The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1874-07-10
No. g.
From ,he C.i..i.c cHr e tz-trr.
SHALL WE DARE 10 90 ETCET?

/ In a short time the people of Ohio viii
I be called upon To express themselves at
the polls a. 10 the adoption % the new
Constitution. and also. fur and against
minority representation. railroad aid and
license Ii Is with the latter question
that in this place We propn-r. to deal
Much difference Of opinion exists. even
among temperance men. IL To the adyi>-
ability OF oppOSingthe license clause
Many men there are who ARE bold To as
sert that the traffic in Intoxicating lig-
UOrs can only be controlled by high
license law. But Il careful consideration
of the question Will show that this con
ciu>ion can be reached only through fall
laciOuS reasoning. What, remedy
wrong by acknowledging It i right -
Check AN evil by legaiiziu- It Par pub
lie morality mp AT auction. and make the
Goddess of the sword and scales the
auctiOneer.. This is Just what licensing
the liquor traffic means. We shall op-
pose the license clause 10 the biTtrrrud.
Tor two most excellent reasons.
The first is because We believe such n
provision TO be pre-rmiueutIy wrong.-
lntcmperance j. recognized the world
over as being Il great evil and Us lr"in.
productive of more crime than all other
causes combined. It Is the cause. every
year, of 100, 600 people being imprisoned
for crime, while 15J. Geo 90 down TO
drunkard' graves, leaving 3O0. OGO beg
CARED orphans. -Ail these cause the an
nual expenditure Of S2u0. Out. OGO in mon
ey. There is not a saloon Keeper nor
drunkard in the land bur what will ac-
knowledge the terrible results of this
TtAr RIsl r1-.rii
temperance men will advocate making
legal Il business Ike this For this fea-
son, If Tor no other we should oppose
the license clause; but there is another.
which, though perhaps not morally 50
sound, Is yet an excellent reason. The
license clause JrW MT diminish tie fyOf-
.fc 'R liquor. True, it may close up
some Of the smaller saloons, but they
will do just that much more business in
the larger ones. The license advocates
tell us that on account Of the heavy tax
saloon-keepers will have to pay, the re-
tail price of liquor viii be higher. Then
we reply, it will be that much worse for
the consumers family. The drunkard
will have his regular supply Of liquor, if
he has the money to buy It, If it cost
iOur-Iold the its present value The on
ly result TO the community the passage
of the license clause would bring, would |
be that the deluded victims would be |
worse victimized than ever. Instead Of |
paying a profit of three hundred Der
cent. on their whisSey, they would have |
TO pay tive-that is all The quantity |
of liquor sold would remain the same.
The license question We regard. there !
fore, as being gotten up solely in the in |
terest of the anti-Temperance cause,
and as such it does not become anv gen |
uine advocate of temperance to give it
its support. Ii iS but Il bait thrown out
by them for luke-warm temperance men
to bite at, and at the present iunctura
there st ems a probability that some of
them will swallow the bait. Many tenn
perince men there are who claim that If
they had their way, prOhibitOry meas
ures should prevail, but support the
license cause because they deem it the
only prGctic0bie measure. and because
popular opinion, they assert. is opposed
to anti-licenSc. What makes popular
opiniOnI IL is but the eNpre sSion of the
will of the majority, and If tine entire
temperance element would but discard
the idea that popular opinion i against
them, and resolve to stand, each upon
their own ideas, there is no doubt but
the anti license cause would carry There
was IA time, and that not a great many
years ago, when the Abolition party was
apparently in a hopeless minority, and
to all appearances seems likely To remain
50 for all time, but they were in the
right, and they triumplIcd and tri-
uInphed so SlOriOuSly that there. Is ROW
scarcely cOrpOr;tG> guard of voters ia
the United States but ARE glad that
America Is, IN fact, as well H. in word,
the home Ofthe free. So it will be with
the Temperance cGusc. Lct us be- firm
-make no concessions to wrOng-dare
to do right, no matter how the prospect
may appear, and in the future. as in tiIe
pasr, the right ! bound to triumph