434  The  Sale  of  Alcoholic  Liquors.  {ADAUJg0uSrt,?8h™' 
neighboring  drug  store.  These  purchases  were  mostly  made  for 
medicinal,  culinary  or  other  legitimate  uses.  Often,  however,  this 
was  not  the  case.  Liquor  was  sold  in  many  drug  stores,  indiscrimi- 
nately, to  all  who  asked  for  it,  and  without  regard  to  the  purpose 
for  which  it  was  wanted.  But  the  high  license  law  put  a  stop  to 
this  business.  Alcoholic  stimulants  are  not  now  so  readily  purchased, 
and  the  people  are  put  to  considerable  inconvenience  to  get  them. 
The  law  took  away  a  profitable  part  of  the  trade  of  the  druggist, 
and  any  law,  in  these  days,  when  profits  are  so  small,  that 
diminishes  the  volume  of  trade  by  taking  away  the  most  profitable 
portion  of  it,  can  hardly  be  regarded  by  the  dealer  as  a  just  one. 
On  the  other  hand,  such  evil  consequences  follow  the  use  of  alcoholic 
liquors  that  this  law,  which  largely  restricts  their  sale,  should  be  re- 
garded as  a  very  acceptable  one.  Even  when  care  was  exercised  in  their 
sale  it  was  not  easy  always  to  tell  the  purpose  for  which  the  stimu- 
lants were  wanted.  It  was  hard  to  turn  away  a  good  customer,  and 
in  doing  so  great  offence  was  sometimes  given.  The  refusal  to  sell 
on  one  occasion,  in  the  writer's  experience,  a  bottle  of  whiskey  to  a 
customer,  occasioned  the  loss  of  his  entire  trade. 
Several  years  ago,  and  since  the  passage  of  the  high  license  law, 
we  spent  a  Sunday  in  one  of  the  western  towns  of  this  State,  where 
there  were  no  licensed  saloons.  From  the  train  that  brought  us  to 
this  place  on  Saturday  evening  were  unloaded  a  number  of  kegs  of 
beer.  We  were  told  that  this  was  a  daily  occurrence ;  that  beer 
and  other  alcoholic  drinks  were  brought  in  and  distributed  among  the 
club-rooms  and  other  places ;  and  that  the  seven  drug  stores  in  the 
town  were  doing  a  large  business  in  the  sale  of  these  stimulants  by 
filling  physician's  prescriptions. 
There  was  probably  no  violation  of  the  law  here.  The  state  of 
affairs  can  be  readily  understood.  The  druggists  were  the  only 
dealers  in  spirituous  liquors,  and  were  reaping  a  profit  from  the  sale 
of  articles  for  which  there  was  a  constant  demand. 
The  demand  for  alcoholic  liquors  is  everywhere.  Every  one  of 
us  has  been  besought  to  sell  them  in  violation  of  the  State  law,  and 
the  charge  of  committing  this  offence  has  been  frequently  spoken 
against  us.  So  far  as  we  are  concerned,  we  have  carefully  observed 
the  law.  Others  whom  we  know  have  done  the  same.  We  have 
written  a  number  of  letters  to  members  of  this  Association  residing 
in  different  sections  of  the  State  upon  this  subject,  and  have  received 
