A Radical Proposal for the Saloon Trade
A local lawyer proposes a city ordinance that would force saloon keepers to provide free drinks to those on the police blacklist.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
James Kavanaugh, a lawyer of this city, is preparing an ordinance to be introduced in the council, the main provision of which is to make saloon keepers licensed by the city compelled to supply drinks absolutely free to all inebriates and men on the city blacklist. In speaking of the proposed ordinance, Mr. Kavanaugh said: 'I believe this is the true solution of the blacklist question. Liquor dealers will continue to sell to intoxicated and blacklisted parties as long as they have the money to pay for the liquor, but if they should be forced to give the liquor to these men they will not tolerate their presence in drinking places.'
“If they should be forced to give the liquor to these men they will not tolerate their presence in drinking places.”
This 1904 attempt to leverage business owners into enforcing social policy by hitting their profit margins is a strange historical ancestor to modern 'harm reduction' or business-led social governance. It reflects a time when the 'blacklist' was a common tool of municipal control over the working class and the addicted.
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