The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1893-09-21

law, we are a strict upholder of temper
ance and maintain that any man or
woman, not an idiot, can be sober and
temperate if such desire exists. Goa
gave to man the knowledge of good and
evil, reason to deduce effect from
cause, and will to execute the conclu-
sions arrived at by the exercise of his
reason. The prohibitionist practically
asserts that man is an unreasoning
creature without will-power; having
arrived at this conclusion, he immedi-
ately stultifes himself by demanding
that man shall be protected from liquor
alone. TO be thorough, the advocates
of prohibition should go to the root Of
all evil-money. By prohibiting money
they would not only protect man against
drink, but greed, uncharitableness, rob-
berry, theft, ENLIGHTENMENT and fraud of
all kinds; these crimes would at once
cease with the nOn-eXistence of money.
Without money to create the acquisitive
desire, universal fraternalism would
be soon not only possible but assured;
the natural sociability and good-fellow-
ship of man would bloom in all it's
infant and pristine purity and freshness,
and the millennium would be near.
Jesus was temperance lecturer but
not prohibitionist. He preached be
temperate in all things" with gentle
persistence and was never led into in
vective except against hypocrisy and
money He favored the use of wine by
his miracle at Cana, but never failed to
decry and belittle money. He had char
ity and forgiveness for the publican,
the sinner and the thief; but he could
point out no pathway to happy here
after for the rich man except the she'd
ing of his wealthy slough, whereby to
stand on the common level of an univer-
sal fraternalism.
Temperance in all things demands an
exercise Of will. If one drink weakens
mans will-power he must abstain
from that drink. If, having the will to
abstain, man yet debauches himself
with drink, he should be treated as any
other criminal and offender against So
ciety. If he has not the will-power, he
should be treated as any other idiot and
placed in an institution for idiots and
imbeciles.
Our reformatory discipline here fairly
demonstrates the value of this theory.
Men in prison are either wilful Grim
inals or helpless imbeciles who have no
control over themselves. The third
grade may be styled, with few acct
dental exceptions, the prison and insane
asylum of this community of 42O Grim
inals or imbeciles; yet, there are less
than four per cent. who lack sufficient
will power to avoid it's disagreeabilities.
If ninety-six per cent. of supposedly
criminals and imbeciles can avoid the
innumerable petty pitfalls of prison
discipline, surely the per centage of
those capable of exerting will should be
greater among those who have shown
sufficient ability and force of character
to escape prisons or insane asy1ums.
Send the liquor criminal or liquor
fool to an strial-reformatory in
stitution; there make him work hard to
earn his own means of support and send
the balance of his labor product to sup
port his family if they are dependent
on his daily labor for their sustenance
Curb the evil by proper legislative en-
actments and place honest men to en-
force those curative laws. Let there be
no option, but make it compulsory to a
breach of the liquor laws that the IL
cense to sell is revoked, that the same
individual never again gets license.
that he pays heavy fine and that the
police officer and captain in whose beat
and jurisdiction the offense is commit
ted are summarily removed. Make it
to the paramount interest of all con-
cerned that the laws be observed, and
they will be.
CURRENCY.