Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-04-27
THE DRINK PROBLEM,
Mr.. Axel Gustafson Tells What
Can Be Done for Its
Solution.
Legal Sanction of the Saloon Pre-.
vents Its experimentation
al Parties.
Seven Arguments Against FRO.
hibitiOm How to. Meet
Them.
From lecture delivered in London by Axel
Gustafsou,

Gustafson.
At the very inception of the, popular
modern temperance movement in this
county, the only adequate remedy for the
drink evil was clearly implied in the follow
ing words by Joseph Livesay in his famous
malt liquor lecture in 1886 |see Life of
Joseph Livesay, by John Pearce. Cd ed,
London, 1887:
II hundledtb part Of the evil were
shop which springs from public house.
you would be called upon to suppress it at
once, and the principal reason why public
houses are not thus odious is the legal
character they sustain in the eyes of the
puDEc, in consequence of their license.
we might as we'll expect healthy town if
every twentieth dwelling were made the
storehouse OF the seeds of contagious
disease; clean streets, if at the interval of
every hundred yards there was a mudpool
constantly casting up mire and dirt, as to
expect gensral sobriety while about every
twentieth house is metamorphosed into
dfunkery.n
In this paragraph We find clear recog-
milton of the fact that the power of the
traffic lies il its being licensed, and that
nothing but the withdrawal of license and
abolition OF the traffic can effect cure.
lhpplduSe.E
Law-abidnc citizens instinctively respect
the law, and many among these who really
dlsapprove of certain laws are loath to
crltlcise OF denounce them, for fear of
breeding OF furthering general disregard
Tor law. Ihe great masses of the people
believe thai legality and right may be
practically synonymous. Hence the very
license-laa sanction-which, it is claimed,
is necessary because of the dangerousness
of the business and the need for its regula-
ton, serves ito give it special responsibility.
AS the licei Uses are heavily paid for, and,
indeed, in the degree that the licenses are
high, the business becomes necessary to
the Government by means of the enormous
revenue il supplies; and it, is of course
seen that fnce liquors furnish the main
revenue, no profession of license govern
ment that i wishes to restrict and limit the
business ctn be sincere. The Government
wants as Urge arevenue as possible-that
is its fundamental care. In order that it
may get this, people must drink as much
as possible, and the harm resulting be
rendered ts little conspicuous as possible;
hence wettind that government supervision
over the manufacture and sales of liquors,
for securing every penny Of revenue due
and for preventing the least fraud in the
rendering of that revenue, is appallingly
severe; While drunkenness, that terrible
object-lesson as to the workings of the traf-
tic, which, if not sternly dealt with would so
materially interfere with it, is. made heavily
punishable.
To sum up about licenses we find that
they secure to the limited monopoly called
the drink traffic exceptional responsibility.
exceptional state protection, and. excep-
tional facilities for profit. Such are the
conditions and powers secured to this
traffic by the license.
Now, when we consider the facts stated
in the first lecture, as to the special fleets
of moderate drinking upon our Wills, upon
our moral qualities, our personal character,
and upon our mental powers, we can see
that it is owing to this universal moderate
drinking habit that we now possess neither
the common sense nor the integrity Of
purpose nor the courage to take the only
course for removing it; and to the devel-
oDment of the drink desire in the majority,
ana the positive drink crave in not few,
il added the resistance of those who, for
want of knowledge or high, moral ideal,
are not concerned to have this evil re-
moved.
How many persons would be willing to
have licenses granted, such as Mr.. Livesay
described, to storehouses Of the seeds Of
contagious disease, no matter how large a
revenue the owners would be willing to pay
for it? But we need not argue from ticti-
tious examples. What state to- day would
sanction the position taken by the clergy
in France in feudal times?
LICENSING THEFT AND MURDER.
In those days [see Victor Duruq's history
of France the. clergymen were the guardi-
ans of the morals of the people. and as
public sentiment did not seem "ripe" for
absolute prohibition of violence, they pro-
mulgated an edict called The Diane Truce, I"
forbidding theft and murder from Wednes-
day evening until Monday morning! You
laugh, but in what respect is our Bacchus
truce an improvement on this? Is it not
worse, considering our far wider knowl-
edge Of this whole question? Our govern
ment licenses people to sell every day Of
the week that which we know to be, and
which its own official representatives admit
to be, the chief cause of theft and murder.
Another licensing system was that car
ried on by the famous Dominican monk,
John Testzel, who went not only to mon
asteries, but to taverns and brothels to
sell indu gences for the remission OF sins.
As he did not even by this liberal process
gain sufficient funds, he began to sell in
dulgences for sins to be committed. One
day he sold to certain nobleman for a
very heavy sum an indulgence for an un-
designated sin the nobleman desired to
commit. Tested had scarcely resumed
his journey when the nobleman rode after
him, gave him sound drubbing, robbed
him Of all he had, including of course his
own heavy contribution, and rode away
home again. On being brought to book
for this, he showed his license duly re-
ceipted for the sin to be committed, and
stated that this very act for which he stood
arraigned was the one for the right to COM
nit which he had paid SO heavily. He
was acquitted!
The liquor licensing system of our own
day reminds me of little story about n.y.
drophobia legislation. When it was first
found out in q certain town that dogs could
get mad, and that just then there was mad
dog actually in their midst, all the wise
men came together and debated for long
time. Meanwhile, of course, the dog bit
people and bit other dogs. and people were
falling victims to the terrible, madness.
After 9; while the wise men came across q
law in some of their court books which de-
sclared that rabid dog must have his tail
cut of. The wise men laid this great dis
covery before the townspeople, who
wagged their heads angrily and cried out.
"Whats the use of cutting off the dog 8 tail?
He doesn't bite with his tall"