The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1889-08-02

such men even in these days when poll.
tics seeks to absorb, use and control al
questions, social, religious and moral,
as well as political. They have learned
that awful damage may be done IN the
mistaken effort to advance q worthy
object, that this thing OF converting men
by force of arms is OF no more effect now
than in Charlemagne's day, and that 1t
engenders antagonisms n t rather
than fraternity and love.
But what does the ordinary politician
care for the moral aspect Of the ques-
ton? Let the tide OF intemperance
sweep over the land like a tidal wave,
so that it but carries him \ his 1act-
ion into power. 1t was ever 80. AT no
time in the worlds history has any
great moral revolution swept over the
people but that certain wreckers IN
buccaneers were putting out from shore
to gather up w%reckage, plumber the dead
! and steal from the dying. vi all desplc-
! able characters, the most SO are these
| rihers OF the wounded or dead OF both
armies after the battle is over. Hyenas
| are they with all the cowardly n cove.
| tous instincts OF that most loathsome OF
beasts. The man who suddenly becom-
IS anxious about his neighbors' habits
\ when there is to be a prohibition ticket
in the field, but who would never turn to
save him from drowning in the gutter,
otherwise is meaner than Il camp
follower.
Ranting fanatics do damage to the
cause they hope to lead. Exaggerated
| Statements react. Lies come home to
roost. 1t is untrue that intemperance
is increasing in the world orour country:
It is bad enough without lying about
it. The fact Is that drinking is nothing
likeso general as it once was-in city Or
Icountry, 1t once affected no gentle
mans standing. Now no gentleman
cares to be known as an habitual drunk
ard. He apologies, not to the church
or his party, but to his friends So
ciety, ihe has accidentally slipped NO
family prestige, no name OF lone descent,
no amount OF bonds, no position IN
church or state, will protect q mar now
from the consequences OF haplCuai
drunkenness. This vas not always 50.
Once ever the church winked at a certain
amount OF drunkenness and society en-
rouraged it. Temperance which recog-
nizes the use OF light wines and sherry ls
advancing everywhere, and the day Will
certainly come when the rantlng apos-
Ties OF prohibition will be as powerless
as the Homoiousians OF the fourth
century.
The above article appears III last
Saturdays Republican, and while IHE
UNION dosn't pose as a prohlbltlor
organ, it thinks it proper to comment
at some length on the statements there
. IN set forth. Why is 1t necessary te
compel the dealer in Intoxicating liquors
. to take out a license and give a bono
= for the proper conduct OF his business
When a man embarks in the grocer.
business he isn't compelled to subjec
t himself to any OF these expenses ant
J. annoyances. If he sells clothing or DIR.
t goods he does so unquestioned. ii
Il NAV sell his wares to the boy or girl Q
tender years, or dispose OF them to tn
G tottering grandsire, without having tn
u grand jury inquire after the transaction
There was a time when liquors was als'
free. Evidently people came to the con
~clusion that this particular line OF busl
; ness needed looking after more than an
; other. The scheme OF making the ven
der pay q license was talked up an(
then the objections began to pour in. Ii
was declared by the advocates OF free
whiskey to be unconstitutional, for the
! reason that it was class legislation, an
! u~nwarrantcd interference with the pri-
vate concerns of men. Men declared
that it could never be enforced, that it
would be a dead letter on the statute
books OF such states as might adopt it.
No greater outcry can ever be made
! ayainst constitutional prohibition than
waa made against Incense, and the GrS
came from the same element-thc liquor
men. Now they say give us high license
What was once denounced as the mos
y stupendous abrigement OF rights eve
= known is o clamored for as d righ'
~ Why? Simply because it is the onl
y posssible show there is left. The licen:
can be and is shifted onto the shoulder
ID OF the consumer so the vender doesn
10 care. Prohibition takes the profit d
III out OF the traffic and makes the bus
ness a crime. What about throwing Il
&c traffic into the hands OF dishonoral
~ men? 1t means we presume mon wi
would violate the law, by selling to mi
ST. ors and habitual ~drn'hkards, ket
All open on Sunday az otter eleven O'clo'
NJ at night. Doc, anyone remember al
In prosecution, that have ever been begl
and carrie d through for selling liquors
9r, minor and drunkards in Rapid City,
sr for failure to comply with the law as
keeping open Oh Sunday or at nigh
oe Oh no. Yet such laws have been in G
Lac ~istance for q great many years and
every day they are violated. Cou
al they be disregarded any more if t
.se traffic were prohibited? The stateme
that the prohibition question is settl
NJ by the refusal OF several states to ado
ns it is foolish, and Is contradicted befo
'es the close OF the article when the writ
says that Temperance, which reco
nizes the use OF light wines and sherry
Gu advancing everywhere" Yes, tempe
We ance is advancing everywhere, and
re isn't the kind OF temperance that uses
ie endorses the use OF sherry and lig'
ia wines. 1t is a we'll recognized fact tn
.ul men don't use saw logs for kindlil
wood, quite as well is it understoc
that an appetite for liquors is not kline
ed with corn or rye whisky. The alch
y that breeds the appetite is contained
81 light wines, and the temperance peor
ne are doing their best to get them out
d. the way. The applications "cranl
and ~"fanatic' to the christian Noon