The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1901-06-18
LOCALIZED EVIL NO. SO.
Sale Of Intoxica nts the Great
est Obstacle to Cause OF
Christia nifty.


On Tuesday, June 4th, the Cleveland
Leader had the following editorial:
WOMEN AND BEER.
"The house of representatives of the
Pennsylvania legislature has passed a
bill to prohibit the sale to women of
beer or other liquor to be carried from
a saloon in bottle or other recepta-
Gle. The bill Is classed as anti-"growl-
err legislation, and the author of the
measure declared his purpose to be to
put stop to drunkenness among wom-
en- and children.
While there can be no objection to
such legislation, why should the law
makers discriminate against the wom-
en-? Why prohibit the rushing of the
growler" by women and still permit
men to do it? OF course it is an evil
for husband to find that his wife Is
spending his money for beer and other
liquor and that she is acquiring the
drink habit, but what about the evil
of drunken husband who sQuanders
good part of his earning in q sa-
loon, with which many wives have TO
contend?
If the wives had votes and their hus-
hands had not, would the author of this
bill favor measure to prohibit
"growler rushing" by men and leave
their wives free to carry liquor, from
| saloon in bottles and pals?
1t is nearly always difficult to
straighten out and understand the
kinks that get into the heads of men
who make laws" a
The Cleveland Leader is strong
Republican paper, and consequently q
supporter of the unholy and unconsti-
tutional Dow tax law which gives q
legal permit to all saloons that pay the
required tax. The writer Of the above
editorial has certainly got some con-
ceptions of right, else he would not
close by saying:
"It is nearly always difficult to
straighten out and understand the
kinks that get into the heads of men
who make laws"
That certainly was true when the Re-
publican legislatures in Ohio permitted
brewers and other liquor interests, to
persuade them to enact such an un-
| holy and unconstitutional law as that
known as the Dow tax law.
Liquor selling for beverage purposes
| Is an evil that destroys more lives,
| more property and more happiness,
than all other evils combined; ana
every attempt to regulate or legalize
said evil cannot fail to be harmful to
the best interests of the people.
The attempt of the Pennsylvania leg
islature to suppress the "growler"
for women, may well be looked upon as
joke, while 1t Is permitted to be con-
tinued for men. And yet after all, is
1t not true that the whole saloon bus
mess, or liquor selling for beverage
purposes, whether for men or women
Is the greatest evil of the nation. and
the only correct way to deal with the
traffic for beverage purposes is to treat
1t as an outlaw, having no claim up
on a civilized government for protec-
| ton in any form? If the evil has a claim
for legal protection, SO has the social evil
the gambling evil, and many others, as
none have named or could name have
done the injury to the people that the
liquor evil has done.
We claim to be a christian nation
! but this great evil of selling intoxi-
cants for beverage purposes is the
| greatest obstacle to the cause of chris
tianity there is in the nation; and,
however much good christianity has
done it never can fully bless any people
so long as the adherents of christian
ity cast their ballots for any political
party that by any system of tax or Ii
cense, gives legal protection to this
destructive and demoralizing business.
How it is possible for any minister
of the gospel to stand in the sacred
desk on the Sabbath and preach the
glorious gospel of Christ, and then on
the next day go to the ballot box and
cast his ballot with liquor sellers and
saloon keepers to legalize their ruinous
business by some system of tax or IL
cense is one of the things cannot ex-
plain.
Any attempt by christian voter to
talk against the saloon and then vote
some tax or license ticket, as they do.
looks very much like preaching one
thing and doing practically another;
or in other words serving two masters.
Christ, the great teacher, has plainly
told US "Ye cannot sevre two mas
ters." Thus 1t Is In voting. Every
man that casts a ballot either votes
to perpetu<te the traffic or to prohibit
the trafic. You cannot do both. There
Is one little minority party that plain
ly says 'the saloon must co." and that
to prohibit the same is the only true
i A. A.