The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-11-17
THE ENEMY In IOWA.

The election in Iowa has left the Rspub-
licans in a sadly disgruutled condition.
Some of them are disheartened and freely
express the opinion that the party
is so badly demoralized 1t will
be almost waste of effort
to make fight next year unless the fac
tons can be brought together. The trouble
Is over the liquor control question. The
least fanatical among them understand
that however desirable prohibition may be
1t is impossible, and that it will be futile to
attempt to suppress the traffic in intoxi-
cauts. They have watched the efforts to
enforce the prohibitory law, and are honest
enough to admit that the evil of drunken
ness has not visibly decreased and the sale
OF liquor is carried on almost as openly as
formerly, while the community has been
put to enormous expense and has derived no
revenuef from the business. They also concsde
that a considerable share of the late Demo
cratic victory was the direct result of the
attitude of the Democracy towards the
liquor traffic-an attitude which contem-
plated the regulation of an evil which the
history of mankind has demons trated can
not be cured. The people are tired of at
tempting vain things, and giving their
common sense a chance, are standing in
with the party which is controlled by in
telligence rather than fanaticism.
Since the election, leading Republicans
have held conferences in the larger
cities with the view to arranging
a line of policy which can be
followed by the various factions; but there
seems to be little hope of success. The
-prohibitionists say that if the newly
elected legislature will repeal the prohip-
tory law, all will go well next year, the
seceders returning to their party alegi ance
and rolling up the customary Repu blican
majority. The prohibitionisus, however,
are firm and stubborn as ever, aud say they
will not consent to the repeal of the law.
AS the party is committed, in its platform
and on the stump, to the continuance
of the law, of course the Repub-
lican members of the legislature
will oppose the proposition to
repeal, though realizing that it would
be to the advantage of the party to abolish
the statute and abandon the senseless con-
tcoe NiIu tuS q ppctlt0S duu rights or men.
One of these meetings was held in Sioux
City last Thursday, those calling it being
''sntis," but number of prominent pro-
h;bitionists were present. The latter at
the outset declared their unalterable oppo-
sition to the repeal proposition, and said
they would continue the fight, regardless
OF the outcome. The meeting did not break
up in row, although every body was in
extremely bad humor, and some of the
gentlemen were honest and frank
enough to say that unless the Republi.
cans could get together on this thing
they might as well discontinue the contest
with the opposition and permit Iowa to be
classed as Democratic state in 1892.
Meanwhile the Democrats are looking on
and getting ready to take possession of
Iowa next year, for it seems almost GER
tain that the Republicans will separate
into prohibition and anti-prohibition fac
lions and war against each other in their
conventions and at the polls.