The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1890-03-26

thing of the assassination of char
acter from this direction.
Made Politically Right"
1t is a singular fact that in all
the articles TeetOtaler has written
about the moral character of liquor
liceuse laws, he has never one time
given expression to his own honest
opinion as to their said moral char
acter; and l now ask him in his
next article, either to express him
self honestly. npan the mora! quail
ties of these laws or excuse the
readers of the TIMES if, in the fu-
ture, they decline to believe him to
be sincere in his writings and
teachings upon questions relating
to Prohibition.
1t is quite true that he has dis.
played a great deal of ingenuity, of
the political demagogue style, in
excusing a policy, in an emergency,
the moral character Of which he has
not yet dared to endorse, and of
which he says, lit would have been
a grand thing to have wiped the
destructive business out of exist
ence;" and again, "the time will
come when our saloons will be shut
up, and who does not wish he could
see that day?" Now, If Teetotaler
Is sincere in these last statements,
will he tell US frankly and honestly
what he thinks of the law which
LEGALIzEs instead Of WIPES OUT
the destructive busisess, and which
he so earnestly wishes he could see
shut up?
But Teet0taler argues that max
ing, drinking and selling lntoxi.
cants did not originate in the State,
and that for several thousand years
there was no law against the free
use of alcohol, and that we cannot
get prohibition now, and therefore
it is best to restrict the use of alcO-
hol by high license. Now, let US
examine this kind of reasoning.
Last week a man arose upon the
floor of the House of Representa-
tives of the North Dakota Legisla-
ture where a bill was pending
granting a charter to a Lottery
company, similar to the accursed
Louisiana Lottery, and urged upon
that honorable body to pass the bill,
because, said he, ut (gsmbling) is
a necessary evil" (and he might
have said did not originate in the
State and for several thousand
years was unrestrained by law and
! could not be prohibited now0 "and
why should not the State derive
some benefit from the evil which
we are powerless to prevent" Ant
so, a few years ago, there were mer
, in the City Councils of Omaha ant
Minneapolis who said, that adul
, terry did not originate in the cit.
= and had continued unrestrained b.
law for thousands of years and /
l cannot be prohibited now, and TO
. the purpose of restricting the evil
the city ought to license bawdy AM
' designation houses, and at the sam
: time derive some benefit from sue
an evil as the city government
? could not prevent, and these me
= prevailed with their argument
and municipal laws licensing thes
pitfalls of sin were passed by thes
= said City Councils, and are yet i
u existence to the shame of thos
!. cities. Will Teetotaler tell US wins
u he thinks of the moral character {
> such laws? and In what respet
9 these laws differ, in moral chara'
II ter, from the laws licensing tn
, liquor traffic which he is attemp
ing to excuse? w. H. HENRY.
d P.S. In answer to TeetOtaler
i question, "would it be better fl
i Tennessee to repeal all liquor
3 cense laws and have free rum ?"
y answer emphatically, and challeni
70 him to deny it, that it would be il
IL finitely better for Tennessee to r
y peal all liquor license laws al
u have statuatOry prohibition uni
le such a time as we can have Co
E. stitutiOnal Prohibition. And If
~ thinks ut would be grand thil
10 to wipe the destructive busine
Ut out of existence" why should !
- not all work together in an hone
IT, straightforward, determined WI
en- to secure this grand result Il
Ill year? w. H.
IA
he
,d. Representative Lodge of Mass
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