Chapter 15

LAWS ARE OPENLY VIOLATED

I want to say here, however, that not all the brewers are as black as they are painted. There are some among them who are clean and honest men who, bitterly resent the lawless methods of their colleagues.

Upon the request of the respectable element I have frequently warned the brewers of the country that nothing could save their industry unless they made up their minds to become law abiding citizens and stop fooling the people.

I have warned them on many occasions that they had no right to enlist the sympathy of the people as long as they persisted in defying the laws enacted by the people, but my warnings fell upon deaf ears.

What can cause greater hostility toward the brewers than the fact that midnight closing and Sunday laws are openly violated with their knowledge and connivance and that political influence and the liberal use of money will gain them immunity from prosecution?

Has it not frequently been said that the "dough bags" of the brewers control the courts and influence their decisions?

_"Absence of drunkenness, law and order, and the reduction of crime to a minimum, have invariably followed the 'dry' wave"_