Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1898-03-01
<W. c. 7. j. COLUMN. ;


temptation together. and by moral
suasion prevent transgression. But,
so far as temperance is concerned, the
uniform experience of mankind, from
the time Noah planted a vineyard,
more than four thousand years ago,
down to to-day, furnishes not one Cir
cumstance that tends to indicate that
man is yet more powerful than his
Maker. Moral suasion has its place
and SO has prohibition. Within the
garden of strong temptation, and GER
tain transgression, there is need for
prohibition, while outside of those linn
its there is wide world for the exer-
else of moral suasion. There are
some who seem to think that they can
talk Or pray drunkness out of drunk;
that by moral suasion they can stop
the revolution of the wheels of the dis
tilleries, or cause the breweries to stop
brewing to brutalize mankind. But
those who think this have simply learn
ed the A, B, c. of temperance reform:
that is. the ale, beer, and cider, of So
called temperance, and they merely
give to the cause their lip-service, by
saying 1.-THE saloon must co. And
upon their command the saloons do go:
they go day and night, week days and
Sundays: and all because the moral
suasicnists say by voice and vote that
1.-The saloon must go.''
Suppose here is man with an ap-
petite for strong drink. That appe-
tite will not make him drunk. No one
ever got drunk upon an appetite only.
Here is a jug of whiskey and a glass
of beer. They will not of themselves
make a man drunk. 1t is combina-
ton OF the appetite Of this man with
the contents of that jug or that barrel
that produces drunkenness. The odor
of sequence is drink, drank. drunk.
Now, this man has conscience, has
heart, has brain, and to those
human attributes moral suasion
can be applied: and to them moral
suasion should be applied. But this
jug of whiskey, this barrel of beer.
these murder mills called distiller1es
and breweries, and those drunkard,
criminal, pauper and anarchist factor
les called saloons. haven't a heart or
a brain Or conscience. and we do
not understand how you can apply
moral suasiOn to these mere things
that are destitute of all moral sense
and accountability. Hence, for them
we favor legal suasion and for the in
dividual, moral suasion. In every
civilized country we have the human
laws: Thou shalt not KILL 'Thou
shalt not steal.' etc. But in the in
terests of the liquor traffic, those laws
have been amended. outside of the
books. so as to read: Thou shalt
not kill, except with the slow poison
Of alcohol" Thou shalt not steal.
except thou mayest take happiness
from the home, and the birthright from
childhood.'' ''Remember the Sab
bath day to keep the side door open
and the back door unlocked" Man
kind has adopted prohibition with
reference to gambling, to lotteries and
social evils. Men have passed laws
prohibiting the sale of adulterated
candy, adulterated milk and adultera-
ted medicine: they have passed pro-
hibitory laws protecting our horses
from CHAMBERS, our cattle from pneu-
monia, our hogs from cholera, and
our sheep from scab: they have passed
laws that even protect the birds in the
! air. the little fish in the water. But
in the interests of the liquor traffic,
they refuse to pass the same kind Of
laws to protect our homes as we'll as
our horses, and our boys as we'll as
the birds. Men have shown that they
understand the propriety of applying
prohibition even to the liquor traffic
for we have law that prohibits the
sale OF intoxicants one-seventh of the
time-that is on Sundays. We have
prohibitory law against the sale O.
intoxicants to part of our people
that is, to drunkards and minors
But we have no law that prohibits thu
making of drunkards, and it only re
quires time for our boys to become
candidates for that condition.
The recognition of prohibition as {
proper means to prevent other evils
and it's partial application to the evil:
of intemperance, show that the people
know that prohibition is the only rem
edy for intemperance. They knov
that as long as liquor is manufactured
as a beverage, and sold as beverage
it will be drank as beverages; and 81
long as it is drank that We will hav,
drunkenness and the evils attending it
And, knowing these facts, they barte
away the virtue Of the people, tn
safety of society and the perpetuity O
81.