The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-03-26
PIoHYyITIoH.

courteous not TO give 1t passing attention. II
the logic of the FREE TRADER is correct, that
q man whom the law forbids to drink liquor
considers it such an infringement of his per
sonal liberty that he will only be the more
likely to drink 1t as an assertion of his own
manhood and self respect, then, suggests Mr.
Arnold, IF man 10 told he must not steal, he
surrenders manhood and selirespect IL he does
not straightway begin to purIoln his neighbors
goods! If forbidden to erect powder mill
in the heart of the city he must have mser
able opinion of himself If he doesn't do that
very thing, whether he wants a powder mill or
not If forbidden TO drive across bridge
faster than O walk he must consider himself q
milksop if he doesn't urge his horse into a
gallop the moment his hoOfs strike its planks
He may think it arbitrary and unreasonable to
be prohibited from discharging firearms with
IN the city limits, and if he has n spark Of
manhood left will therefore make it a special
point to load his gun and blaze away from the
very steps of the court house"
We beg to remind Brother Arnold that there
IS q wide difference between the offenses of
stealing, erecting powder mills IN dangerous
places, damaging bridges by fast driving, &c,
and the legally manufactured offense of swal,
lowing glass Of beer or whisky. The former
are otienses because they are injurious or dan
gerous to others; in the latter case the man
only Injuries himself Twcak another man .
nose and he'll knock you down; but forbid
him to tweak his own nose and he'll be apt to
tell you, ats my nose, blast you, and I'll jerk ii
off if want tor' Drinking IS purely per,
sonal mstter-a hablt-a failing-a grievous
and lamentable vice. il you please; yet 1t Is
the victims own affair. So are many other
purely personal habits or propensitles or
weaknesses deplorable and VICIOUS A man i.
careless or unthrifty; or he is a spendthrift
wasting his money and goods on fast horses
and other follies, bringing distress on his
family and grief on all his friends and res
tives: yet the law says 1t IS his own affair and
never interferes. Another man is miser
starving his family in the midst Of his boards;
another IS a elutton, bibliomaniac, a numis-
matte fool, or crazy over perpetual motion
But 1t Is his own Business, with that perhaps,
Of his immediate family, and the law permits
nobody to interfere. So man, beginning
with an occasional glass of wine or beer, loses
his head and runs into drunkenness; while
hundreds Of others can drink q weekly or
daily glass Of VINE or beer all their lives and
be none the worse for il. In either case 1t il
the mans own affair, and lie naturally resents
As aa insult outside interference. After all 1t
depends, IN the case OF the drlnker as in the
case Of the spendthrift, the glu,ton, the mlser,
&C., on the mans own training and mental
vigor and stamina whether he shall be MAN
or not. 1t is impossible to legislate people into
manhood or goodness.
But" says Brother Arnold, I'VE don't pro
pose to forbid mans drinking" But you
to make 1t impossible for him to get
the liquor, which we take it is about the same
thing.
As to the question whether prohibition real.
" prohibits or not, the subject is larger than
we care to go into at present Brother Arnold
says it does so In Maine. On that point we
recently published paragraph from speech
IF Neal Dow which bore very different tes,i-
nony. He said the people kept liquor hid in
her walls and chimney jams, hung in their
wells, or placed on the roofs of their houses.
&c, so that more seemed to be drank than
ever; and Dio Lewis, who made pilgrimage
in Name a year or two ago, bore about the
same testimony. Nearer home, Rockford tried
he no license system two Or three years and
The universal testimony is that the result was
hibilory ordinance has rs liquor sellers who
pay license TO the general government where
she had but forty saloons when she granted
licenses To the same effect are elaborate sta.
listics recently published IN Massachusetts,
showing a most remarkable dIminution of A.
rests for drunkenness since that state returned
10 the license system compared with years
turing which prohibition prevailed.
The FREE TRADER has only to say, in con.
,lusion. that it desires To be the earnest friend
and promoter of temperance, and If it believed
The cause could be clearly and signalIy pro
noted by prohibition II would not hesitate a
minute to advocate such remedy. But As
prohibition thus far has only tended to failure,
and to contention ana strte,-until some bet.
Ter scheme can be devised the FREE TRADER
prefers to place its reliance upon the uniash.
onable. it may he, but it hopes never to be
wholly condemned STILL small voice"
Chicago enjoyed three days excitement
since Saturday over the tug o. b. Green, that
went out from the river on Saturday through