Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-01-25
SALOONS DECLINE.
One Reason why the People Are
C,ttiu. Tired Oi IT.

Getsiur Tired OF 1t.
Few people believe tha, the saloon
will ever go off and commit harakiri
Tor the welfare of the public. but re-
cent events make it pretty evident that
the business is digging It's own grave
moss industriously and that one of
these days that same public may quiet
~ rise in it's might and shove it in,
without obsequies OF benefit of
clergy"
The Indictment Of the People.
Defiance of al law, ridicule of the
church, contempt of every interest and
right dear to American home life arc
some of the items of the indictment
now charged against the liquor traffic
il every part Of the country. on their
OWL confession il is one of the chief
reasons for the rapid advance of Pro-
hibilion in the southland. Other illus
trations of this sort of thing are coming
to light north. east and west with In
creasing frequency. The habits of law
lcsSness md y~iciousness seem to be so
ingraincd in the very nature of the
liquor traffic that It's existence any
where means crime m anarchy as far
as its influence extends.
Saloon Ways In ego
Up in Oregon the saloon business sees
its DOOM in the new county precinct
Prohibition law. In several Instances
liquor sellers became so crazy that they
refused to obey the new law and, using
every technicality and subterfuge at
their command. persisted in defying the
will of the people until popular patience
was exhausted. Here is the way the
Myrtle Point Enterprise, the local pa
per of IN county. expresses the senti-
ment of its readers IN the outlawed
saloon keepers behavior in Coos
county:
Some of the saloon keepers of the
county. it is said, will not comply with
the Prohibition order. 1t has now been
almost Il year since the people of the
county said by a good majority vote
that the saloons would have to go. Yet
in the face of this they have been in
operation through trihing technicali-
ties. They should now be closed at
once, and the officers should be com
PEELED to do their duty or get out. The
time to argue the merits of Prohibition
Is past-the people have made known
their wishes. a handful of saloon men
run the county. Men who openly defy
the law are not good American citizens
and should not be treated as such.
They are anarchists pure and simple.
If the wishes of the people are to be
trampled uLder foot and no heed paid
to their vote, then what is the use of
going to the expense of holding cleo
tions? If this is to be. we have no
men will run things. The officers.
though, IL they are made of the proper
stuff, will enforce the law. 1t doesn't
make any difference what they think
of Prohibition. They are in Office to
do their duty, and the people will eX-
pect them to do it. 1t is up to them
Even OreRoninn Won't Stand For 1t.
And the Portland Oregonian, for
years the most pronounced and vigor-
II anti Prohibition newspaper on the
Pacific coast, wastes M Of it's pro-
license sympathy on these defiant rep
resentatives of the trade, but says
bluntly:
"At Corvallis. Forest Grove and 9th.
er places where attempts are being
made to sell liquor in defiance Of law
and public opinion it will be found that
such a course only serves to strengthen
the antisaloon forces and increase
their determination to win. The local
option law is now the law of the state
and should be obeyed. The man who
openly defies the law is walking the
highroad that leads to anarchy"
"And oblivion the Oregonian might
well have added. The liquor business
can't help itself. cts destination is the
bottomless pit. and nobody wants to
delay its passage thereto in the quickest
time and by the shortest cut