The daily sentinel., 1907-01-10
AGAINST THE SALOON
Governor Buchtel Believes That the
People should Say Whether
They Want Saloons or
not-His At
titude.


The following Is that portion of
Governor Buchtel's message treating
with the saloon question:
The definite pledging Of our candl-
dates to the enactment of a local op-
ton law awakened intense interest
among the best people in the state.
They are. for the most part. law
abiding. quiet and home-loving peo-I
pie who are seldom asserting them
selves in political conventions. III
is distinctly to the credit of the state
convention of the majority party that
this promise was squarely made. II
beg to remind you that this Is not
what is called sumptuary legislation.
II is not saying what a man shall eat
and drink 1t Is not proposing to-
make people good by law. a modern
ate drinker can go on all his life as
he likes under a local option law. A
local option Law is Just an applica
lion Of the principle of the square
deal to the question OF the open sa-
loon. II a majority Of the people in
any community want the open saloon
they have the right to have it. If a
majority Of the people in any com
munity do not want the open saloon
they have right to exclude 1t. This
is a fundamental principle in our
American political life. From my
point OF view. It seems that the vote
on the subject should be unanimous
both in the house and in the senate.
Why should not every man in this
general assembly vote for this mea-
sure? What would bring people to
Colorado by the tens Of thousands.
That would help to make boys and
men of firm fiber. When you con-
slider the unspeakable damage to
character which comes from the open
saloon you cannot avoid making
haste to enact a law which will make
possible the exclusion of the open sa-
loon from those districts where the
majority of the people are squarely
opposed to II.
In dealing with the convict labor
question. the Industrial school and
the feeble minded institutions the
new governor expressed the follow
ing opinions:
The need OF work for prisoners in
the penitentiary and in the reforma-
tory and in all city and county jails
is imperative. Nothing could be more
cruel than our present plan of shut
ting up a prisoner where he can do
no work. We can find plenty of all
kinds of work which prisoners can do
without interfering with free labor
a prisoner should have the chance to
earn his own keep In the forenoon,
and he should have chance to earn
a little honest money by his work in
the afternoon. II he has anyone out
side dependent upon him. his work
for them will regenerate him. You
cannot make so much as a beginning
toward the salvation of a defective or
of a dependent man except through
work which he performs with his own
hands
The need of parole officers to help
discharged prisoners to find their
way back into honorable occupations
is imperative. Possibly the best way
10 provide for these officers would be
by direct appointment of the govern
or in connection with the prison as
sociation. which ought now to be
adopted as an institution of the state
However. the method is n question
for you to determine.
Down to this time we have made
no provision for the feeble-minded
Private schools and the state schools
of other states have been rendering to
us service that this state owes to its
own defective boys and girls.
The state Industrial school for girl,
ought TO have precisely the same fos
tering care by the state which Is Civ
en- to the state Industrial school fol-
boys. The fact that the state has
done nothing for these poor girls II
an awful Indictment of our human
ity. Hitherto we have Just allowe,
that school to keep alive provided tn,
counties cared to pay the amount
due under the law from month I,
month. The members of that boar,
and the officers of that school deserv
all praise for the heroic work whlcl
they have done with utterly made
quate resources.