstone. Police Power under the Constitution — Freund. Social and Ethical Interpretations — Baldwin. State of Nature — Article in Baldwin's Bibliography. Rights — Article in Baldwin's Bibliography. Foundations of Moral Obligation — M. Grosvenor. Source of Moral Obligation — J. S. Mackenzie. Philosophy of Individuality — A. B. Blackwell. Natural Rights — Michelets. Law of Freedom — Hurd. II Principe — Machiavelli. Physiological Effects of Alcohol, Economical Aspects of Liquor Problem, Legislative Aspects of Liquor Problem, Summary — Committee of Fifty. Mass. Report of Bureau of Statistics of Labor, 1895. Royal Statistical Society Reports — Chas. Booth. Report " Inter-Departmental Committee on Physical Deteri- oration" to British Parliament — 1904. Temperance Problem and Social Reform — Rowntree and Sherwood. Articles on Alcohol and the Liquor TraflSc — McClure's Maga- zine, Oct., Nov. and Dec, 1908, by Henry Smith Will- iams. Report of Special Committee on Mental Cases, Medical Com- missioners on Lunacy for Scotland, 1903. The Potentially Insane — Woodbury. Causes of Poverty, Lilian Brandt, Vol. 23, No. 4. Political Science Quarterly. Alcoholism and Social Problem — Lilian Brandt, Survey, Oct. 1, 1910. 94 BIBLIOGRAPHY. Poverty and Social Decay — Alfred Martin Colwick, Arena, Jan., 1901. Menace of Police, Hugh E. Weir, World of To-day, Jan., 1910. Alcohol and Crime, Dr. Otto Juliusburger, Hilfe (Berlin), Dec, 1905. Lexow Committee, N. Y. Reports, Vol. I, Dec, 1905. Series of Addresses on the Relation of the Excise Question to the City Government. Prof. Hatton, Dr. John P. Peters, and others. Nat. Con. City Government, Pitts- burg, 1908. The Newark, Ohio, Lawlessness (Booze, Boodle and Blood- shed in the Middle West), Sloan Gordon, Cosmopolitan, Dec, 1910. San Francisco Wide Open, Editorial, Outlook, 83, 621-2. Alcoholism and Degeneration, by E. C. L. Miller. Indepen- dent, 58, 261-2. Current Literature, 38-361. Rum and Politics, Editorial, Nation, 79-516. Police of New York. (Unamerican Statesmanship) Editor- ial, Gunton, 20, 243-8. Vice and the Police of New York. Outlook, 66, 1006-7, Geo. C. Hopkins. The Economic Causes of Pauperism, Westminster, 165, 125- 47, David H. Wilson. Right of Protection against Liquor Selling, Outlook, 68, 697, J. A. Puffer. Sociological Meaning of Alcoholism, Editorial, American Journal of Sociology, 8, 716-17. Enforce the Law, Clement, Municipal Affairs, 5, 842-51. Saloon in Politics, E. H. Crosby, Municipal Affairs, 4, 402-4. Police in the World of Graft, Josiah Flynt, McClure's, 16, 327-34, 570-6, 17, 115-21. Remedy for Police Blackmail, Editorial, Outlook, 94, 563-5. The American Saloon, Will Irwin, Collier's Weekly, Feb. 29, March 21 and 28, April 4, May 9 and 16, 1908. 95 BIBLIOGRAPHY. The Thia Oust of Civilization, Ray Stannard Baker, Ameri- can Magazine, April, 1911. United States Excise Report, August, 1910. Twelfth Census Report, Manufactures, part 3. American Anti- Saloon Year Book, 1911. 96 J 1 > > > . 5 VITA Eobert Bagnell, born August 10, 1865, Philadelphia, Pa. Educational — public schools of Philadelphia. Undergrad- uate work, under private tutors and in personal work. Four years' course for Traveling Preachers of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. Completed course of Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle for years 1894 to 1897, inclusive. Master of Arts, Columbia University, 1909. 97 22 YB 07448 RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT TO^^- 202 Main Library LOAN PERIOD HOME USE U B L B ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS Renewals and Recharges may be made 4 days prior to the due date. Books may be Renewed by calling 642-3405. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW FEB 6 W\ AtlttJi fktnji Mm'^^ cbov.-?^ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY