Now Open Closed for Business

There is a tale of a saloon in a small western town, somewhere.  The exact year is not known but it was some time ago.

Gathering inside this saloon were outlaws of many types but each of whom had committed at least some sort of petty theft or minor infraction within recent memory.  All were therefore, by the book, wanted by the law, even if just for vagrancy as prosecutable by the law.

It seemed though that this growing group of outlaws actually performed some services that were argued as being beneficial to the town.  Their very presence tended to scare off the local, wild natives, some of whom would, from time to time, come to town and cause some minor disturbances.  The group of outlaws might also be used when needed to perform certain labor functions that the good people of the town chose not to do themselves.

One day the sheriff, pressed by the townspeople to do something, entered the saloon and took a seat at a table and ordered a whisky.  As he slowly consumed his drink he thought long and hard about what to do- well maybe not so hard but definitely long as he ordered a second drink, on the house of course.  At that table the sheriff had an epiphany- he would allow the outlaw group to remain in the saloon, without prosecution or persecution.  It would be almost impossible to enforce perhaps but he would inform them that they must stay in the saloon in order to remain in the town.  He would also ask them their names and where they had come from though he would have no way to confirm their answers.  He would ask them also if they had been involved in any major crimes such as murder or arson or cattle rustling or the like but he had no way to confirm that either and, in any event, it would be a huge challenge he knew to effectively prosecute any who might admit to such a past transgression.  Still, if he just asked, the townspeople might be convinced he was doing his job.

It was a decision borne of pure genius he believed and solved many problems.  There were far too many of these outlaws for him to handle, to run out of town.  The owner of the saloon gladly took money from the group and did not wish to send them away as long as the mostly behaved.  Local businesses that used some of these outlaws to perform the functions that no one else in town would do were happy with the easy, cheap source of labor.  The town people in general were wary of such a presence but a number felt, like the sheriff, that allowing them to stay would be the best solution.  What harm could it do as long as they were made to stay in the saloon?

It came to pass that, after the sheriff’s decision, anyone committing any so-called petty or minor crime in the town could not be prosecuted or would not be prosecuted.  There were already so many such individuals at the saloon that it seemed best to just allow such transgressors to join the other transgressors.  Live and let live.

As word of this arrangement was passed out into the frontier more and more came to the town.  There really wasn’t much of an effort to keep anyone out or apply any of the vagrancy laws that had been so useful and effective in the past.  It was just too much work and, besides, as the sheriff thought, they might just help him to remain as sheriff if they knew they had his support.  And the saloon keeper loved the business.

These were not the same citizens who had founded and originally populated the town.  In fact they were not citizens at all but there soon some who argued that they should be.  Their motivations for doing so were unclear but may have been humane in nature, which was odd, for very few were taking a position that they should now be prosecuted- it seemed far too late for that- just simply sent away or in some way made to abide by the original laws as established in the town’s charter.

Over time, rather quickly really, the character and essence of the town changed.  The things that had once made the town prosperous and successful faded away and were replaced with new businesses, new ventures that better suited the skillsets of the outlaws.

Over time the town was no longer much distinguished from the other towns in the territory other than that the laws were much more forgiving for anyone who entered.  It might be noted that the original laws as they applied to the older citizenry remained as established.  Older citizens were prosecuted, newer ones were not.

Over time the saloon was renovated, made larger and with facilities and amenities that helped support the growing outlaw group residing inside.  The saloon owner rather cleverly worked with the sheriff to arrange it so that this was paid for out of the town’s community chest.  Again many might have reason to protest but very few actually did.

Over time additional facilities and amenities were made available to the still-growing group but these were provided outside of the saloon.  These were also paid for by others without their specific consent or even their knowledge.  All well and good thought the saloon owner, the sheriff, and a growing number of recently established local businesses.

Over time the outlaw group, a few at first and then more soon after, were allowed and even encouraged to leave the saloon and take up residency in the town.  Citizenry quickly followed, limited at first but not, in essence, for very long.

Over time a number of the original citizenry left and along with them went a good portion of the annual contributions to the community chest.  No problem there though.  The town council, now actually consisting of some of the older and more established outlaws, determined that the answer here was not to locate new sources of business income or even to cut back on spending- they would just borrow from other towns.   This worked for a while.

One day the territorial marshal came to town and upon seeing all that had transpired in such a short period of time he made an attempt to set things right, reminding the town of their original charter and the plans and intentions of the founding citizens.  The man was arrested in short order and tried in equally short order for attempting to incite a riot.  The justice of the peace was none other than the saloon owner.  The marshal was sentenced to death by hanging and although the territorial government protested and threatened retribution the town had some time ago begun to ignore any such inconvenient intrusions or laws and so the marshal was strung up and thereafter used as an example to others who might seek to upset the new order of things.

From then on the sheriff ruled with the saloon keeper providing the background support and muscle needed to insure compliance.  The emigration of the older citizenry was stopped by decree and more immigration of the same sort was widely encouraged.  The town grew but then something happened.

Over time, rather quickly actually, the town became much less prosperous than it had been before.  There were still businesses and there were still good people, even among the recently citizenized outlaws, but the level of the skills no longer supported the newer and very successful ventures that the town had been established around and also become known for in the territory.  Things teetered slightly out of kilter at first and then fell abruptly to the side made possible by the new changes.

And as long as the sheriff and the saloon owner held power there was nothing that could be done to alter the course of things to come.

Over time the sheriff and saloon owner passed on- one was killed, murdered actually, but the perpetrator was not arrested or tried- and the town moved even further down the path it had seemingly so willingly set itself upon.  And like many other similar towns in the territory it soon became mostly irrelevant and then just seemed to fade away and off the maps altogether.

The town founders had known, often by direct experience, that this is what might happen, indeed was likely to happen, without a new type of charter.  That is why they established the charter they did.  And for a long period of time it was a good charter, some said a great charter, and it served the town and the people of the town quite well.  But as often happens, some say always happens in time, changes come along and lead to more change, none desired, and for all the wrong reasons.

There is barely a trace of that town left today.  The intentions of its founders and the reasons for its demise are all, like the actual town itself, lost now in the depths of time.

Today it is only the tumbleweeds and swirling dust devils that pass through.  And even these do not stay.