River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1903-03-05
A Lesson to the Nations Lawmakers.
(By Rev. DR.. James B. Dummy
Copyright, 1929

given by the proprietor of the Dew
ey hotel, Washington, in honor of
the completion of his palatial new
house. Among the guests on that
occasion were several we'll known
United States senator's and mem
bers of the house of representatives,
whose names are given. That it
was convivia1 affair, at which
champagne flowed freely, is appar-
ent, as the report states that one
elderly member of the congressional
contingent imbibed so freely that,
after leaving the dinner party early,
he wandered over on Fourteenth
street, and in some manner OBJ
tanned entrance to the house of an
army officer, where nobody was at
home save two nieces of the general
and the butler. The congressman
became SO disorder1y that a police
man was sent for and the intruder
taken to the police station, where,
doubtless, in some cell he would
have had to spend the night but
for the timely intercession of two
other members of the congressional
contingent at the dinner, who hap
pened along just as their co-mem-
Der was being taken to the station
house.
In what condition the other con-
gressmen left the banquet the re-
port does not state. This humiliat-
ing spectacle need not surprise any
one when it is remembered that in
the basement of the national capitol
two illicit saloons have been run
ming in connection with the two
restaurants that are kept for the
convenience of our lawmakers and
their friends, and that these blind
pigs are conducted under the au-
thority of honorable committees of
the senate and house.
Surely illicit liquor selling in the
basement of our national capitol,
under the superintendent of sena-
tors and representatives, is quite as
heinous an offense as illicit distill-
ing by a moonshiner in Kentucky
or low groggery that sells without
a license in the s1ums of New York.
How are we to prevent such
scenes as followed that banquet at
Washington? Within the last few
years there has been a notable adj
vance in the attitude of business
firms to the use Of intoxicants on
the part of employees. Never was
there so strong business instinct
among large employers that sobri-
ETY. is absolutely necessary and
must be insisted upon.
The time is coming when the only
opening for the ambitious young
man who drinks will be IN politics.
1t is rapidly becoming so now.
Private employers dare not trust
their business to the man who
drinks. Great corporations dare
not. He is not wanted on the rail
roads The steamship lines have
cast him out, and as for banks, they
will not have him. Only the people,
long suffering and generous, re-
main as his resource. For this rea-
son municipal, state and federal
governments are his speciality, and
while the patience of the people
lasts public office will breed scan
da1s as naturally as our swamps
will breed malaria.
By railway managers intoxication
is now considered the most serious
offense, and in nearly every case
is followed by dismissal from the
service of any and all railroad COM
panies in this country.
Why should not all employers of
men demand of them entire sobrl-
ETY.? Why should not this demand
be made of our legislators? Why
risk the influence of drink, when all
men know that it renders those
who take it unreliable and reckless
and leads to untold mischief? Clear
brain and sober judgment cannot
exist with indulgence in intoxicat-
ing liquors. Why not exclude from
public office, from the halls of legis-
1ation, state and federal, all who
are known to indulge in intoxicants?
This may be considered a drastic
measure, but it is no more dra site
than the case demands, as witnee s
the scene at this Washington ban
quet, and scenes frequently wit
messed at the final adjournment of
some state legislatures and sessions
of congress.
The disgracefu1 scenes attending
this Washington banquet show how
vicious are the social drinking Gus
toms of to-day. Custom is the most
absolute and powerful of monarchs.