The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1890-04-11
KlMBALL graphic
c. Es. TINAN.
Paper Of lie City aid County

That was a significant and important
convention which met in Des Moines,
Iowa, on the End. inst. One hundred and
ninety-six delegates, representing TWEEN
ty-lve counties met in conference there
and declared that they. in common with
many thousand other Republicans at
home whom they represented, were
weary Of state prohibition. Joseph Col
Inns of Keokuk upon accepting the chair
said:
"If there is a man in the party who
has worked harder or spent more in sup
port Of prohibition than myself | would
like to shake hands with him. Our de-
mand is that we have license in those To-
calities where it is impossible to enforce
prohibition"
A letter was received from Ex-Goy.
Kirkwood in which he said:
Personally lam in favor of local op-
tion and high license, with stringent reg
ulation. flavor this policy because Ibe-
lieve it better than the present law.
But some of our prohibition friends say,
if such a change is made the republican
party con never carry an election in Iowa
again. Well that looks to me very much
like an attempt at bulldozing, and repub-
licans never took kindly to that mode of
argument. They do not seem to be built
that way. This policy has been pursu ed
for some years by extreme prohibitionists
in republican states that have not adopt
ed prohibition, andi it is now threatened
here 1t has not won in the past" The
letter was received with great applause.
The resolutions adopted started out
with great declaration Of answering
allegiance to the Republican party and
continue:
eve recognize the liquor traffic as o ne
which requires regulations, but insist the
object of such regulation should be to
minimize intemperance and mitigate its
evils. The experience OF this, as well as
of other states has c%onclusirely shown
that a general prohibition law, operating
upon all communities alike without res
pect to habits, conditions circumstances
or desires, is not adapted either to sup
press intemperance or promote morals,
and the experiment should be abandoned
and the law so modified that those COM
munities which desire a change shall
have the right to determine whether in
toxicating liquors shall be sold within
their limits.
We are unuterably opposed to any at
tempt to introduce into the constitution
the doctrine Of state prohibition. The
fundamental law Of q state should not
be encountered with police regulations
OF that character.
We recognize that the republican party
originally gave assent to the policy of
prohibition as an experiment only, but
we regret its announcement will bear
the construction that it has become one
of the doctrines of the party. A politi-
cal organization has no just right to
bring into its declaration Of PRINCIPLES q
new doctrine unless it is n Upon which
substantially all Gsmbers agree. Alarge
number Of republicans in Iowa always
have ben opposed to general prohibition,
and if the republican party adheres TO its
present position upon this question. it is
manifest by such adherence that it in
tends to exclude from membership ali
those who firmly believe the policy fatal
to the interests of the state.'