Free lunch newspaper's estimate that the saloon keepers fed 60,000 people a day and that this represented a contribution of about $18,000 a week toward the relief of the destitute in Chicago. In 1896, the New York State legislature passed the Raines law which was intended to regulate liquor traffic. Among its many provisions, one forbade the sale of liquor unless accompanied by food; another outlawed the free lunch. In 1897, however, it was amended to allow free lunches again. Free lunch A free lunch is the providing of a meal at no cost, usually as a sales enticement to attract customers
Committee of Fourteen most Raines Law hotels had closed, but the Committee remained active until it ran out of money in 1932, when it was disbanded. Committee of Fourteen The Committee of Fourteen was founded on January 16, 1905 by members of the New York Anti-Saloon League as an association dedicated to the abolition of Raines law hotels. While blue laws banned saloons from selling alcoholic beverages on Sundays, the Raines law of 1896 permitted hotels to do so. When saloon keepers responded by creating bedrooms, which were then used for prostitution, the Committee demanded premise inspections to distinguish between legitimate hotels and