A meeting took place in the town hall of Elberfeld between commissioners of the Minister of the Interior and the Chief President of the Rhine Province, the Rhenish district presidents and police chiefs and representatives of the innkeepers' organizations, the clergy of all denominations, as well as members of the free and Christian trade unions and the Hirsch-Duncker trade unions. in which guidelines should be established for the equal granting of permits for the holding of public dance merrymaking in occupied and unoccupied territory.
The minister is of the opinion that dancing must be restricted under all circumstances, and that it is soon to be banned for the whole of Prussia in cabarets, bars and halls.
The debate on the issues raised by the Minister's representative was extremely lively.
The spokespersons for the innkeeper and hall owner organizations demanded the release of public dance merrymaking on all Sundays and public holidays, on the second day of Easter, Whitsun and Christmas and on the days of carnival and fairs for cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, for the other cities and the flat country on two Sundays a month and, as before, on the high holidays and fair days, with the local police omitting permission.
They pointed to the difficult economic situation of the restaurant and hall owner trade and emphasized that their organizations had always endeavored to prevent any riots in the regular dance halls.
Alcohol excesses only rarely occur in the real inns, but mostly in the unlicensed secret bars, which also evade taxes.
Alcohol abuse is also promoted by the sale of schnapps in retail stores and by the Reich monopoly administration, which, despite the innkeepers' ideas, approves of the production of at least 35 percent brandy.
District President Grützner (Düsseldorf) admitted that the innkeepers were less to blame for the alcohol abuse than the liquor industry and the Reich Monopoly Office and explained that he had recently spoken out in the People's Ministry of Welfare with the sharpest words against the irresponsible activities of the Reich Monopoly Office.
However, it cannot be denied that there is a connection between dancing merrymaking and alcohol abuse and that the hospitality organizations have not been able to enforce their will to stop the excesses in the dance halls.
Good will alone is not enough.
The question of dancing merrymaking was inseparable from the alcohol question, and there was no doubt that excessive dancing merrymaking among the younger population and also among young married couples,
He must therefore resolutely oppose the far-reaching demands made here by the representatives of the innkeepers.
Certainly he does not fail to recognize the difficult situation of this trade, but one must not forget that many, indeed most, professions have to make heavy and very heavy sacrifices under the present conditions.
The landlord must also subordinate its interests to those of the general public.
The holding of public dance merrymaking must be made dependent on the permission of the local police authority, because this is the best way to take account of local conditions and to ensure uniform regulation in the neighboring communities.
Of course, a real restriction of these merrymaking can only be achieved if the local police authorities do their duty.
In the occupied Rhineland in particular, the political aspect of the question had to be taken into account.
No one can deny that it was precisely the excessive dancing that had done us eminent damage in terms of foreign policy.
He has always worked emphatically to ensure that the people of the Rhineland keep their traditional folk customs and customs, and he also knows that the Minister of the Interior shares his point of view.
He therefore took the opportunity to reject as untrue in the most decisive manner the statement maliciously foisted on the minister that he did not give a damn about the soul of the people of the Rhineland, who is said to have fallen in the Dusseldorf government building.
But the excessive dancing frenzy has nothing to do with traditional Rhenish folk customs.
They must be everywhere in the German fatherland, not only on the Rhine,
The youth organizations, represented by Catholic and Protestant clergy, also spoke out vigorously against the excessive dancing and advocated leading the youth to ideal and spiritual enjoyment.
The representative of the Christian trade unions expressed a similar sentiment.
The spokesmen for the other two workers' organizations placed the emphasis on curbing the bar and saloon riots and also believed that the common man's dancing merrymaking would soon diminish of its own accord as a result of the economic hardship.
At the end of the discussion, a mixed commission was formed from those present, which gave the representatives of the minister and the senior president guidelines for the ordinances to be issued.