River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1890-01-23
Temperance.
personal Liberty


cant phrase, personal liberty" Ev.
cry man who wants to override law
or make beast of himself is in favor
of personal liberty The drunkard,
the polygamist. the anarchist, are all
sticklers for personal liberty. Per.
sonal liberty means the right to out
rage all law and decency, if all the
parties engaged in it are willing. and
do not injure the persons or property
of others. 1t may shock the moral
sense of the community. but the com.
munity has no right to compel others
to conform to it's moral sense, even if
they wish to appear naked upon the
streets or practice lewdness in public.
1t hurts nobody but themselves. 1t
is their personal liberty"
AS we have said we opposed the en-
actment OF the prohibitory law. We
believe there is vast deal of hypoc-
risy in the business. Men still get
drunk. They procure whisky from
Missouri, and many of them go over
there to drink. Yet if we had the
power, we would not repeal the pro-
hibitory law. 1t has done great good.
Even with the drinking and drunken
ness that still exists, we can see the
good effect of prohibition. 1t has
banished the open saloon, and there
by closed the door of the dens
where the young were tempted
INTO habits of drinking aud gambling
rhe old sot 10 y still send off for his
iiqlor, but the boy who has not yet
learned To drink, will lot send off for
the liquor on which to learn. Piobi-
hilton has closed that school. And IT
has abolished the loafing places for
lrunkards. Men may come to town
and get d unk. hut they will 60 home
ia good season, for the places whe r
ibey were won't Ia loaf away the hours
~ The night, replenis, ing THEFT supply
81 steam. aud Diminishing their supply
II cash, aFe no longer open to them.
Tiny are out of town and away 10y
nightfall This is great improve.
iupnt.
la the good Old personal liberty"
times, every night brought in troops
of men fiom the hills, the ravines aud
the bottoms and the more dreary the
night the more certain they were to
come. The saloonists kept good fires,
and good warming material for the
lizards" Perhaps they brought in
little j az of wood, which they sold for
"a dollar and half. They invested
fifteen cents of this in paper sack of
corn meal, which they deposited in
some corner OF the wood TACK, and
then went into the saloon to spend the
remainder. Their families often
went supperless to bed, because they
did not get home in time with their
meal to afford the usual repast of
mush The men were in town having
a good time in the saloous, while their
teams were hitched in the street,
shivering until far past midnig It, or
pei haps all night, in the storm and
snow, with the mercury fifteen de-
grees below zero. AMI when at last
they did 20 i'll the small hours of the
morning, they went with yell that
awoke the town, and their wagons
bounded and ratified as If the teams
were running away. That was per.
sonal liberty"
The men themselves who used to
: prnd their time and money in this
way, although they still may drink
wIlsky, present an entirely different
While their families en-
joy good many moIe comforts.
rney may send off a couple of dollars
for a jug of whisky, but that is the
ole expense. There Is no honest
bar tender To rob them of five or ten
doiltls besides, III III king change ful
drunk men Vi IN games OF billiards
or dee Aud We notice that most oi
them, while not having line clothes.
have decent and comfortable ones.
rhete are but few ragged men now to
De seen. In the good old days OF
personal liberty" their heads stuck
out at the top of their lats; their
hands came out or their Coat sleeves
any where between the shoulder and
the elbow; theiI breaches were a mass
of rags, you couldn't tell whether of
cloth or of buckskin, aud were tied
on them with twIne strings; while
often their feet, for want of shoes,
were wrapped in old gunny sacks, tied
on with cords made of UNFINISHED rope.
Dozens and dozens of such men were
seen in every country village. If the
men who went abroad were clad in
this fashion, in what condition were
their families at hOinel Alasl ''per.
sonal liberty" has been throttled and
these men have vanished with the
fairies, the gnomes and the brownies.
The EFFECT of the old system was AS
bad on the whisky seller as the drink
er. It demoralized them, and unfit
ted them for any other business
Nine out of ten have sunk down into
poverty-stricken loafers. They are
incapable of getting down to work.
but their highest ambition is to carry
around bottle of whisky, and retail
it out at five cents drink to poor,
thirsty devils in back alleys. A
stable. an clubhouse, or hog pen, as
the case may be, is their place of bus
mess. They still hang on, looking
for the renaissance of personal lib
erty" that Col. Tomlinson is promis.
ing them.
Educational.