The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-08-06
By Rev. G. D. Edwards.

V. u.
Is it fair to stigmatize the agents OF
the liquor traffic as criminal?
1 grant you that they are not in love
with the idea. I confess, too, that it is
not altogether pleasant to have it to 10
But look all the facts squarely in the
FACE, and remember the principle enun-
ciated at the outset for our guidance
and / do not see how it can be consid-
cred unfair. The traffic not only fails
to render any real service to the drink
er, his family or the community, but its
tendency is all the time to injure
When thing tends to impair a man in
body, mind and morals, and to shorten
his life even though he is moderate in
his use of it; when it deprives his fam
lily of food, clothing, education and en-
cal, intellectual and spiritual; when it
robs the state of it's wealth, productive
ness, beauty, health, happiness and man
hood; when it does all this why should
it not be regarded as criminal? If you
are to Judge tree by its fruits there
enmity of every right-thinking man.
Abraham Lincoln said, s'The saloon has
proved itself to be the greatest foe, the
most blighting curse that has ever
found a home in our modern civiliza-
tion.'' He calls the legalized liquor
traffic the "great tragedy of civiiiza-
tion.'' Stephen j. Field, nearly forty
wears Associate Justice of the United
States Supreme Court, sums the whole
matter up thus: ''By the general con-
currence of opinion in every civilized
and Christian community there are few
sources of crime and misery to society
equal to the dram shop" William Nc
Kinley says: ''The traffic in alcoholic
liquors is great wrong; the most de-
grading and ruinous of human pur-
suits.'' President Roosevelt adds, " 1t
is not like other business. 1t tends to
produce criminality in the population
at large, and law-breaking among the
saloon keepers themselves. :"
Again, if a person is known by the
company he keeps, why not a traffic IN
the same way7 The saloon is fayorite
resort for thieves, gamblers, harlots and
for all the vilest elements IN society. 1t
is the abettor of every crime and vice,
and the enemy of every virtue. 1t
tbriyes on immortality and suffocates in
an atmosphere of virtue and religion.
What can one say of it other than that
II is criminal. and what shall we say of
him who becomes the agent for that
which is criminal9 Is he not also Grim
inalg
Business is service with the idea of
nrofit. Crime is profit without any idea
of service. He who is acting as agent
for the LIQUOR traffic doesn't stop with
falling to serve; he goes positively IN
the opposite direction and bIghts. he
has the one idea of profit and is so care
less as to how he gets it that he has
adopted the method which curses his
victim and all those related to him.
should he not be regarded as criminal
All, but, says one, many of those en-
Gagged in the traffic would rather be en-
Gagged in something else. Then why do
thew stay where they area Only be-
cause of the profit promised. | grant
that they would rather do something
else if with the same effort they could
only make the same amount OF money
7 know they recognize the traffic as an
,nvorthv one. Their sense of what is
r;rbt is keen enough that they are
ether ashamed of it and of their con-
neo+;on with it. They simply haven t
+ba moral backbone to give 1t up When