I am not sure but that the saloon-keeper held a shade higher rank than any other member of society.

His opinion had weight.

It was his privilege to say how the elections should go.

No great movement could succeed without the countenance and direction of the saloon-keepers.

It was a high favor when the chief saloon-keeper consented to serve in the legislature or the board of aldermen.
Youthful ambition hardly aspired so much to the honors of the law, or the army and navy as to the dignity of proprietorship in a saloon.
To be a saloon-keeper and kill a man was to be illustrious.