The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-12
CURE FOR INTEMPERANCE.
Socialist Claims Thst Prohibition
lists Should Join His Party.

Socialist Claims Thst Prohibitions
lists Should Join His Party.
Section st. Paul, Socialist Labor party,
at Its meeting yesterday afternoon at
Assembly hall. was addressed by Mr.
George b. Wells. editor of the local tenn
perance paper. Backbone. His subject
was objections to Prohibition"
Among the principal and leading OBJ
Jections combatted were the alleged need
OF the revenue derived from saloons, the
theory that prohibition = cannot be en-
forced and that popular approval could
never be gained for sumptuary laws
Denying the first objection, Mr.. Wells
said that. while the revenue was a tax
1t was one that returned less to the state
or municipality than any other, and thai
paid the largest commissions to dealers
and manufacturers. For every dollar
turned into the government or municipal
treasury hundreds of dollars were swept
from the pockets of the people into the
tlIlS or the rum5ellers In the town Of
Spring Valley the municipal governments
had been changed from dry to a Wet
system. Yet the mayor himself had been
converted to prohibition on account of
having lost $1,000 in trade in one year
that had been detected into the tilIs of
the liquor sellers.
In the town OF Annandale three saloons
were recently licensed, returning a reve-
nue. of $500. In speaking with banker
In that community. Mr.. Wells had been
told that many citizens were pleased with
the results and appreciated tie 81 500
winch was applied to school ana street
improvements. Then the bankSr had
shown him a list of a dozen man ac-
counts against whom had been sent 20 tha
bank for collection
THESE men, said the banker. under
no license conditions would have been
amply able to pay the accounts. Now I
consider them bad debts. This one is 2
saloon rounder this one spends all his
spare money in barrooms; this one has
necome confirmed bum. and so on down
the list"
No one" continued Mr. Wells. lever
saw salconkeeper, distiller, a whole
saler or a brewer who was in favor ~
prohibition They Joined hands to fight
1t at every turn. Yet commercial travel
ers VIII come In from their trips through
prohibition states and tell people that
more liquor is sold under prohibition than
without 1t. Now If this were true would
not the wholesaler, the distiIler and tha
brewer be ready to welcome prohibition?
ls not their object to sell liquor? And
the more they sell will they not make tia
more money!"
Mr.. w. A. Hammond. OF Minneapolis,
was called upon TO reply to Mr. Wells.
He said that while offering no palliation
for intelnperance. socialists did not be.
neve In prohibition as q remedy for the
evil. So long as there was profit In it's
sale so long would the business flourish
and be protected by lawmakers Il was
the aim of socialism to do away with
capitalism. When that had eventuated
there would be no profit In the sale OF
liquor; 1t would be handled by the state,
disposed of by the state and when q
man appeared to whom no liquor should
be given the state would refuse to give
1t to him. Along with many other evils
intenlperance was one that socialism
would control. The place for the genuine
prohibitionlst was In the Socialist party
During the past twenty-five years prohI-
bition had made no numerical progress.
While there might at present be more in
numbers there were not, he thought, rs
great a per cent Of the population prohi-
bitionists as there were twenty years
ago. In those states where it had been
in force they had been states in which
there were few large cities. Prohibition
would be impossible in St. Paul. Min
neapolis. Chicago. New York or Boston
In theory and principle 1t was all right;
in practice impracticable under existing
conditions OF capitalism