Washington sentinel., 1899-09-02
to find favor with the mass of our fellow

| outcome OF the first. We have been an
easy mark. There lies the whole cause
OF our present troubles in nut shell.
We have never shown resIstance-and
by resistance" mean true resistance,
active resistance, not strongly worded
protests, not eloquent memorials to
Congress-and the result ot such lack
OF resistance IN this world-and the
remark applies, 1 think, with equal force
to every walk in life, without exception
lis gradual but certain destruction. 1t
is one OF Natures laws that the strong
shall survive and the weak shall 60 to
the wall.
We are assailed bv an enemy whose
pathway hitherto has been, to all prac
tIcal intents and purposes left clear and
unobstructed. II it shall continue to be
lett so, we shall have ourselves alone to
blame if we finally succumb to;onslaughts
which we show neither the C urage nor
the ability 10 repel. Let us examine
the so called popularity of the thousand
and one legislative measures which are
being launched against our business.
Surely nothing can be said to be popular
that has not at least a majority OF the
nation n its favor. Ostensibly, then,
the majority of our fellow citizens is IN
favor of restricting, harassing and
let us be outspoksn-persecuting an
industry (which temperance, true tenn
perance, has to thank for most OF the
advance strides which it has made dur
ing the last century-not in our own
country alone, but the world over, This
is not a mere phrase. Anyone who
cares to inquire and investigate will find
thatin every country where the beverage
we manufa cture has been intro duced,
drunkenness has decreased in exact pro
portion to the measure Of legislative Ell
couragement meted out to the beer
industry. The statistics OF our own
government prove it. The accumu-
lated knowledge OF centuries has long
placed the fact beyond reach Of doubt;
and none but the most rabld, the most
irresponsible Of temperance fanatics,
dare deny 1t.
Are we, then, citizens of a nation of
cranks9 1t would be courageous man
indeed, who would venture to get up
here and assert that we are. No. But
mankind is nothing il not initiative. 1t
is, suppose, one OF the characteristics
which we and the monkeys have had
handed down to us as a kind Of com
memorative legacy by our common pre-
historic ancestors. Now, all such char
acteristIcs, as is veil known, are COM
monty more pronouncedIn a people than
they are in the individual. Hence it is
a fact which you may find exemplifed
every daY in the year, if you choose to
look for it, that if a certain few say a
certain thing often enough, and loudly
enough, and persistently enough, and
there is no one who utters anything to
the contrary. the entire people who
speak their tongu will end by repeating
it, and will make Oft kind OF accepted
dogma which no one dares question.
That is how many proverbs have origI-
mated, in particular those proverbs that
lie-for there are proverbs that lie.
That is how the particular lies that are
interests have originated.
Now, gentlemen, there,is a common
saying that if you give a lie the start
lhere is nothing IN the world more diff
cult to overtake. Unless you follow at
its heels, dog its footsteps, and nail 1t
to the counter whenever and wherever
you find it, it will outstrIp you, and
effect its mischievous purpose, mocking
all your endeavors to undo it. Let us
take a lesson from those who oppose us. |
They have the ear of the people, be-
cause they seek 1t, not IN a haphazard
and desultory fashion. but Systematically,
with steady purpose and organized ef-
fort. Have we, then, no means of like
wise seeking and gaming the ear OF the
people, Of appealing to that common
sense which, despite all crsnks and
fanatics, is deeply rooted in the Ameri-
can nation-and for that matter, in
human nature generallY-and which
requires but an effort to arouse il to life
and action2
1t is as have already said, not one
man. nor two or three men, nor, indeed,
one single association, even like ours,
that can successfully effect this. But.
maintain, a system of associations like
ours, established throughout the length
and breadth of the land, and keep ping in
close and constant touch with one
another, can accomplish it effectually.
And it is such a system of associations
which an energetic movement that is
now on foot aims to establish for the
better defence and protection of our
industry am proud to say that the
first impulse toward the establishment Of
such a system has been given by your
Association, which, during the few
years Of its existence, has already
afforded such signal proof to the brew
ing interest at large OF what organized
effort and we'll directed work can ac-
complish.
We claim-and we have no need to
establish the claim, for history has done
this for us-that no one can be more
deeply interested in the progress Of
temperance, in this country, or in any
other country, than the brewer; that
no one can discOuntenance and depre-
cate excess and over indulgence, in what
soever shape, more strongly than the
brewer. We need not deny that men
can over indulge in beer. They can
over Indulge, and they do over indulge,
as we know only too well, in MANY
things. Indeed, it would be difficult to
name many industries on the face OF our
globe in whose products it is not possi-
BILE, and for the matter of that an everv