St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-08
Gordon Il, Cole,

After a selection by the First Regiment
band, the Hon. Gordon E. Cole was intro
duced, and in commencing his address said
| that he had never seen so fine and audience
assembled in the northwest; he did not, he
| said, propose to be a temperance orator or a
! performer, but when the question arose as to
what was the most feasible means of stem
ming the tide of this most danger
Gus traffice, it becomes all important.
The question to be considered was, what is
| the most practical method of regulating the
| temperance traffic. the experiment of prohi-
bition had been tried, and as between this
and the unrestricted sale of intOXicants the
| speaker would vote for the latter. One ex-
| IRENE begot another; one radical faction al
ways opposed another equally as powerful;
| to close up all the saloons would
be to drive the liquor traffic
under cover of the club rooms.
The experiment of total prohibition had been
tried in Ohio and it had proved a failure. In
this state bill was now pending which dis
franch .sed half the citizens of the state;
precedent of This kind was improper and
dangerous; it came under the guise of neccs-
sity to crush down human rights. The
speaker said that the temperance law of this
state was good enough but that the people
had been remiss in its administration the
trouble was not so much with the law as with
the public.
Eloquent allusion was here made to the
principle of moral suasion in arriving at
solution of the temperance question, and a
fine tribute was here paid to the work ac-
complshed by Bishop Ireland.
called to a review of the salient features of
the liquor law, which limited and governed
the traffic in this state. Among the chief
obstacles, the speaker said, to the enforce
ment of the liquor laws, was the apathy
of citizens in not placing men in Office who
would enforce the laws on the statue books
The foul miasma of the saloon tainted the at
mosphere of all the cities of the state. The
city fathers of every city in the state were
placed there for the purpose of saying who
was competent to conduct saloon, and to
determine the number of saloons in each
city.
In conclusion the speaker said that the
organization of permanent committees and
other active measures were the only means
OfeXecuting the laws and accomplishing ulti-
mate good. The law was quoted as fully ade-
quate to the regulation of the liquor traffic,
and an eloquent plea was made for its rigid
enforcement. The speaker did not believe
in popular frenzy in any movement;
the law could not administer
itself; the people should organize associa-
tons and societies and then hold their SER
wants strictly accountable for the faithful ex-
ecution of the law; the panacea could be
found here, and here only, and when the city
council of St. Paul or any other city was Civ
en- to understand that they were placed there
to represent the best moral interest of that
constituency, they would like the chameee,
reflect the color of the interest they were sent
to represent.
In summing up, the speaker related an
anecdote in which he described the probable
reception of prohibitionist in a meeting of
saloon keepers, this portion of his address
being received with Kisses.