The Saloons and the "Tigers"
By Editor
IT is often stated that to close the saloons means that we will fill the country with "blind tigers." But wherever investigations are made, it is always shown that the "blind tigers" flourish most where saloons are thickest. So the question is not whether we shall abolish the saloons and have "blind tigers" instead, but it is as to whether we shall keep both the saloons and the "blind tigers." There is no way of preventing a man from unlawfully selling liquors, any more than there is a way of preventing him from unlawfully taking your horse or your pocketbook; but we may fix things so that it is difficult for him to do it. When the open saloon is closed, and a drunk appears on the street, people begin to ask at once, "Where does he get his liquor?" and so the lair of the "blind tiger" is all the more easily discovered; but when the saloon is running full blast, the effects in the way of staggering drunkards that appear on the streets are not noticed, for it is supposed that they have been visiting the saloon, when in reality they may have been to a "blind tiger" instead. Thus the "blind tigers" become one of the strongest reasons why the saloons should be closed.