Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 39, Number 112, 21 March 1914 — Page 9

PAGE NINE f LAW Records on File in City Police Court Give Positive and Convincing Proof That Statute Against Selling Liquor to Intoxicated Persons Has Been Flagrantly and Notoriously Violated. 405 Different Individuals Convicted of Drunkenness.

THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM AND SUN-TELEGRAM, SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 1914

08

VTOLOTONS

Moras b

SAL MS

o

Official Coroner's Records Show That in 12 Months the Death Toll in Richmond That Can Be Laid Directly at Door of Saloon Totals Eleven, of Which Two Were Murderers and Three Were Suicides. Six Were Plain Cases of Alcoholic Poisoning.

In Thursday evening's papers Mr. Gordon- says in flaming type "This case is finished. The people are going to give it to the jury with instructions to find the defendant not guilty." But, Mr. Gordon, the game is not yet played out, the evidence is not all in. The claim that the liquor traffic of Richmond is saintly in its character must be investigated yet further before the jury turns in-its verdict. In that same issue of the evening papers you say "My clients and I are all willing to eliminate all further argument, and stake our case in this fight upon our ability to prove that the saloons of Richmond for the last five years have been law-abiding or as nearly so as saloons can be made to be, both in letter and spirit." If the record which the saloons of Richmond have made for the last five years is the best they can do, then God pity them for the harvest of death and shame and humiliation which they have sown in the city of Richmond. If any other business in our city dared to admit that eleven of their proprietors had been arrested for violations of the law governing their business, those who remained to tell the tale and admit the truth of the statements would hardly dare take pride in the fact that more of them had not been arrested. Then if they should admit that there were 28 additional arrests for violations in the conduct of their business, those who remained would hardly make light of the fact that there had only been thirty-nine cases in all against their particular line of business in five years. Imagine the dry goods merchants of Richmond taking satisfaction in the fact that there had only been 39 cases of violation of the law in the dry goods business during such a period". m But that is only a small part of the black record which they have made. "Over and over again evidence is being presented to the Citizens' Commitee that minors have been sold liquor within Richmond saloons, but in practically every instance for the sake of the families involved, beg the Committee not to disgrace them by making public the record. We have already quoted the statement of ExChief Gormon that wine rooms existed in our saloons as late as the last year, while we have had the public statement of a man that within the last three weeks the officials closed up the wine rooms in one of our saloons. It has been shown how a number of our saloons have evaded the law in the payment of their taxes, and that according to the record a considerable number are owned and controlled by either the local or -other breweries in plain and direct violation of the laws. None of these numerous cases are in the admitted category of the thirty-eight. But there are some other chapters to these saintly saloons, chapters which mark not only violatibns of the law and, God pity them, that is the least important part of this black record but which have left a train of debauchery, and shame, and-lost manhood, and poverty stricken homes, and even death, enough to make the entire city bow its head in humiliation. Who is responsible if not our saloons? Within the last fifteen months, not to. say anything about five years, the public records show that there have been 508 convictions in our city for public intoxication. Who is responsible for this intbxication which is an average of more than onper day for all that period? Somebody sold the liquor that made these men drunk, and there was some last saloon keeper who violated the law by selling to an intoxicated man, or to a man known to be in the habit of becoming intoxicated. O, no, these saloons are pious, they wouldn't violate the law. They are too good. All they do is simply to sell their stuff to every man who has the price, and so long only as he has the price, and then turn him out on the streets to be nabbed by the police, and dragged off to jail, there to lie out his sentence with never a dollar turned over to pay his fine, while the family starves or becomes the object of public or private charity. Five hundred and eight convictions for drunkenness in fifteen months, and still the parade goes on! Somebody has violated the law. The public intoxication itself is a product of the saloon system of our city, a"d its lawlessness is chargeable directly to the saloons, no less than the lawlessness direct as shown in the sales by some last saloon keeper in 508 cases that produced public intoxicationBut that isn't all of the story. In tw hundred and forty cases, the men had been robbed of their earnings, and had no monev to keep them out of jail; could not even raise the necessary $11.00 to save a 90 days' jai sentence, and never a saloon keeper came to the rescue, and why? He was willing some saloon keeper in each case was willing, to violate the law by selling up to the point of intoxication, and then when the victim's money was all gone, the saloon keeper lost a'l interest in the case, because he knew his victim's money was gone. The family co11 become a public charge for all the saloon keeper cared; yet these are the saintly men wno run our city saloons. Possibly Mr. Gordon will aver that the Richmond saloons did not sell the liquor which caused this public intoxication, and that therefore they are innocent of the violations which are chargeable in these particular cases. Perhaps they came over from Greenville filled up with Greenville whisky for the soIe and only purpose of getting arrested by our Richmond police. Our Richmond saloons are sucn model exceptions, you know, to the general run of saloons in this country. Otner spoons break the law. Gordon admits that, but our own, never. Fathers may come around and with tears in their eyes tell of the sales of liquor to their boys in our Richmonc saloons, and beg us not to disgrace them by publishing their names, but nevertneess our saloons are models of propriety. Five hundred and eight of our citizens maY et drunk in our Richmond saloons, and two hundred and forty of them have to to jail for it, but our advertisement writer for the saloons lifts up his hands in pious congratulations, and thanks God that Richmond saloons are not as other saloons are. Read the record, a black record of humination to hundreds of our citizens, poor derelicts, down and outs, made so by the vilations of the law on the part of the saloon, and then judge how saintly these institution8 are in our city.

