The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-04-24

| through speak-easies. Some of you can
lock back to the days when the Baxter Dill
was enforced, and you Will no doubt re-
member that there was more drunkenness
during that period than at any other time
was Governor when that bill was passed,
and signed 1t in good faith, believing 1t TO
ness De 8 s bUt afmsay trial. IoT eae eighteen gsh os months
he said 1t had disappointed his expectations
and those of his friends, and did not 90
what IT purported. He took the stump IN
the next c%aInraign and worked actively
against it. and signed the new bin which
took its place in 1915.
The supporters of such measures as the
Nicholson bill say that conceding to be
true all the arguments we make against
means. They say that the cause of temper
ance is so great and SO good that 1t Justi-
a better thing than the Christian religion!
What is the effect of Section. 9? 1t COM
jority SO wills, to become a total abstainer
and live as you do. Why not compel him to
join a church, or become an Odd Fellow or
a Mason, or unite himself with some of the
other numerous societies which uphold and
nam aaxan feels thf free eaut to OF ent mpra these Societies Nem : esee or
not. just as he pleases, but under such a
statute he would have no freedom In the
had been invaded? No society desires COM
pulsion. Members who join in that way are
never a benefit, but a drawback. The COM
pulsory ,proselyte aids no cause, not even
himself"
Senator Turpie then entered into a long
| discussion of the revenue feature of the
| LIQUOR traffic. He spoke of the millions of
dollars, that are received annually by the
general government from the manufacturers
of various kinds of liquors, and said that
every nation has made the weaknesses ana
the follieS OF men a source or revenue.
"Why should not we do the same?" he
continued. There is no greater hypocrisy
than to reject this pittance from the saloon
manufacturers / believe in home rule as
firmly as any man in regard to such things,
as matters of neighborhood convenience,
such as the construction of bitches, the
building of fences; but home rule does not
mean to take a mans liberty. Those on
Wiling Vi to waive aais them in~alienable rights for
the sake of others who need their sur
sake of others is a great principle, but
cannot see it in Section 9. Paul said, eff
meat while the world standeth, lest I my
brother offend" He did not go to the
the people b be prohibited from the use Of
meat, nor did he ask that a part of them
should be compelled to do without it; but
if doing so would cause offense to his
brother. That is what / would call self
1.-THE Democrats have always been OPP
posed to this policy of this legislative tenn
Rsranoei have rhey fav e@ea a aempera nasored but Ut
not such as is made by legisla-
tive enactment. The party has ,legisiated
passed regulation after regulation, and has
given protection to societies interested in
1tS suppression. we nave no quarrel with
the sons or daughters of temperance, or
the blue-ribbon or white-ribbon societies.;
but ss,, we do cling to p the right :, Of Individual ind
mans inability to govern himself"
Is 1t n Democratic keynote.
To the Editor of the indianapolis journal:
Senator Turpie's argument tonight
against the ninth section of the Nicholson
law was an able presentation of the old
Democratic plea for personal liberty"
That is to say, the argument was able from
the standpoint of the citizen who assumes
that selling Intoxicating drinks is one of the
inalienable rights guaranteed by the Con-
stitution. OF course. the Senator, in order
to make his appeal effective, had to pro-
coed upon the assumption that the saloon
Is a good. and harmless, and necessary in
stitution; that its influence in a community
is inherently beneficial and not detrimental;
that the people need it, and are better off
on account of its presence. If the saloon
has no good in 1t; If it is not necessary to
the comfort and happiness and the moral
elevation of the individuals; if it has no re-
deeming feature as an institution designed
to minister to mems desires and propensi-
ties--in a word, If the saloon Is not in any
sense a moral or municipal necessity, the
learned Senator's argument was worse than
wasted. His manner was earnest, even
vehement. he uecldTeu THAI elt III StC-
ton of the Nicholson law is prohibitive,
and condemned it in terms of extreme Bit
terness. The spirit, energy and vociferous-
ness that characterized the entire speech
implied that in his opinion a great wrong
is contemplated in the enforcement of the
lava wrong against two classes, namely,
the saloon keeper and the nlan who patron
ICES his business. He cla~sed the SalOonist
in the same category with merchants and
statesmen generally. He thinks the dispen-
ser of beverages and the man who imbibes
entitled to the same rights and immunities
as other business men and citizens. He
said: drunkenness is a gross abuse of the
right to drink, just as theft is a gross
abuse of the right to acquire property"
But the Senator so far forgot himself at
that point as to add. land that is why our
h law prohibits stealing"
Mr.. Turpie's speech must be regarded as
a keynote of the coming Democratic State
campaign. There could be no other call for
it at this time. 1t had the smack of cam
paign buncombe in it. Wren the speaker
declared that the ninth section of the law
was "surreptitiously .smuggled through the
legislature in the face of the fact that it
was furiously debated for several weeks,
and was finally passed by the assistance of
a majority of Democratic members in both
houses, and became law by the signature of
Governor Matthews, the average listener
could not avoid the conclusion that the
speech was carefully prepared for the use
data. Viewed in any other light, the
speech must appear strangely gratuitous,
not to say grotesque. j. Z. ..
Indianapolis, April 70.
NAV EESTJVAL,