The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1907-08-06
ENID EAGLE ON
TEMPERANCE

So long as men are free moral
agents the peryersity Of original sin
win bring them unhappiness. They
will become better and happier to the
extent that their moral natmes are
trained 20 higher standards. lt is
folly to contend that organized govern
ment can arbitrarily change mems ma
lures by the enactment of cOerciye
lawson that organized government can
crush ont and destroy man as free
moral agent u is not the doctrine
of free government IL is attempted
TO be sure in such countries as Rms.
sla. wnere the land As red with blood
of martyrs and where revolution
burns with the Inward fires Of vol
cano. Moral questions must be de-
cidod By each man fH himself The
futillty of requiring him to yield in
these matters to the opinion Of dis
neighbor. of the demands of govern
ment has been a matter of history for
thousands OF years.
N Is at this point that the greatst
difficulty arises in the enforcement Of
| slmpuary liquor laws Men have
aever been willing TO relinquish their
personal responsibility for the good
or evil that ma befal them in eating
or drinking what they choose The
| penalty If such there be. falls upon
each individual. and men prefer this
| Independence rather than submit to
| some plan OF salvation prescribed by
( his neighbors He knows that his
leighbora are no less likely TO com.
! init hlunders than himself; that m
man is perfect, and that the greatest
/ boon of civilization is that each man
shall be free to work out his own des-
! tiny
Life would be happy, indeed. We're
( IL possible to destroy all its tempta.
! tions 30 10 wrong Prohibition might
/ be a success If the federal govern
ment should exert all It's power ia
| prevent the manufacture of intoxi
cants. But the federal government
sanctiCns its manufacture and sale
and no state. even with tho mos
! sumpiuary laws. has ever been able
/ TO overcome this handicap. The Enid
/ Eagle a newspaper that stands foi
/ the strictest possible enforcement ol
laws regulating the control OF the
/ liquor traffic . In foyor OF tenn
! perancc, said LAT 4:
"The records low that Kansas has
/ 4,U19 Federal liquor licenses. while
, Oklahoma with open saloons has onl,
| 1913 The most effective step toward
/ prohibition of the liquor traffic woulC
be Tor the government TO recognize the
| law Of state on that subject why
don't the Dlnwiddles direct their fight
J for prohibition against congress?"
In line with this was the statement
Of the Washington correspondent oi
the ST. Louis Globe Democrat In the
issue of his paper on July z He hat
made an exhaustive inquiry Ia all the
states as TO the progress of prOhibi
tory laws, and then said
THE movement 10 prohibit the sale
OF intoXicants appears stronger In tho
( agricultural communities than in the
cities and tow IS. and in the soull
than elsewhere, though Kansas, Nortl
Dakota Colorado and a number oi
otrher Western States make stroni
ahOwlngs Yet the remarkable fac
remains that the figures of the Inter
nal Revenue Bureau here show tha
here has Leen no falling OF IN the salt
and consumption OF intoxicants, II
spite Of the growth cf the temperate,
movement The amount OF tax pal,
spirits Withdrawn from distilleries an,
general boned warehouse for the fisca
year ending June 80. 1906 was 122
Gl7943 gallons, which was about Z!
600 000 gallons more than was with
drawn the previous year" "A