The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1881-04-08
Noble Prentis ON Tempefance.

Noble Prentis On TeapeFance.
Noble Prentis has said many good
things, but we doubt whether he ever
condensed more practical truths in the
same words. than the following pithy,
yet eloquent appeal in a recent issue Of
the Champion to drinkers and drunk
ards to ''dry up' the whole agitation
over the Temperance act by ceasing to
drink, as follows:
In all the turmoil about the prohibi-5
tory liquor law, one vitality interested
party has never spoken or been spoken!
to. We allude to the drunkard, both
in incipient and chronic stages.
The law says little about him, and,
as the Champion has had occasion to
remark before, does not administer to
him the necessary tonic, in the way of
punishment, If he ofends, and of course
holds out no incentive or reward to
him if he keeps sober; for laws inspire
and cheer nobody. Men may have
been deferred from doing wrong, but
no human being was ever yet encOur-
aged to do right by statute.
In spite of this oversight the dnnker,
the drunkard, if you please, holds the
balance of power, he JIG the arbiter OF
this whole business. If the Watchword,
"brace up" could be passed along the
whole line this most vexed question
would be settled. Let every gentleman
set down the 'tthree fingers" which at
present engage his attention, and the
wind would be taken out of every tenn
perance lecturer; the prOhibatOry law
made an empty collection of phrases.
What would it amount to if all the
saloons were kept open, if the last of
the bummers could wipe his mouth
with the back of his hand and, say,
"No, thanks, I don't drink" What
would become of the idiOtic discussion
about whether the, swine of the Bible"
was fermented or unfermented, if each
of us could say, "Well if had been at
the wedding at Cana of Galilee, I
should not have taken any of the wine,
even if it was made by miracle. This
sort of argument cuts the ground from
under the angry crowd of cOntrover-
sialists.
The Champion is free to say that it
wishes the question could be settled in
this way. It would be a final and
!effectual settlement. No saloon-keeper
could object to it; no temperance man
or woman ought to. 1t would be a
blessed thing all around. 1t would
save the country from quarrels, prose-
cutions, heart-burning disputes, strifes.
1t would save it from can't, humbug,
Islander, professional reformers, hired
apostles, and another fool Legislature
i'm Kansas. It would give the pulpit
back to its regular and proper uses; it
would shut off Niagra of slushy
communications to the newspapers, for
the harassed and tOrmented editor
could tell the contributors to initiate
the guzzlers and "dry up" "Dry up"
blessed word, and SO general, too in its
application.
"Dry up," let us repeat it; we linger
lovingly over the phrase, "Drp up"
drunkards, and you will dry up lot of
other nuisances. You will "dry up" q
fountain of discussion; you "dry up'' a
crowd Ofpestiferous agitators: you "dry
up" lot of small politicians, who,
strange anomaly, run wind mills by
water.
You dry up for yourselves flowing,
deepening stream of misery; literal
fountain of tears. You dry up q drain
on your pockets; on your mind; on your
conscience; on your heart. You dry
up a black ocean that now waits to
receive you. And you alone, our
drunken friend, can do all this. Hob
byists don't believe it, but sensible
men do. People with patent reforma-
tory machines think you can be dried
up by statute, but you know better.
You know that you must dry yourself
up. You know that if you want whis-
key you will get it. Suppose you stop
wanting any. Try it, old man, and
help yourself and the country and the
old girl and the babies The thing is
worth trying. The Legislature has
overlooked this plan; for the Legisla-
'ture did not know much anyhow. Let
this issue he settled hY the only men