Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1901-03-22
TY SPECS" GOTH CENTURY
OFFERING.
Concluded from the last issue.)

LII local option has falled-but /
can prove that it has not-let rs see
why they say it has failed. Let me
ask, did we vote four years ago to
stop the sale and drinking of liquor,
or to close the bar-rooms. l think
you will say that we voted to simply
not grant man license to sell liquor.
At least that is the way | understood
it. Well now I'd like for some of those
champions of whiskey who say that
local option is a failure to inform me
where there is one solitary bar-room
In the confines of Lancaster or Nor
thumberland counties. Now, if we
voted to close the bar-rooms-andw we
have closed the bar-rooms, as there
were over 80 of them in this county
until we voted to close them and
now there are none-surely it doesn't
look to me like local option is fail
ure. But they say you voted against
whiskey, and it is sold now secretly
Yes, indeed, and We expected that it
would be. We have law on muir
der, but has it stopped murder? We
have law on stealing, but has it
stopped thefts? A law against every
thing wrong is on our statute book,
but none of these evils are stopped
entirely. But, listen! All laws regu-
late, if they are properly enforced,
and make it possible for the good
people to live IN a certain amount of
peace and conteutmeut. But take
those laws away, let every man do as
he pleases, and how long would
civilization last? If God bad not
told Adam aud Eve not to eat the
apples off of certain tree they
might have eaten every apple and cut
the tree down; but God said "The
day thou eatest thou shalt surely die"
That was the law. 1t was violated
and the consequences are following
us now and even making it necessary
for me to write this article.
But you say, why do you bother
whiskey so muchp Aiu't there other
violations of the law that you local
option people uphold? They have
told me this. They say, go to vari-
Gus places and see your ice
cream, cigars aud everything else
sold on your blessed sabbath. Go TO
your agricultureal fairs and take
your family and they can scarcely
get around for the black legs and
gamblers. Amt that as much a
violation of the law as it is for us to
keep a speake easy? God pity us,
yes. Haven't we law against Sab
bath selling and against gamblingg
Certainly, 1t ought to prohibit it,
You thinkI yes, it should, but why
don't it? Because the officers that
are elected to enforce the law
fail to do their duty in these cases,
just exactly like they have refused
to enforce the local option and some
other laws on the statue books.
Go to the proper source, friend.
hold that the man who steals hen
has violated the law as much as the
man who steals 100000, yet the
man who steals hen will probably
go to Jail, while the man that steals
100000 will spend about $1O,-
600 and go clear, and be looked upon
as one Of the finest men in the COM
munity. There are degrees in crime,
but the man who steals a hen is a
thief as well as the man who steals
the money.
| consider that man who violates
the law and runs a speak easy is a
criminal as much as the man that
steals or commits any other crime.
He is certainly not good citizen.
What makes man a good citizen?
Simply obedience to the law of his
country. What makes a good child?
Obedience to the laws of its parents
What makesa good church member?
Simply obedience to the laws of his
church and his God. Now, if a man
commits g crime he is not only pun
ished by Imprisonment but his citizen
ship Is taken from him by depriving
him of his vote. If a man violates
the law of God "the wages of sin is
death" and he is deprived of his citi-
zenship in the kingdom of heaven.
So We see that these people who want
us to give them the regulation of the
liquor traffic are just simply outlaws,
and not being obedient to the laws
of the land are not even citizens, and
so are aliens. Now, do the good
people of the county want lot of
aliens to set themselves over us to
try to regulate something that the
United States spends millions an
nually to try to regulate and can't?
Really, gentlemen, you should make
application to the United States
government for job. She has been
looking for such smart fellows for
years to regulate this moonsbine
business, which stands in the same
ol.,A A 4.