Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1899-11-29
the SALOON APoLooisr At BENSON.

The Benson Times of last week con.
tanned the following:
", A special 10 the St. Paul Dispatch from
GUS AFFAIR since its Inauguration by the Anti
ssSen on Oct e. A. that time
sounded up: About a dozen cases We're
bound oyer to the grand jury: Since that
continually, and half Il score of cases tried,
and al OF them resulting in dismissals or &C:
qu1tals. One Of these cases created especial
ously, It was q case where y druggist u
prohibitionist) had sold. as he admitted. H.
a9oss to S Rraaeticing vetefinary The facts
the Jury decided the act to be lawful. It is
had. At least for time" This is not at ali
s sarI ng and In fact Is just what was ex;
sorry to see our neighbor municipality so
bankrupt again, as it did couple Of years
Ia the same manner. II the sale of liquor
the proper one to take, but the sentiment OF
the majority OF the people is not strong
enough to suppress illegal selling and IL
with no regard to whom It is sold. Hence
We hold that 1t is better to license a few
and regulate them as closely as possible,
CuhrklDH d StlH license. ana use the money
in behalf of the village. instead of getting
no license money and spending hundreds
besides in the fruitless attempt to convict
round.
The saloon element of Willmar
ought to take up a collection to buy a
watch for Editor Poland of the Ben
son Times for the dauntless courage
he displays in flying to their relief.
For the second time since the raid on
the piggers he has ground out an ar
ticle advising the Willmar people to
re-instate the saloonkeepers aslicensed'
robbers OF the slaves of appetite. OF
course he dares not defend the saloon,
per Sc. That time is past now when
anybody with even the thinnest veneer
ing of decency dares to advocate the
theory that drinking does not hurt.
So the Times apologist hides behind
the towards argument that the
sale Of liquor cannot be prohibited
successfully; that the law-breakers are
stronger than the law-abiding people
and can compel the latter to vote for
license as the least Of two evils. The
fellows that talk that way are friends
of the saloon, and use that argument
only because they are ashamed to ap-
pear in their real character. The man
who has made up his mind that the
liquor traffic is an evil is not going to
acknowledge defeat before he has
tried an earnest battle against the law
breakers. The fellows that cry quits
before the battle has halt begun are
ones that voted for saloons last spring
and are just aching for chance to
do it again.
We do not expect to put an eutire
stop to the sale of liquors, any more
than we can stop other crimes by law.
1t is illegal to steal, but still some
persons persist in doing it. Shall we
therefore license thieves? We expect
to treat the blindpigger as criminal,
not as the equal of decent people, and
thus make people who lay claim to
responsibility be as wary of being
caught associating with blindpigger
as they would be of being caught in
company with thief. When we have
once battered down this wall of semi
respectability that is the shield of the
pigger to-day the battle is won. The
bigger will be relegated to some back
alley, where he may sneak a bottle
over to some low, vicious, sodden
brute, no better than himself. Decent
people won't go near him. Our youths
will not be tempted by the glaripg,
open attractions displayed by legal
lied destroyers of body aud soul.
That is the goal we are aiming for,
and no such miserable, cowardly,
sneaking arguments as those advanced
by the Benson Times and other whis-
key friends can scare US into submits
sion to the law-breakers.
How dares Editor Poland charge
that Willmar has gone bankrupt be-
cause it voted out the saloons? 1t il
SANDER. 1t is a malicious falsehood.
For the first time since the editor came
to Willmar provision has been
made to reduce the debt of the village.
During all these years OF saloon dom
ination the finances have become more
deranged year after year. 1t is part
of the program OF the saloon power to
keep the finances in such shape so
they can club the taxpayer with their
paltry license fees. Let Willmar be-
come wholly emancipated from the
blight of the saloons and remain so
for as long period as we have had
the saloons, and the debt will not on.
~ be wiped out entirely, but the bust
ness men will get 4 large share of the
500, 600 or more annually contributed
to the saloons, they will have CORE.