Mister Halling is one of the many miners who live in the Frontier Mining Town of Youswell and, due to his amicable and clear-headed nature, has been chosen by the Youswell mining community to be their unofficial chief and spokesman in their ongoing (albeit fruitless) negotiations with the landowner of Youswell - Lieutenant Yoki. As a result of Yoki's exorbitant property taxes, Halling (along with many other Youswell residents) runs a tavern with his wife and his son Kyle partly as a place where the tired laborers of the town can rest and unwind after a hard day in the coal mines, but mostly as a way to bilk tourists out of their money with an admittedly unreasonable 200,000 cenz per night fee so as to keep up with Yoki's equally unreasonable demands. He is a friendly and kindhearted man, described by his friends and family as someone who will gladly take a loss if he can help out an ailing friend by doing so. (Source: Fullmetal Alchemist Wiki)