Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1897-01-28
FOR THE KE66y CURE LAW.
a Correspondent Thinks it is Good Thing to
Let alone.

Thursday | see that Senator Stout
presented a petition fromCthe super
visors of Dunn county requesting the
repeal of the Kelley cure law.
Your readers are undoubtedly aware
but some of them may have forgotten,
that there is now law ON the statute
books of this state which allows any
person to 90 before the county Judge
of his county and on making oath that
from habitude he has lost control of
his will power in the matter of drink
ing liquor and has no money or prop
erty of his own with which to defray
expenses of treatment for inebrety,
the Judge shall consider such appli-
cant a county charge and issue out Of
his court an order for commitment to
Kelley institute for term not to
exceed four weeks and shall.ordcr the
treasurer to pay $3.50 to the institu-
ton in which he receives treatment.
1t is proposed by the petitioners of
Mr.. Stout.to repeal this law and al
low the drinking man to pay his own
bills for treatment, or. if he can not.
to go on until death breaks bondage
the most CALLING known to life.
At first thought it would seem that
the law is unjust to those taxpayers
who have had no hand. further than
silent consent to his ruin, in reducing
the applicant to state non compos
ne'atiS and of penury; but after thor
oughly investigating the matter am
convinced that the law is a good one
one of the very best relating to
charities and reforms it should
be allowed to remain in full force and
effect so long as liquor is licensed
to be manufactured and sold. Every
voter should make it his bust
ness to impress Legislative members
FROM Grant county districts with the
fact that they desire the law to remain
untouched: or if it be considered at
all to amend it so as to make it COM
pulsory to take the cure instead of
optional with the wreck who is drift
ing on the turbulent sea of whiskey.
Certain it is that every man who
drinks liquor at all should in his own
interest uphold the law in its present
charitable form; because drinking
surely leads to poverty and when he
would fly from the enemy it is well
to have open behind him an avenue
of escape.
There are upon our statutes hum
dreds of laws to enable the already
rich to increase their hoard at the ex-
pense of people in moderate circum-
stances. There are scarcely more
than two laws on the same books that
in any way aid the unfortunate poor
one of them permits bankrupt to
save himself by cheating his creditors
and the other gives to the drunkard
an opportunity to profit himself by
cheating the devil. Every rich man
concludes that these two laws for poor
men came into effect through mistake
and proceeds to cry out against them
every time the legislature meets.
And really it will never cease to be a
source of wonderment to me as to how
these two matters came to be law BY
what right a miserable wretch who
has failed in business or harbored a
Jag presumes to take from treas
ured hoardings a few dollars TO sus-
tain his own life and mayhap the
lives of number of others that are
dependent upon him for subsistence
is mystery inexplicable.
Now there i the man who has a
five hundred dollar mortgage on prop
erty that cost YOU more than two
thousand dollars. There is a law
which enables him TO take from YOU
the whole property five minutes after
You have given him 4 mortgage aud
if in your Indignation you cusS him
for robbing you or slap the face Of
some vile petty officer who is sent to
do the dirty work and takes it upon
himself to insult you during the per-
Torrance there are other laws to put
you in Jail We do not wonder at
laws like these for the ricl They
are 80 numerous and common that
long ago they ceased to excite COM
ment. We worry along under the
yoke and are told by our master broth
ers to look to God and be patient
Yes, patient-unti death releases