law.

Are the Richmond saloons law-abiding? Their paid representative, J. Bennett Gordon, says they ere! Does he know, and if so, is he telling the truth? If the brewery crowd has deceived him, is he man enough to acknowledge it? His contention in this fight has been thai r iehmond saloons absolutely obey the 5 (DciDinivncsliSaDinis

There have been 508 convictions for public intoxication resulting directly from violation of law by Richmond saloons since January 1, 1913, as shown by the Police Court Records. This Committee has in its possession a complete transcript of these records for the inspsction by any and all voters. In the tabulated statement which follows, the surnames of persons convicted are indicated by the letters of the alphabet.

Number Number Number Number Number Number Letter of Sent Who Paid Letter of Sent Who Paid Convictions. To Jail. Fines. Convictions. To Jail. Fine A 12 6 6 I Mc 18 1(1 8 B 55 23 32 N 12 8 4 C 40 11 29 O 8 1 3 D 23 10 13 P 18 8 10 E 13 67 Q 202 F 12 5 7 R 27 14 18 G 33 19 14 S 63 28 85 H 31 15 16 T 18 6 T 1 110V748 J 15 10 5 W 28 9 19 K 33 21 12 Z 2 11 L 17 9 8 M 30 14 16 Total 508 239 269

The 508 convictions were made up of 411 different individuals, the 239 sent to jail were made up of 173 different individuals.

47T7T1 T 9 TTV TT

SItawf rag tine Bfi-urdLers, SuiScadles andL ID)atlhis H2)Sj-ctly (Clhsurgealble to IRIcHnmiondl Salajxums

ince IFeJbrxnairy lf El9)E3

NAME. DATE. Irwin White, Feb. 1 Barney Barnhardt, Feb. 5 No. Seventh St. John Barker Feb. 17 James E. Mulholland Mar. 5 110ft No. I Street Fred A. Hofheinz, Mar. 29 417 South Seventh St. Fred L. Ahaus, May 20 73 S So. Seventh Street. Ernest Lewis June 24 Harry Hart Sept. 16 Henry Athey Nov. 5 Richard Cook (Coccuci) Dec. 29 Roy O. Stratton Feb. 17

AGE. VERDICT. 56 Murdered B0 Organic Heart Disease 40 Accidental 50 Cerebral Hemorrhage 69 Mitral InguflHeiancy 51 Suicide

20 Acute Alcoholic Poisoning 40 Suicide 24 Acute Alcoholic Poison ing died in jail. 26 Homicide

43 Sutcfde

ihe People Instruct the Jury to Find the Defendant

Guilty of Two Murders, Three Suicides, and Six Deaths I3iF3iHidaini4 "tuiIMy99 am 5(D) 41hsir )p3sflffas (SaDtminiteS

PRESENTED ON BEHALF OF" THE CITIZENS COMMITTEE ADVERTISEMENT