St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-08-11
NOT FOR PROHIBITION
About Seven Hundred Members of the
Columbia Society So Declare
Themselves.
A Secret Session Held By That Body
When Many New Members are
Admitted.
They Adopt a Somewhat Fiery ADJ
dress on Certain Sumptu-
airy Laws.
A Stab at the Law and Order League
--Omcers E1ected--What
They Say.
Autj.PrOhibitiOn.

Autj.Prohibition.
To the number of nearly 900 the Column
bla association met in Market hall yester-
day afternoon at 2 p. m. in secret session.
Previous to being called to order the men,
bers paid their annual dues at the door, and
nobody was admitted who did not pay up
or was not a member in good standing.
The membership embraced saloonkeepers,
brewers. liquor dealers, cigar dealers and
all who wished to express themselves as
opposed to prohibition. Two hundred and
thirteen new members were added yester-
day, making the association nearly 7C0
strong. Pat Conley, G. S. Cummings,
John Baugh, G. S. Booth, W. w. Lorimer,
and a large number of the prominent
saloonkeepers Joined. When the meeting
was called to order, committee to draft an
anti-prohbition address to the people of the
state was appointed composed of Judge E.
st. Julien Cox and Messrs. John Geske,
Sherman E. Finch and II. Ii. Miller. These
gentlemen retired and the election of
officers was proceeded with. There was
considerable pulling and hauling over the
election of officers and it was long after 6
o'clock when the last one was balloted
upon. Following are the officers, many of
them re -elected:
President, FL. F. Notbohm; first vice presi-
dent, Joseph Flies; second vice president A.
Laueri recording secretary, John Filtz; treas
urer, Il. Vahsen; attorney, f. st. Julien Cox !;
finance committee, William Hamm, FL. H.
Miller, William johnson.
The board of directors consists of Presi-
dent Notbohm, and MesSrS. Andrew Lauer,
B. Vahsen, G. G. Johnson and George F.
Leyh.
After the election of officers, Judge Cox,
of the committee on address,, mounted the
platform and submitted a report in the
form of a circular to the state at large
All came forward and were wrapt in at
tention as it was being read. The address
is fiery one. openly declaring against at
tempts to make prohibition a law in the
state. and insinuating against the Law and
Order league of this city, that it has
assumed the duty of enforcing ordinances
which are regarded as unjust and
Sumptuary.
1t was decided to lay it over until next
meeting. The substance of the address is
as follows:
AGAINST PROHIBITION.
We have no occasion to enter into q dis
cussion as to the merits or dement's of the
question of the use of spirituous, vinous or
fermented liquor as beverage-it existed
long before laws were known, when there
was but one lawmaker and one judge-nor
yet into theological dissertation upon the
subject of its use. All have used it from the
beginning. Nor yet should we waste vain
words over the destruction of human life
caused by water, or discard it for all pur-
poses because of the danger of its use, as
well as abuse; suffice it to say that. for life
saving, notwithstanding uses and properties,
there is incidentally not one drop OF it used
to gallons of spirits.
Adopting the memorable language of the
grand old founders of this republic of an
hundred years and more ago. that when any
form OF government becomes destructive of
these ends, it is the right of the people to
alter or abolish it, we add, by lawfully con-
stituted means, by appeal to the grand sys-
tenn of legal jurisprudence of the nation, or
yet to the sovereign will of the people, as ex-
pressed at the ballot box.
Our complaint is founded upon the patient
long suffering, from a train of abuse, villif-
cations, fines and imprisonments wantonly
and unjustifiabTy imposed upon our citizens
tyrannical usurpation, pursuing invariably
the same object, evincing design on the
part Of the puritanical zeaots of prohibit
ton to reduce 4, our fair land to
system worse, more despotic than
CRsarism, or Mohammedan rule; the establish
ment, by means of sumptuary enactments,
laws and ordinances having in direct view the
establishment of an absolute tyranny over
the state, guilty of no known crime, save
legal, lawful resistance to those enactments
sumptuary in their character, unreasonable
in their design, oppressive to citizen, tax
payer and freeholder, known as prohibitory
fQu or laws, the fertile devices of fanatical,
designing demagOgues, begotten i'll treachery,
enforced in hatred, and sectarian clamor-a
galvanized pretense of extraordinary virtue
in its enactors, a kalsomined humanitarian
ism. Paid hirelings, Infamous informers,
tOreSWOrn SDleS. their hired tools.
corrupting the fountain sources of
justice and prefering charges, and
prejudiced ready witnesses for pelf and
lucre are found to aid in q wretched crusade
against respectable men, following legal
Legitimate business, as declared by the high
est judicial tribunals in the world. Laws
sumptuary in their nature, summary in their
conviction attendant, denying the right to
trial by jury are enacted; depriving citizen
of appeal to the higher court, convictions
before ignorant, too often prejudiced, petty
tribunals, consignlng innocent men to ignO-
minlous Imprisonment or by fine deprive
families of the necesSaries of life, and this is
termed by the soulless crank his pursuit of
happiness.
We disavow all infraction of just reason
able and equitable laws, but protest against
discriminatory class of enactments, that
drive the citizen to the recourse of doubtful
methods to evade them; we submit cheer
fully to bearing the burdens of taxation, far
beyond that imposed upon, asked or de-
manded from other classes of men, business,
Or following in the United States; willingly
we accede to all demands made upon us pc
cuniarly, in support of the state and national
government, but we object to persecution,
wrong and inj Justice.
ONE OF THE OBJECTS
Of this association to which we would invite
your attention, is a truer, purer administra-
ton of law applicable alike to every citizen.
Are the so-called evils of incompetence
sufficient to counter balance the evils of the
loss of personal rights, the prosperity of the
country, the extinquishment of the largest
tax-paying commercial interests in the land,
the obliteration OF some of the most import
ant agricultural pursuits in the United
States, and particularly Minnesota? A state
of prohibition-are its men and women
more temperate, is the death rate
smaller is the insane record lower,
is crime less prevalent, the tax rates dimin-
ished, than where judcious legislation is the
guiding star of the lawn aker, legislators,
judges and municipal authorities? Are the
Golfers of the state, city, town and county re-
plenished by prohibition? Are values en-
HANGED, commercial prosperity increased,
where the stern law of prohibition is en-
forced? The destruction of the distilling in
terest alone, for example, in the United
States, carries with it the annihl-
alton of the corn-producing interest,
the reproducing crop. Close the
brewery-the barley and hop interests fade
into insignifcance, and the farmer of the
49,