Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-04-11

ry. To secure full attendance let us
send invitations to the poor farm, to
the penitentiary and to the hospital
for the insane. Bring together all
who have suffered in person, and ev-
cry one whose husband or son or faith
err or brother or near friend has been
cursed by strong drink. How many
of our 10000 people would be in at
tendance? More than half. There is
not hall in town that would hold
half of them. There is not roof, at
the packing house or elsewhere that
would shelter them. | submit. that a
business that brings suffering SO seri-.
Gus and SO extensive ought to be pro-
hibited.
One Of the greatest of calamities is
insanity, the reinforcement of reason.
What is inebriety but form of insan-
ity? Temporary it may be and amen
able to treatment. At first mild, then
more serious than fierce This alco-
holic craziness is the inspiration of
furtive and petty thieving. of coura-
geous hold nps, of cowardly abuse in
the home, and then of violence and
murderous assault. In many of these
extreme cases the man is not RESPONSE
bile for what he says or does He is
responsible for being drunk-a respon-
sibility shared by the saloonkeper and
by the public which gives him license
but the man is CRAZY drunk" and
no more responsible than the hand
cuffed maniac in the asylum. Have
we not enough of insanity of the ordi-
nary kind? Must we have the unneed-
ed, home grown, cultivated greatness
from alcohol?
About forty years ago the matter of
life insurance began to attract atten-
ton here in ottumwa. A number of
our citizens took out policies to make
provision for their families in the I'M
known future. But considerable
number did not go into it; too poor"
cant afford it." Instead they invest
ed in death insurance, poverty guar
antics and sorrow endowments. Their
dues" were at first small and infre-
quent, but they gradually increased,
and at length had to be paid weekly
and daily and nightly. Their divi-
dends too came early and largely and
the endowments of sorrow came be-
fore due. The insurance actuary can
tell us the exact number of years that
the average inebriate will enjoy. Most
of those death policies have matured.
Some of the holders got tired and al
lowed their policies to lapse-Laus
Deo-and became redeemed men, The
families of those death insurers have
been paid in full. I have no harsh
words for our saloonleepers. It is
with them matter Of business, carry
ing on under our authority and pay
ing for the privilege. cannot re-
proach them with being good" nor
do they seem to me to be "consoien-
tious." A man who in a quiet hour,
thoughtful and alone. will ask himself
is this business right" Does it
please God? Is it beneficial to my fell
low man? is not likely to enter or to-
continue in the business of selling
whisky. The people can have saloons
if they want them, and they will "be
"wide-open" or regulated as the peo-.
pie may desire. And they can entire
ly prohibit them-not suddenly, per-
haps, but ultimately--if they so
choose. must protest, however,
against the universal application of a
certain popular adage. Sometimes vox
populi vox Del is strictly correct.
Sometimes it should be written yox
populi voX Dieboli.
If the anti-saloon people are some
times extreme they nave an extreme
evil to deal with. If individuals
sometimes make mistakes it only
shows that we are human
Forty-three years ago, while detain-
ed for some days at the home of David
Mccullough, near Kirkville, there oc-
CURED an unusual incident. Yonder
from the east over the prairie and
thru the fields comes mob of excited
men, mounted and armed with guns
and pitchforks, some are hatless and
most of them riding bareback. Raj
fences are thrown down and they q
on bee line right thru the dooryaro
westward. What can the matter be?l
Have these twenty farmers gone mad {?
Not bit of it. There is some mad
ness in the case but it belongs to the
thing they are after, the long-leggedt
yellow swapping canine that leads tF
van. L
1--WE are not mad, most noble Fel
tus, but speak forth the words of truth
and soberness." i
SUICIDES AFTER MARRIAGE.