Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-12-27
WHY 7IfE GAZETTE rs NOT ron
pROHIBITION.
THE GAZETTE finds among its mail this
letter from n friendly source:


GrLMER, TEN Dec %, 1885.
10 the Editor OF the Gazette;
VIII you publish the following question and
your reply to 1t In Tm GAZETTE, aud oblisc u
constant reader aud great admircr Of IT, IN
many respects, for Us Industry, zeal, puce and
ncwsiucss, and ~ The most progressive, wide.
awake and live newspaper In rcXas why do
you publish daily the almost lnnumura lc
blood rcd, horrld black and, In many Instances,
mnnmnblc and mdcscriblblc crimes pcrpo.
tra'cd almost daily and hourly through.
out The state Of TcNas, and tls fair land
| Of ours, against the peace aud dignity Of the
state, ana greatly to the annoyance aud DIS
turbmce of society, the ruin of individuals and
families and the Disgrace and andal Of a
Christian state and nation; nlling our lails
and luck-up3 with criminulG, our pcnitcntarles
with cunyicts, our otherwise fair, prosperous
aud hnppy land with widows, orphans, power.
| ~, shame and disgrace; causing nine tcnths
Of the criminal processes In our courts and
the great cot OF the state to prosecute them,
nscrlblng all 10 the use Of intoNcant liquora
snying, "WhIsEy did it,''1oo much whisky"
"Whisky was ut the bottom OF It," ctc, etc,
and yet throw your whole weight
and Influence, Mt all times, and under
all circumstance, and In an possible ways
agalnst "locM option" or prohibition and I'm
favor Of the whisky tranlcp Why not wlold
your great power and influence as publisher
aud conductor of tho foremost newspaper In
the Lone star stntc, to help to chcckmatc,
crush out, and put down the very worst evil Of
the ngc and the greatest curse Of our present
civilization, the prolific source Of nearly all
crime, disorder and misery, wbon. too, It mny
be done fnirly honornbly, honestly and l,glt.
mntcly, ana IN behalf Of Humanity, good order,
peace and dignity OF the state, and the good,
happlncsB and prosperity Of society aud NOR
alityy
shall look for this and your reply to It In the
leading newapnpcr In thls great state, and If II
does not appear shall divine the reason.
! have no cyll purpose in propoundlng the
above queWlone. NJ purposes are truly
phi anthropic' desire the greatest possible
good to all men. Ny motto - "thc grcatesl
good TO the greatest nambor." / desire the
greatest possible good, and the least possible
evil TO all men, Yours, very truly,
S. r. CmApIck.
II The GAZETTE thought that IL could
reform the world by ils will, that win
would not be kept dormant. II II could
DO shown that the enactment of prohibit.
tory laws would prevent the sale and con.
sumption OF whisky, auC thereby diminish
The record OF crime aqd enlarge the fund
OF human happiness, The GAZETTE would
not have waited for Mr.. Chadlck to
point ont It's path oil duty in advocating
prohibition But THE GAZETTE deals
with humanity, with the world as IL is,
and not with an Utopia, the world as IL
should be. II prohibition were an untricd
experiment. with any possible promise Of
success In diminishing crime, TUE Ga.
lETrE could give the weight of IFS
favor TO the effort, through pro-
hlhliion, to suppress the abuse of
whisky but prohibition Is not an
nntrlcd experiments It has been tried and
found entirely Inadequate 10 deal success.
fully with the OWL which It promised TO
correct. It's trial has condemned H. and
people have ceased to expect anything
further from pursuing that theory or
putting IT In practice.
Despite the most uncompromlslug pro.
hibltory laws In Kansas, IN Iowa and ln
Maine, whisky continues TO be sold in
those states, stcnlthUy In some places,
openly and dcGanuy in others The police
records of their cities do not show a sen.
sible decrease Of crime since the decree
OF prohibition, aud we assume, from the
connection between lntcmporancc and
crime that therefore thcre ls no dimInu.
ZION In tho amount Of whisky consumed.
ana II an much whisky Is sold
now In defiance Of law, as was
SOLD before the adoption of prohibition
under the sanction OF hw, and II every
purchase and sale made Is an Illegal act
ana both purchaser and vendor are
guilty OF violation OF the law, then Che
lnifaction Of law Is constant. This con.
tinncd diarcgard 81 the law IN tbat 70.
spect beRcts contempt for an law. aud
lhe result Is an increase, not a decnasc,
o iaWlessnese, which Is Indirectly trace.
able % prohibition.
knowing these things to be true o. lhe