Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1883-10-04

and raise family OF girls and boys next
door 10 whisky saloon? Is there one Of
them Who would not fear their boys and
girls might become ruined By its influence
Would they not be more fearful Of . gilded
hell than low doggey; for while the for
mer might attract By its glitter, the lat
ter would Yepel BY It's loathsomeness
What il iicensei Did you ever stop Il
think! License to sell whisky, If il
is right to sell whisky you have no more
business to impose license tax upon thu
dealer in whisky than you have upon the
in whisky in the land who is not clsmoros
f1r license. Asking for 5 license is con
cession that the business is wrong and asks
the State to permit enc to do wrong. and
Inst he is willing to pay the State FIR that
permission. Not one among them all
,isims to be in the right.
D-unke ness has from time inmemorial
been regarded ss a crime against good
mcr.'s. Drunkenness ought to be con-
sidered disease sId the seller Of whisky
the contagion from which it springs
Drunkenness is the seed of all crime, OF
iesdnes I, of THEFT, OF arson, of murder. II
! drunkenness is not right, the sale OF whisky
Is no. right, for WHISKY makes drunkenness.
Ii the sale Of whisky is net right is it right
To license one to do wronef But the
answer comes that "high license is res
ric,ive and therefore does good" How
does it do goodi BY making the bust
ness respectable" they say. Wha'p
makes crime respectable Is that the
| theory of our government Is 'ha, the way
to make a good government, to make crime
resDeciablt7 But it is said the State derives
a revenue from it. II the State derives q
revenue for this crime, why not license
horse stealing, and make tina. respe:t,b,es
All the money Loot by stealing horses
does not amount to one mill where
the loss by the sale of whisky is
500. Why not license men to burn
YOUR house? The State would derive a
revenue, and the loss would not be q hun.
dred h part of the loss by the eale of whisky.
Why not license men to murder? The
State might derive a revenue from that.
There are Fifty men murdered by whisky
directly or indirectly, where there is one
murdered without the influence Of whisky.
IL these things are true then license to sell
whisky is a license to murder, TO steal to burn
houses, and make tue virlue of woman a
mockery. and the more respectable, you
make whisky selling by high license, the
moie respectable you make crime in all
its enormiiies. Yes ii goes beyond this. 1t
Is selling a license TO commit crime, and
then if he vino becomes drunk commits
4 crime, he is punished by the State but
the State is partner in that
crime ana Of greater guilt
han the drunkard who commits
he crime, and by all rules of law all
should be punished alike. for all are equal
iy guilty. Tns whole theory of license is
compromise with crime. Bit govern
ments are Instituted to re,tr ain the vicious
and Fro.ec. the community from criminals
and the robes Of justice must be white as
snow. When a man is drunk with whisky
he is not responsible being, but the Law
makes him responsible for his crime, be-
cause he could have avoided getting into
that condition. That man may have an I'M
controllable appetite and you license anoth-
er to 90 pander TO that appetite, that he
loses personal control Of himself. He takes
the first drink, and that is the fatal one. He
drinks, becomes q maniac. He goes home
and while 10 condition not to be responsi
ole he murders his wife, mai is his children.
Who is responsible for Whist that man
does; the man himself or lie man who sells
hin The whisky? The man who sold him
The whisky is the real criminal vet the
Safe has given him an anti-pardon by
giving him license.
But there comes clamor from larger
multitude that prohibition interferss
sith the natural rights Of men-an TO-
fringement upon personal liberty. In
all the literature of the past they find
but one author upon whom they rely
for support and that is John Stewart
Mill. Let US examine his essay on
Liberty" and see if he is consistent
with himself Let US see if the rules
ne suggests m AXE that claim good. Remem-
Der, that he is the only author from whom
hey quote. One sentence in the introduc.
ton cIvers all, that is: ''rhe principle
il, the sole end for which mankind are
sArranteG, individually or collectively, in
Interfering with the liberty of action of any
Of their numbers is self protection. Thst
re only purp Sc for which power can be
righifully exercised over any member of a
civilized community against his will, is TO
prevent harm being done"
Certsisly there is no comfort to q whisky
ysnder here. But he reaches tha. point 10
his essay when the liquor traffic Genes with.
his vieg, when he declares himself
gslDst all restriction in the traffic u liquors
lie suggests few police regulations and
adds: Amy further restrictions, / do ncs
conceive to be in principle justifaole. TIE
limita ion 10 number, for instance, Of besr
add spirit hoasss for the express purpose Of
rendering them more difficult of access, and
diminishing the occasions of temptations.
not only exposes all TO an inconvenience,
because there are some BY whom the facility
would be abused, but is suited only to a
state Of society in which the laboring classes
are avvwedly treated q children or savages
and placed under an education of reetralnt
to e. them for future admission 70 the
privileges of freedom" Here is that,
upon which the high license men buoy ali
their hops But remember, Mr.. Mill is
attacking license of all kinds, and that his
principle applies with much more vigor
az .inst license than against prohibition,
for high license would permit the rich to
drink and the poor to 20 thirty. In smother
portion Of that essay Mr.. Mil says: ITO
TAX stimulsnts for the sole purpose of max
ing them more difficult to be obtained,
measure differing only in. degree from
their eatire prohibition; and would be JUS
ti6able only if that were JUST liable" Here
Mr.. Mill tells rs what he means exactly.
He is against all restrictions; ID for free
traffic in inioxicants. Is not that precisely
what these men want vbo are an vociferous