Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1888-01-12
A Few First Pr,ncinlea

And to carry the cost OF each criminal deed,
Until all feel the grip of his terrible greed.
A Few First Principles
!. Prohibitory law has relation 30 the
liquor traffic. From time immemorial the
right Of law to regulate, restrain or forbid
q traffic has been exercised Our tarid laws
are based on that right. Albsmbargoes are a
recognition of the right The laws relating
to the traffic in poisons, in, explosives, in
tainted or adulterated foods, and all Sunday
laws are an express declaration that law has
the right to interfere with traffic which en-
dangers soctety's welfare, and to whatever
| degree is necessary for the public safety.
The evils Of intsmperance are not con-
fned to the drinker Grant that the drunk
ard is responsible for his own degradation
any misery; thas his drinking isa voluntary
act, and dhispunishment the penalty of nature
| granting all that, there remains the fact
| that the traffic in liquors Is a source OF in
Vulnerable evils and dangers to society at
large, whichincludes all innocent members as
well as the guilty ones, and of vast burdens
upon all taxpayers ALI law owes debt Of
protection to the weak-the women and
children--when they are powerless to protect
! themselves. The saloon is a menace to- the
health and lives OF these weaker members OF
society from which they are powerless ade-
quately to protect themselves. Their right
to legal protection is recognized, therefore,.
by the law that makes drunkenness n crime,
and sales to drunkards and minors crime
But these laws, wnile they recognize that
right, are proven wholly inadequate to pre-
| tect it.
8. When personal liberty infringes ON per
sonal rights it must be curtailed. Az law,
every statute framed from the days of Sinai
down, is based on the truth behind the prop
osition. 1t is impossible to grant the right
Of personal liberty without assailing the very
foundation Of law, for all law is a curtailmsnt
| Of some mans personal liberty in behalf ot
| some other mans personal rights Personal
liberty means anarchy-the abrogation of all
law. Noone hasapersonal right to do what
| infringes ON another mans personal rights
\ A man may, with some show of reason, claim
the right to gratifY his private appetite foi
| drink in . way that interferea with no ons
else But he cannot claim as his right, fOR
the sake Of his private qualification, that Law
shall legalize and tolerate public traffic that
infiictS on others iNesJimable wrong. he
may like tainted meat and, if it agrees with
him, he may reasonably claim the right to
eat it: but when he claims as a right that
the law shall legalize and uphold the sale Of
tainted meat in public mart, for the sake OF
his appetite, he is going too far. Yet the
wine drinkers of our day are committing this
absuFdity continually.
4 No law forbids an act for the sake of the
man who wants to commit it, but for the
thereby. The idea that prohibitory law is
for the purpose OF saving the man who drinks
is an entirely wrong idea. It's purpose is to
protect the innocent victims of his drinking
The law against theft does not have in .view
the salvation of the wouldbe thief, but;the
ptctec.ion of othsrs in their property rights.
So of all laws against vice. Their object is
net to keep men from the commission Of sin,
but to protect others from the consequences
that would come from such commission.
Here is an important distinction between the
province OF law and the province of the
Gospel The Gospels aim is to prevent the
commission Of vice primarily for the sake of
the man who is impelled to its commission.
! 5. The saloon is not only an effect, but q
cause The very first thing it does is to pre-
sent inducements to vice. 1t is q continual
temptation. 1t is not merely a scavengel
las has been said), removing the weak, vicious
and corrupt elements from society, but 10 il
itself the cause and creator, in very
J large degree, Of their weakness, vicious
ness and corruption. It takes the boy
without taste for liquor, and By
its insidious attractions plants the seeds OF ar
appetite that finally masters his will, deadeR
his affections and stiles his conscience. It j
more than conduit of evil; it isa fountaiI
as well, and out of it come vice, crime, dis
/ order, pauperism, insanity, idiocy, diseases
: and political corruption that defeats justice
/ makes law farce, debauches public con
4 science and threatens every institution
/ founded ON the intelligence and virtue Of tn
} masses
In view Of these considerations, the mora
I right as well as the legal right Of prOhibitorJ
/ law seems to us as unassailableand IS Obviou
! as that Of any law ever put on the statut
n | books. 1t is in no proper sense 8 revolution
/ but an evolution instead. Every court In tn
I nation before which the question has come
1 including the Supreme Court Of the Unitet
boo dol int fov a. tb1 tioyh 9,
r the State to protect itself by prohibitor,
o law. By the highest authority in the land
3 therefore, it is decided not to be an invasion
4 Of the 'tinalienable rights" guaranteed by tn
Il Federal Constitution. On the contrary, It i
!, an absolute necessity to the protection o
2 those right.-The Voice.
J Temperance Lecture In Few Lines
J The New York Sun gives a temperanc
lecture in a few lines, in recent issue. In
!. lecture is brief, and the lines are SO few ths
: they might be cut out by many young ma
q of bright prospects and pasted In the inside I
= his watch case. Here they are:
whisky sometimes gets the best OF thos
! who too recklessly play with it This Is q
: case with Mr. John J. Wilson. q lawyer, wh
recently walked into Justice Kildredths coul
!, room at the Tombs and desired to be commit
fer s:S contempt 1ST W.oo 4 a0S Rs desed MeSn
JuShlCo HAkou 1AEs W AAn1A - A.S 0ooAA0 w
= committed, he said:
= "sYes, ! want to be kept away from liquol
y II has been my ruin.
Y ut il mot easy to deliver more eloquer
y and pathetic temperance lecture than thi
y And after the poor victim has been conflne
= y in prison for . month the appetite for drir
q p win control him IS effectually a. before
y y was locked up"
y The Missouri State Supreme Court has d
y clared what Is known as the Wood Loc
- Option Law to be constitutional. The effe
g of this will be to give the temperance NOV
& ment in the State additional impetus, al
y y elections will soon be held on the question
y, - ell the counties in the State that have n
:. ~ already taken snch action.
y Prohibition sentiment is very strong
Colorado Peublo, the second city in t
State, has an antisaloon government q
N 4 1. - At<.A -.