The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1907-05-22
lCenSe VS..
Prohibition.

When the County Court meets
Iin special session on the 29th
|inst., it will probably be one of
she most important days in the
history of Point Pleasant. On
that day it will be finally deter
mined whether saloon license will
fbe granted by the Court; which
will mean whether the town shall
continue to make progression, or
whether it will lie dormant, or
probably retrograde. 1t means
more for the town and the coun-
Ity than the people in general
think that it means, for what is
to the towns interest, is also to
the interest of the people of the
whole county. It has nothing to
do with the morals of the place,
because there is now as much
drinking as there was when
the saloons we're wide open. 1t
takes no argument to convince
any one that prohibition in a
town will never stop those people
from drinking who want it. The
States of Maine and Kansas have
tried this experiment, with disas.
trous results, and when there was
prohibition throughout the whole
of the states, it did not prohibit.
When there is prohibition in a
town situated as Point Pleasant
is, it cannot prohibit-any one
knows that, and any one with
halfa vision knows there will al
ways be saloons in the neighbor-
ing towns. 1t is demonstrated
right here every day that closing
saloons does not even lessen the
amount of the drinking, having
in view that which is spent in
other towns by our citizcus, and
any Que can verify this fact if
they will take the trouble to ino
vestigate.
Who is it that ought to know
what will be for the best interests
of the town of Point Pleasant, if
it is moi the people who live here?
We venture to say, that nine out
of every ten of the business men
of the town are in favor of Ii
cense. Many of them, too, in
fact most of them, are as good
christians as those who are talk
ing about prohibition; they are
better christians than those who
hiss speaker for expressing an
honest conviction, and a better
christian than the man who will
say that no christian would sign
q petition for license. And why
are these business men in favor
of license? Simply because many
of them have heretofore had the
sad experience of having seen a
dry town here, resulting in cut
ting off their own business, and
building up that Of the business
men in the surrounding towns; of
seeing our own citizens from the
town and county going to neigh
boring towns, time and again,
causing more drunkenness and
rowdyism than had ever before
been experienced in the town.
Who are the men that want to
see the prosperity of the town
blighted? They are the knockers,
the kickers, the disgruntled; they
are those who have nothing in
the world to lose, no matter what
becomes of the town. Supposing
the members of the Court had
business interests here, and they
thought that it might hurt their
interests not to have license,
would there probabley be any
question about how they would
stand upon this question? Would
not every member of the Court
protect his own interests, and
shouldn't they? Ifthey are hu-
man they would. We believe
the County Court is composed of
men who are human, and in vot-
ing upon question involving the
prosperity of the town, personal
opinions, personal considerations,
and a little sentiment should
have no more to do with how the
Court should vote than the wild
waves beating upon the rocky