Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-08-24

FAN AiHhllk lntm WuN n
crowd OF the widest, drunkest and
npisest men | ever witnessed AMI
they came oft OF the only local ontion
town on the line. They raised Cain"
~ general, and their conduct was such
Ina nuny aboard, who had been old
.le fros' admitted that they didn't
think II prohibited any more. I'm
NOISY crowd was all loaded up with bot-
YES, ana the further the train went
the urunker they got, and the result
was that during the day at Mineral
Wills several OF them We're put I'm the
L., 't,pui1se, anu allowed TO remain there
Dy thelr friends until time for the train
10 return, when their fines were maid
anu they were taken out ON the re
urn the train load Of people was an
m9yed all the way TIL we reached
Wteatherford. whore the disturbers got
oi; unu AFTER that all was quiet and
vIuerly RMS, to my mind, was "A prac-
teal Illustration OF the utter futilIty
or local option. 1t Is human nature for
man TO crave what he can't get. and
Wren, after being deprived OF ii, he
gets hold of 1t, he viii make a hog of
niIusgI' rms Is no time to paralyze
hort worth with local option, and 1 be-
heve the people of the county under
STAND the matter too well TO do il.
nave TOO much faith In their good
sense to believe that"
Mr. NJ. c. Hurley said: "In my deal
ings with my fellow man l long since
learned that | could not get at a mans
good qualities by force. And 1 think
the idea. applies aptly to this question
VI temperance. l am strictly tenn
pefAte man by nature, and | would be
Rlad 10 see all men abstain from the
use OF alcoholic drinks. because / be-
neVe II would be better for the hui
man race. This is purely a question OF
morals, and we must appeal TO mems
hearts II we would make them better.
rms Is my view Of the question from
a moral standpoint.
From business standpoint | look
az this local option question this way:
we nave gone through great strug-
gle to build up Fort Worth, and now il
this thing We're to be forced on us. |
don't Know what we could do but throw
up our hands and quit. 1 am not IN
inVor OF whisky, and would vote for
state prohibition IL thought IL would
succeed in shutting the stun out. but
the examples of Iowa and Kansas
make me fearful OF its practicability.
Local option II, l believe a good
thing for small towns and communities.
where the people all know one another
personally, and can effectually Join In
the enforcement Of their local regula-
tons by discountenancing their Viola
tlon. But IN city II Is different. People
are not all acquainted with each other
one does not know what all the others
are doing, and there Is large floating
population. do not mean by this To
say that II Is impossible TO enforce
the laws In general In cities but this Is a
fact that the larger and denser the
population the more difficult IL is to
approach that completeness in the en-
foroement Of the laws which prevails
In the country communities Especially
Is this the case where a large percent
age Of the population is opposed to a
law which is sumptuary in its char
acter
There is an immense amount of
capital Invested In Fort Worth in the
way OF improvements. There is great
debt hanging over it all. and l think
the adoption of local option at this
critical time would bring everything to
bankruptcy.
"One great trouble with US Is that
there is saloon influence here which
endenvors 10 control the affairs OF the
city, and that element has done much
to bring about this crisis in our affairs,
by pushing itself unnecessarily to the
front. ] do not think saloon men ought
to want to hold office or try to con-
troll the election Of officers. l think
they should be content to rigldly obey
the laws. and exist. If they did so
do not think there would be such a
cry for local option.
ION the other hand, n the local option
people would use their energy and in
fluence to remedy the evils they COM
plain of by holding the saloon men
within bounds. and by pleading with
their wcak-kneed brethren 20 brace
up, instead of appealing to the law for
relief, they would make more head
way. The ministers who favor local
option simply admit their inability 10
handle their congregations.
II this Is n moral question 1 am
right; &c it Is a eivil question l am
wrong"
Mr. Joe Turner senior member of the
firm of Turner 4 Dlngee. said: 80 far
as whisky Is concerned, l never drank a
drop in my life, and l am a Prohlbl-
ZIONIST, and voted for state prohibit
ton. But this local option matter Is
advocates claim for II, and l have evil |
dence which satisfies me that this |
election has been forced upon us Just |
at this time az a political trick OF the |
worst character. II such is the case, |
the people ought to spew 1t out.
Il will give you few figures, which, |
I think, ought to convince the people |
of the county that 1t is not to their |
interest to vote local option ON Fort |
Worth. Take Riverside, out here, for |
instance. Each morning, for SIX |
months in the year, there are fifty |
from that community for sale. Fifty |
wagons is a conservative estimate, and |
to say that their sales average SO |
apiece IN a stlll lower estimate. But we |
win take these figures for illustration
so as not to be accused OF overstating |
the thing. This would result In that
receiving from Fort Worth
s54 600 annually for the products Of its
A large. portion Of this pro-
duce Is eventually sold to the hotels
and restaurants. which depend upon
the transient trade for patronage. 1t
Is fair to say that without this tran
sient trade, which would be almost en-
tirely cut Off as Il result of local option,
the Riverside community would find a
market here for only one-half its pro-
duce, thus reducing its revenue from
this source S27, annually Can any
one say that the cutting or from that
such II large amount OF
money each year would not hurt It's
property and reduce the value OF the
lands out there? Certainly II would.
Mind YOU, l am talking Of only one of
the many communities IN Tarrant
which depend upon Fort Worth
for a market. II Is merely a question
Of dollars and cents versus sentiment.
A mans wife and children are nearer
10 him than any sentimental love for
his fellow man, for he IS not his
brothers keeper when It comes to
,ac,iflcing the welfare Of his family.
81 think the people, when the time
comes to vote on this question, will
ook at II in Its proper light as affect
ng their own interests"
Mr. N s. Belden said: TN my busl-
ness / handle a great amount OF the
produce OF the farmers. gardeners and
a. {,fau ~ Tprraut county. The peOnle |