Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-10-28
For the HERALD.
Phanatisyzm, or 'sWhole Hog or Nome"

wild and extravaganza enthusiasm
is the definition our great photographer
gives to the word whose photography
differs but whose pronunciation coin
cides with that of the subject of this
article; but, more definitely. fanati-
cism may be considered a plausible and
specifically pleasing notion which is
apt to lead to dangerous decisions.
Under this definition fanaticism and
prohibitionism become synonymous
terms.
There is no doubt that prohibitionism
with reference to alcohol and its various
products is "superficially pleasing to
those who place logic in the background
and allow their judgment to be pervert-
ed. 1t is a dangerous detusion from the
very very fact that when it convinces
the conviction is based upon false prom
ises-upon its superficial or facial value
instead of upon its intrinsic worth, upon
its idealistic possibilities instead of upon
real probabilities taught by systematic
reasoning upon data culled from past
and present conditions. 1t is no doubt
pleasant to contemplate and ponder
over theoretical success of prohibition
and If one can be convinced that the
theoretical can be made practical. the
highest stage of human happiness and
the most agreeable sense of self-satis-
faction must have been reached. 1t
may also give great deal of satisfac-
ton to the third party Prohibitionist to
blindly shut his eyes when he is inclined
to think of the immediate consequences
of his vote, and to say with the air of
man who is conscious of his moral
superiority above the common herd of
voters, "Tm goin to vote fer principle,
and jist as leave elect the Democrats
es the Republicans. There haint no
difference tween EN- anyhow tibet
amounts ter anything. They both want
the offices and don't care fer principle"
OF course the third-party folks don't
care for the offices! Principle is all
they care for! And then they propose
to go it whole hog or none" They're
either going to wipe the saloons and
the whole liquor power out of existence
at one fell swoop, or, if they fail doing
that, they want TO give the poor saloon
keepers a chance and the full benefit of
their power, by not taxing them and by
not restricting the sale of liquor one
iota unless they can prevent the sale
entirely. All third-party Prohibitionists
loudly and confidently assert that if the
people of Wisconsin could vote upon
the question of prohibition to-day the
amendment would be carried by large
majority, although they don't pretend
to point out where that majority is and
where it has been all these years, dur
ing which the people of any community
could vote away the saloons but failed
to do SO. Possibly they failed or neg
lected to do SO simply because they did
not care to vote for principle" unless
it applied to the whole state! How gen.
erous and self-sacrificing they are to be
willing to suffer the evils of the saloon
only to wait until they have chance 10
remove the same for communities that
don't want them removed But sup
pose, for the sake of argument, that a
majority of the people were in favor OF
and did do away with the license sys-
tenn and substitute prohibition in its
stead. Then we would have with vari-
ations the principles of the Prohibition
lists. The variation would be that in
stead of prohibition or free whisky,
we would have prohibition and free
whisky-prohibition where the people
want it nor without general law, free
whisky where the people want it re-
CARELESS of a general prohibitory law,
and the smuggling-pint- bottle-back-
door system where the sentiment was
about equally divided or but slightly in
favor of prohibition. Add to these the
increased prosperity of the medical pre-
scription and drugstore business, and
you have the whole affair not in an
idealistic but in an unfortunate realistic
nutshell, deduced from the facts in the
states where general prohibitory law
or amendment is in existence. But
there is no immediate danger that this
unpleasant state of affairs will come to
pass. II is not at all likely that the
Prohibitionists will accomplish anything
this fall. But if they should succeed in
getting twenty or thirty thousand votes
they will be in a fair way to see at least
one part of their program carried out.
If they obtain that many votes they
will probably elect their Democratic
friends who will no doubt very obliging-
" but with sarcastic leer give them
the free whisky they want. After that,
what? Aye, there's the rub. Old
Bourbon, with asuperciious smile, will
shout What are you going to do about
it?' and then turn his back upon his
duped cold-water friends. The Repub-
lican will stand by bis restriction license
neutrality-suspicious. SIS o 0 mas
practicable platform; the third party
Prohibitionlsts will shout somewhat
fainter than before perhaps, "Uncondi-
tional whole hog or none;" the Demo
cratic free whiskey chap turns the
official crank 800. 900, 900 or more
liquor power-plurality elects-ahl and
"What are you going to do about it.
Well, possibly after the plebeian Pro-
hibitionist who was duped by his $50
spout saint, gets tired of wallowing in
free whisky mud he will sneak back by
means of crossroads to the camp OF
the only true friend of temperance as
well as of all other social and political
reforms the Grand Old Republican
Party of moral progress and reform.
BoETHIUs.
Wisconsin never had a new member
who distinguished himself more and
won more universal and hearty COM
mendation from all parties and all