The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-11-05
The South Leads in Prac-
ticed Temperance
POLITICIANS IN LINE
The AnIf-~aioou League Appeals t.
Reason and Talks fact-ifon
Under Local option tlsc
saloons Have Bccn
Closed.

To drinking. says LeckS. must &c at
tribute most % the crime and an
immense proportion OF the misery of
his nation and what - true III Ens
land is true of the United states
W drink. said an English writer 81
1867. AS II Ne were sthtnE bur
In the following century re
tGllers we're accustomed TO hang out
announcements that their customers
could be made drunk for a penny,
deaSi drunk for Two pence. and cooii
have straw To lie on Tor nothing. ana
they furnished dens In which they
could recover sufficiently - drink
again. Those aCcurscd spirituoua
liquors" wrote one observer from
london, in the eighteenth century.
which. II the shame OF our Govern
ment are 50 easily To be had. and N
such Qualities drunk. have changed
the very nature OF our people Ana
as the beginning Of most violent
crime on II big scale in English his
tory is parallel with the spread OF
strong drink, 80 in our country crimes
OF violence, crimes of debauchery.
political corruption. the waste ot
wages, the ruin or families. all have
their home and origin IN the saloon
Civilization VIII not be a succtss until
the saloon is but a memory AZ what
men nct endured. West and South IN
the United States today the path 70
en- tIdtAC II btllH i0llpN tA WIN
more determination than ever In the
history Of our country. In more
is the saloon made illegal.
and in a greater part or this territory
is public opinion sufficiently strong 70
make prohibition a success When il
is a success. life viii be brighter for
the wives and children or hundreds OF
Of fathers and husbands.
Failing In Line.
Whom nnIiticiapS hngjp in hara
to take up a cause What is the sig
nificance of their enthusiasm AS
powerful interests are back Ing
the saloon, and as political machine
always loved it dearly. the ten
dency OF practica, politicians to come
out for prohibition and the enforce
of prohibition means thai the
popular movement has become 80
strong that they desire to ride the
wave. 1t is now frequently possible
a man to win against his party
organization by taking up this slo-
gan. While progress Is obvious in
parts Of the country, it IL most
in the South, where the reason
for it is most clear. If liquor is the
general to crime in every
IT Is still more potent where ne
arc ABUNDANT, and the realiza-
ton OF this fact helps to explain the
very rapid march of the prohibition
in Missouri. Tennessee. Ken
lucky, Texas, Mississippi. and other
States. In the last five
years the cause has been helped
by the existence OF the Anti
Saloon League, with methods so diff
ferent from the old prohibition cru
This new body appeals to
the reason and talks facts. Nobody
could believe it fanatical. 1t furnishes
1t calmly demonstrates ef-
1t studies the saloon from the
of the economist. And the
is becoming converted. Al the
present rate of movement the issue
before long be forced upon the
in every State. Skepticism
about the possibility OF prohibiting no
onger tells. Where public opinion IS
'trong, prohibition is sufficiently pos
'ible to mean an unreasonable ad-
in the prosperity, virtue, and
happiness of the race.