which comprises at least one half of the volumes in circula- Zueblin, tion in most libraries, for most of these books are whole- Am. Mun. Progress, some, interesting, and amusing. Through the circulation of 177-193. the better classes of fiction, biographies, histories, scientific treatises, and many others, general readers have opportunities Elmendorf, denied to them a quarter century ago. Where the patrons H. L., in Rev. of Revs., 29 (1904), 702-708. of the libraries are permitted access to the shelves and are allowed to examine books, the circulation is increased, and interest is awakened in other classes of reading. Most libraries have juvenile departments, from which books may be drawn by children of a reasonable age. They also Putnam, H., help to awaken a taste for a better class of literature by loaning a large number of books at one time to the different schools of the city, where they are read freely by the pupils. in World's Work, 10 (1905), 6373-6377. reference rooms. Almost as many magazines and books are consulted at Reading and the libraries as are withdrawn for circulation. Large numbers of the popular magazines and newspapers attract many to the reading rooms, while the scientific papers and wellselected works of reference are consulted by large numbers Zueblin, of scholars. Some of our finest libraries limit themselves Am. Mun. Progress, to reference and consultation work, distributing no books 195-201. whatever. and forms of control. Koren, 134. Control of the Liquor Business. As intoxicating Conditions liquors are believed to be responsible for a large part of the poverty and crime in existence, governmental control of the liquor business is less for the development of public morality than for the protection of the public. The general policy Wines and of each State is decided by the entire State, either through the vote of the people registered in the constitution or by the legislature. Three systems1 may be distinguished: (1) the Legislative tax license system, under which saloons may be established in any town or city of the State under certain conditions; (2) the license system with a local option which permits any 1 On the dispensary system formerly in use in South Carolina, consult the New Encyclopedia of Social Reform, pp. 387-389. Liquor Problem in Aspects, 1-21. The license system. Result of "Statewide" of Social town or county to prohibit the sale of liquors within its boundaries; and (3) state prohibition, under which the manufacture, as well as the sale, of intoxicants is forbidden throughout the State. In all cases the administration of laws relating to the sale of liquors devolves chiefly upon local officers. States which depend exclusively upon a system of licensing saloons may be classified according to the amount of the fee paid in return for the permission or license given. If the fee is low, e.g. $50 or $100 a year, the State is said to have a low license system, but high license is used if the fee is that amount per month. The fee varies in different parts of all States of course, being higher in the larger cities, where a more extensive business is possible. Other conditions are considered in granting licenses. Saloons must not be opened near churches, schoolhouses, or public parks. In many towns licenses may be revoked if liquor is sold to minors, or to any one on Sundays, but even when the law provides for these regulations, they are not enforced unless the general public really so desires. One of the chief objections urged against high license is that the high fee leads to evasion of the law and to illegal selling, for perfect enforcement of any liquor laws seems difficult to obtain. 135. Prohibition and Local Option. More than one third of the States at some time have prohibited the manufacture prohibition. and sale of intoxicating liquors within their limits. At the present time, nine have such laws, and in one of these, New Encyc. Maine, the law has existed in various forms for sixty years. So far as manufacture is concerned, prohibition actually prohibits; but a different result may be noticed in connection with the question of sale, and the result is easily summaCorrigan, J., rized: where the community earnestly favors prohibition, public sale is impossible, while private sale is difficult, and usually punished; where the community is indifferent, illegal traffic is common; but where prohibition is distaste Reform, 970-972. in Rev. of Revs., 36 (1907), 328-334. ful, as in many cities of size, there is little attempt to conceal the places where liquor can be obtained. In about two thirds of the States, the towns, districts, or Local option counties are permitted to decide, by popular vote, whether in practice. they will have "license or "no license." By this method 726-727. local prohibition exists over at least one half the area of New Encyc. of Social the United States, but only in those parts where it is favored Reform, for personal or business reasons. It can readily be seen that the enforcement of the law in these localities is likely to be better than those of prohibition States, but the difficulties of enforcement are apt to be greater, because impor- O'Reilly, tation from neighboring towns or counties is easy. Although free from the glaring defects that characterize the administration of the anti-saloon law in some States that have prohibition, local option, nevertheless, encounters much the same class of difficulties as those found under prohibition. General References Hart, Actual Government, pp. 535–571. Wright, Practical Sociology, pp. 177-207, 331-332, 390-403. Warner, American Charities. Henderson, Dependent, Defective, and Delinquent Classes. Wines and Koren, The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects. New Encyclopedia of Social Reform, articles on "Charities," "Education," ""Housing," "Liquor traffic, ," "Local option," "Pauperism, Poverty," ," "Prohibition," "Temperance," etc. 99 66 Topics THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF HIGH LICENSE: Crosby, E. H., in North American Review, 144 (1887), 498-506; Miller, W., in North American Review, 147 (1888), 638-644; Locke, D. R., in North American Review, 145 (1887), 291–305; Bacon, L. W., in Forum, 5 (1888), 281–288. Studies 1. New England grammar schools of the eighteenth century. Small, W. H., in School Review, 14 (1906), 42–56. J. F., in ent, 63 (1907), 564-567. |