The Opelousas courier., 1894-07-14
w. G.. T-U.

1lCSs OCClCGuly . Ss L . l NlOzus
Cor. Miss Florence Truman
PLEDGE.
| hereby solemnly promise, God help
ing me, to abstain from al alcoholic IL
: quors as a beverage, including beer.
wine and cider, and that | will employ
all proper means to discourage the use
of and traffic in the same.
The election day draws near and
nearer. Tuesday, July 18th, will de-
eide whether liquor with all its train OF
evils shall continue to rule III fair
Empire Parish or whether it shall be
finally expelled and Alcohol the Empe-
ror dethroned.
On which side do you stand?
Are you a slave of the tyrant, or a
free man?
This question of prohibition is not 1
new one, sprung for the purpose OF
creating a sensation. 1t is considered
by the profound thinkers. the scientists.
the statesmen, the Herdf.
The North American Review for Au-
gust, 1888, contains a series of articles
upon the subject by leading men of the
nation. Read this brief resume:
Julius H. Seelye says: The IiQuo,
traffic is responsible for .tour-ttths OF
0W poverty, sereR -eighths Of our crime,
and tor a large proportion OF our dis
ease. vice and wrong-to Say nothing OF
taxation, which makes every other evil
insignificant. 1t is true that these evils
have a moral source. | have no dispute
with one who says that law is not sutfi
cient for virtue. Good laws do not make
goodness. Evil remains in the heart
and in society under the best laws.
"But it is a prodigious mistake to,
therefore, argue against all constralnt
of human conduct except by moral
means. Most persons admit that men
cannot be governed without force. The
question of the liquor traffic is not be-
tween law and no law, but between one
kind of law and another-whether we
should license the traffic or prohibit it.
Instead of attempting to restrict, /
would prohibit absolutely the traffic.
My reasons, succinctly stated, are:
81. 4 restriction which permits the
trade and simply limits the traders to
those who are licensed to sell, sets 10
limit upon the buyer. One saloon will
supply the craving of five hundred or
five thousand, as we'll as many. There
fore. the evils OF the traffic are not ne
cessarily reduced by reducing the num-
Der of those who engage in il.
~ AiSCILSS, hiS VI iO"s nv away
what ought to be and, in a healthy COM
munity, would be an important moral
restriction from the seller. 1t makes
his act legal.
IS. To license the liquor traffic on the
view that the enormity of its evils car
be thus regulated, makes the commu-
nifty itself a party to wrong doing.
81. The revenue from license falls
heaviest where the burden ought to be
least. Practically the cost of liquor
within the limits which license is likely
to put, seems to have little to do with
the consumption. The great
for high license, the enormous taxes on
intoxicating drinks are wrung from the
Indebtedness of worse than widowed
wives, worse than orphaned children,
While | do not believe that prohibition
alone will stop the sale of strong drink
any more than it will stop the continu-
ance of gambling, Of theft, or any other
crime, | would make it clear by statute
that it is a crime believing with Glad
to make it as hard as possible for a man
to go wrong, and as easy as possible for
him to go right
I. X. Funk says: With the masses
the most potent educator is the law.
w Jul tHC" "udt Vic law pClutilS is
right and that which the law forbids is
wrong" After the passage of the Ives
law by the New York legislature, max
ing pool-selling legal, a prominent pool
seller said 81 feel like a gentleman
now, my business is legal"
The Nevada Liquor Dealers Associa-
ton several years ago passed this reso-
luton Resolved, that so long as our
business is licensed by the United States
State, and county, we consider it per-
fctly legitimate and honorable, and do
not think that we deserve the censure
that is constantly being heaped upon
u.s."
Grant for arguments sake that a pro-
hibitory law cannot be perfectly en-
forced. 1t is still advantageous. An
unenforced righteous law is infinitely
better than an enforced law that gives
half sanction to the wrong.
But you confound things sinful with
things that are simply dangerous; we
prohibit a sin; ace regulate things that are
II is not true that we never
prohibit things that are only dangerous.
house inside city fire limits not because
the building Of such a house is sinful,
but because it is dangerous.
In localities we prohibit absolutely
slaughter houses, powder mills, ETC.,
because they are dangerous.
Prove the saloon to be dangerous to
welfare, and you have ground
for the prohibition.
Henry W. Blair says: From the
best examination Of the subject, | am
satisfied that the use of alcohol to any
extent as a beverage is poisonous, hurt
full to the body and mind, almost sure
to result in the destruction Of the con-
sumer, and full of evil example to
The general tendency and final
effect OF the use as a beverage and the
influence of example upon others are
the criterion by which the action Of
in the election between legal
policies is to be decided.
These and other considerations satisfy
me that prohibition in theory is abso-
right and whatever is right, l
believe to be wise.
Absolute Prohibition is the wisest
License laws contain more or
less of wisdom but | must say that [
think a small coal of fire about as dan
gerous in a powder magazine as a large
one, and in the long run, sometimes in
the short run, a license law blows up
as badly as free rum.
Guaranteed Cure.
We authorize our advertised druggists to sell
Kings New Discovery for Consumption,