The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1905-02-25

4
tion. Whichever alternative Gov
, eminent might adopt, it would b
, very likel, to incur the antagonist
OF many who are now loud in de
, mands for prohibition. .@...
: '-s Coming now to the question @
personal liberty, and this is, W
. think, the most perplexing of all
because, in the first place, it doe
not involve intemperance. Ifthcr,
were none to deal with excep
drunkards, the whole busines,
could be settled in no time by thu
exercise of ordinary police powers
But when you say to man who /.
temperate that he shall not drink a
glass of wine or mug of be .r, be,
cause there are some people who
drink too much, you come, to say
the least. dangerously near to an
infringement on guaranteed per.
sonal liberty: This phase of the
question has always bothered US.
We cannot seem to get on solid
ground. We cannot determine
how far one class of people may
justly go in imposing their rule of
life upon another class. We all
know there was time when it was
considered entirely proper to con-
vert men to Mohammedan1sm with
sword, to convert men to Cathol-
icism with rack and screw and to
convert men to Professionalism with
a broad ak; but was it ever Just?
These are some of the points which,
1t seems to us, must engage the
serious consideration of every
thoughtful man when he under
takes solution of the liquor ques-
ton, and if he will give them due
weight, he will, at least, be saved
from bigotry. Yet, speaking for
ourse1f, we may say without hesi.
tation or reservation that if we
could, we would wipe the liquor
traffic off the face OF the earth. We
shall not undertake to tell how we
would do it, for the very sufficient
reason that we don't know. We
do not think, though, we would
start on the saloon. Trying to
cure intemperance by closing sa-
looms has always seemed to US like
trying to cure smallpox by picking
the pustules off a PATIENTS body. |
Our present idea is that you have
got to get at the root of the thing. |
Put the distilIeries and the brewer.
les out of business. Do it as Justly
as possible, but do it; and at the
same time heed the suggestions of
that noble woman, Frances Eliza
beth Willard, whose monument
new graces the National Capitol.
She said: "Twenty-one years of
study and observation have con-
vinced me that poverty is a prime
cause of intemperance." You see
she reversed the accepted dictum
that intemperance is the prime
cause of poverty. She was right;
but; she ought to have said "mis-
cry" is the prime cause of intem.
perance, because misery is a more
comprehensive word than poverty.
Then when she appealed to the
Worlds w. c. T. U. saying: "I'
believe it to be the duty of White
Ribbon women to help abolish pow
erty in the largest sense of that
great phrase" again she should
have used the word misery instead
instead of poverty. We rather be-
ieve that misery was in her mind,
because she had already declared
hat misery is the mother of the
lriuk hallucination." According
o the light we now have, we be-
ieve that war upon the liquor traf.
ic, or intemperance, call it which
:ver, should be prosecuted along
he lines of restricting the manu-
acture of intoxicants and abolish
ug human misery.
Now some good people will in
isl that because we do not believe .
hat closing saloons will cure in !
l.