The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1881-10-13
The Absurdity of Prohibition.

The press OF this State is agitatng the
question of prohibiting the sale of intoxica
ting liquor in the state.
This question has agitated the minds o.
reformers for nearly halfa century 1t ha.
seen the hobby of the same class Of men
who would regulate the time at which theil
neighbors should 60 to bed and tho time
they should rise, the kind of clothes they
should wear, and the fashion in which
their boards and hair should be cut. All
this talk OF the absolute prohibition of the
sale of liquor is an invasion of the rights o
the people, which ianatiCism alone could
suggest
That the sale of liquors should be regu,
lated so that 1t will produce the less harm
no one will controvert. This can be done
by properly drawn license law. Such al
one as the Gazette proposes:
zone that will wrest the sale of liquors
from the proprietors Of low 'dogserics and
dens of iniquity, and place i. in the hands
of responsible men, made doubly RESPONSE
Bile by plainly expressed provisions Of the
law
Such law can be passed, and should be.
The Herald is the friend of Temperance
and would gladly lend its aid and influence
to any practicable plan for reducing the
number of drunkards The evils
that flow from excessive indulgence
in intoxicating beverages are manifold,
and must cause great sorrow to the philan-
thropiss and moralists. 1t would be very
desirable to reform all drunkards, and to
prevent those now living in sobriety from
becoming drunkards. But the Herald does
not think that prohibitory enactments are
calculated to attain this, and since ii is SO
easy to evade the penalty, from the fact
that both seller and buyer are interested in
keeping the transaction unknown, the only
effects such enactmsnts have is to drive
the business out Of the hands OF the re-
sponslblo dealer into the control of those
who are willing to take the risk of detection
for the sake of the profits. II has
the effect of making business--perfectly ,le-
gitimate-Contraband and unlawful, for the
sale of whisky brandy, wine, beer and other
liquors is per sc no more unlawful than the
sale of groceries, drugs and other articles,
and the attempt to foist law upon this
state making their sale illegal is not calcu.
lated to give one high estimate of our
boosted freedom ,tanaticism and intolerance
The question of drinking to excess is sne
which each individual must settle for him.
self. The state of Arkansas has no right to
prescribe what her citizens shall eat and
what they shall drink. This is a trespass
upon the freedom of the individual not to
be tolerated in free country. The state
has a right to punish those who, by their
want of selfcontrol and bad disposition
disturb the public peace.
1t might just as well prescribe that, be-
cause some individuals from constitution
prone to consumption are forced to wear
red flannel shirts, all the citizens of Arkan-
sas should be forced to appear in red flan-
mel, and enforce, by rigid penalties, the neg
lect in this regard The principle is denti-
cal the invasion of the personal rights OF
the individual the same. The demo
cratic party should not commit itself to any
such heresy. 1t Is too great an advocate OF
individual liberty to give ear to the voice
which would persuade it to forget its pre-
cepts ''of the largest liberty to the subject
consistent with the good of the sovereign
whole. '-[Fort Smith Herald,