The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-02-19

sitions are in many cases perjurers,
ana guilty of as great dislOya1ty to the
state and its constitution as any trait
orS that ever took arms against right
full authority. It is. therefore, the sense
of the State Temperance union repre-
Senting laW-abiding men and women
that we lay special emphasis upon this
condition of lawIessness, and so far as
lies in our power, we pledge ourselves,
as loyal citizens, to do everything We
can to place the responsibility for law
enforcement where it belongs. We do
not believe it is the special duty of the
private citizen to do the work of the
officials elected on purpose to do it. We
believe it is the duty and privilege of
the citizens of Kansas to hold every
single officer in the state to strict &C
count for implicit obedience to his oath
of office, from the governor to the road
overseer. If tthere is anything this
country needs. it is reverence for ex-
listing law and We believe the work of
this union is fundamental in creating
a proper reverence for the state consti-
tuition.
It is also the sense of this convention
that the laW-abiding citizens of the
state have a right to expect more of
the governor Of the state in the exer-
else of his authority, especially in the
matter of calling the attention of eoun-
ty attorneys and other officials to their
lack of attention to their duties The
governor is only a servant of the peo-
pie, like any other elected officer, and 1t
is always the peoples privilege and
duty to hold the governor to the strict
est Interpretation of his oath of office.
Whoever the next governor of Kansas
may be, this union will expect him to
do everything in his power to see that
anarchy, in any form of it, is suppress
ed, even if it takes the strongest arm
of the law to do it. And in the exer-
else of this authority this union will
sustain him to the fullest extent.
We heartily endorse and urge the
passage of what is known as the Hep
burn-Dolliver bill, which. if it becomes
a law, will help very materially in the
enforcement of the prohibitory law in
Kansas. We urge the people of the
state, through their churches, municipal
| leagues or other patriotic bodies to
write letters to our senators and repre-
sentatives, urging them to vote for the
passage of this bill.
We believe the time has come in the
history of the prohibitory movement in
this state when we realize the impera-
tive need of national sympathy and CO.
operation in the enforcement of our
state law It seems to us that it is
contradiction to our state enactment
that the government should recognize
the liquor business as a source of reve-
nue., and we are beginning to realize
more and more clearly with the passing
| of time, the handicap of the struggle
we are making to enforce regulations
against what we consider to be both sin
and crime. While the national govern
ment regards it as a source of national
revenue. We, therefore, ask the people
OF Kansas. regardless Of national poll
! tics, to do everything in their power to
petition the United States government
to place the liquor business where the
laws of Kansas place it, in the list of
crimes against government and human
/ society.
AS one means of bringing this matter
before the country, we would suggest
that individuals, societies. churches and
good men and women generally petition
the president of the United States. who
ever he may be. to INCORPORATE in his
/ message to the congress some mention
at least, OF the need of national iegis-
lation against what is commonly under
stood now all OYER the world to be the
largest source of crime, poverty and
pauperiSm known to society We be
/ lieve the Christian men and women CT
/ this state and nation have a rigtt to
! expect that the chief executive of this
1 republic, in his annual message to the
congress, shall take some notice of a
/ business so widespread, so fatal in its
/ effects, as the one which We as a state.
| have declared to be outlawed on ac-
/ count OF its crime against the individual
4 and the community. =
we voice our firm convictions when
we say we believe that law which has
even under the serious handieap of
/ laWless officers and whisky licensed
states surrounding US on every side
done so much fncalculabIe good for ali
our people, is law which should bring
the same benefit to all the states in the
Union. We believe the time has come
for the believers in prohibition to make
1 their convictions felt, not only within
the boundaries of their own state, but
through the entire republic, and we
believe it is no more than the serious
lness of the cause demands that the