The Washington herald., 1907-02-11

At two large mass meeting-one held at
the Belasco by the white-ribbon element
yesterday afternoon. and the other at the
Masonic Terple by the anti-prohibiuon-
lists last night-prominent people of Wash
lington discussed the proposition to stop
the liquor traffic in the District.
At the BeIasco meeting, Representative
Webber, whose bin TO make the District
dry" has caused the agitation was one
Iof the principal speakers, the others who
lshared the platform with him being Rev.
Carl Doney. Rev. Frederick d. Power,
and w. r. Downey.
At the meeting of the opponents of the
lWebber bill at the Masonic Temple, which
was attended by 2.G0O people. Simon Wolf.
Rabbi Abram Simon, Secretary De
lNedry, of the Central Labor Union: John
Aarr, DR. Loeb, and Phoebe Cousins were
the speakers.
Arguments presented by these speakers
Iof diversified interests and advocations
gave the audience ample opportunity to
|express their convictions on tie question
simon WOLF Presides.
/ Personal liberty was made the theme Of
the meeting, and with this. as back
ground, the views brought forward were
- Unanimously opposed TO any Congressional
ieuactment against the selling OF liquor in
the District Simon Wolf. whose wide
IactvitIes I'm local affairs have made him
1.-THE recipient Of many honors, was the
chairman OF The meeting His introduc-
tory remarks well prepared the audience
for the arguments that were TO follow
! I'm brief speech, Mr Wolf sid:
"I come before you as an American citi-
zen, demanding only those rights which
lmy citizenship allows me, and claiming no
more for myself than my tenure as an
I American citizen allows me. ] do not
believe that it BELTS us 10 allow an
abridgment Of our rights OF our liberty
in any matter and do sincerely believe
that the passage of the prohibition bin
seriously intcrfercs with both
Cause of BrOwnssiIIe Riot.
Under any circumstances il is easy for
a rich man TO get a drink, and they will
always get it. but it is tte poor man,
the temeprate but not the abstaiEer. that
the bin viii affect almost entirely. u
was an enactment Of this nature which
caused the Brownsville affair. and which
has caused many similarafalrs near army
tsts which have not gained so much
not0rIety. The abOlshers of the cauteen,
composed mainly of those people who
lived near army posts. and who would
profit by its abolition. augmented by
body of lobbyists and meddlers. claimed
that drinking in the army would De
stopped: but is it stopped?
Il have seen phase OF prohibition iH
lGaithersburg, which sis supposedly q dry
town. and in an conservatism let me say
That liquor was easily obtainable."
stop Experimenting on District"
Following Mr. Wolf. Rabbi Abram
Simon. Of the Washington Hebrew con
gregation, took the stage. He character
lied the Webber bin as most foolish.
and gave the following reasons for the
assertion.
Prohibition VIII kill greater Washing
ton. 1t will neither beautify the city.
edify its visitors. nor improve and benefit
its inhabitants; it Will enervate our
citizens and put premium on hypocrisy.
"AH men are not debased. nor do all
men require that their liberty be taken
from them Give US moderation after the
gressional legislators cease trying ridicu-
lous experiments on our District Let us
have a ballot, and we will decide for our
selves whether we desire prohibition OF
not"
Miss Cousins Gives Advice.
Miss Phoebe Cousins. whose conversion
to the anti-prohibition ranks caused no
end Of comment some time ago. was next
introduced by the chairman. She began
by pointing to- the notorious failure" of
the prohibition laws in Kansas and Iowa.
Here. she said. the liquor traffic goes on
undiminished causing greater percent
age Of the population to indulge in the
sale of liquor and a greater number TO
be incorporate than before the passage
Of the bill She advised that less atten-
ton be paid by women to bridge whist
parties and club meetings and lobbying.
and more time be spent in the homes as
an antidote to the drink evil. which she
claims no legislation can prevent. She
singled out the prohibition countries. par
ticularly Turkey, as an example Of bru-
tality and Generalization. and declared
that civilization follows the VINEYARD
From the Bible. she stated. reference 10
enough wine could DE garnered 10 float
the largest battle ship in the world. and
with this fertilization she insisted that
our laws can remain as they are. The
cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city, the
embassies, and the nature of the citizens
also contributed to her argument.
Labor Secretary Speaks.
Samuel De Nedry secretary of the Cen
tral Labor Union, spoke for the labor men
of the city. IN part. ne said. no man
can legislate me sober any more than he
can legislate me drunk. Although I am
not a citizen of the District, but subject
just rs We all are, l at least have the
liberty Ct speech. and that will ever usa
for the right Of suffrage. l do not wish to
depend on the whim Of any man. nor am
I content TO be the political football eor
4 freak COngressmen-We and Little
field-of Ohio and Maine have been tn
Maine, and / have seen the horrors of the
liquor traffic of that State carried on
under so-called prohibition law. and /
can only dccry as bad faith the foolish
lobbying of these fathers of ridiculous
bills in our cosmopolitan city
John DarT and Dr. Loeb. of the Jewish
Synagogue, were other speakers. who ex-
pressed themselves forciby on this ques
ZION. while X NOIlekner, president of the
/ United German Societies, was seated on