Evening journal., 1907-08-14
How Should We vots-wst or Dryr

How Shouid We Vote-Wet or Dry7
Editor THE EVENING JOURNAL.
The el mlnaton OF the licensed saloon
mot the prob. bitlon Of the sale of intox!-
cants) appears to be fairly set as a ques-
ton for the voters OF Delaware to de-
eide, and every qualified voter should m
inteilgenty determine Just how he viii
vote. Now is the time when men can look
the issue squarely IN the face and. hav-
ing decided II the decision is well bal
anced, stick to il. But we should not per-
init prejudice or misplaced sympathy to
sway US. A cause must be absolutely right
or absolutely wrong There can be no in
termediats course.
The writer has listened to many argu-
ments, pro and con. on the question, and
regardless OF what other men might say,
from my own cogitatons comes the con-
clusion; The very essence Of prohibition is
tyranny Prohibition means: IL don't wish
10 drink Gin pubHcJ and l won't let YOU"
This IS the spirit Of intolerance-the spirit
that VIII damn all men who have the
courage to oppose It, if II wins
A noted humanitarian once said: You
may stop thief from stealing by placing
lh'm behind prison bars, but your act
don't stop nm from wanting 10 steal.r
aRd prison bars come nearer 10 stopping
men from stealing than the elimination
OF the licensed saloon will come 10 stop-
Ping men from drinking 10 excess.
Taking the statistics Of the several local
lopcon States as criterion. the subst.tu-
ton OF the speakeasy for the licensed
saloous-saloons thar are at an times un-
lder the surveillance Of the police, VIII
make II easier for those who want drink
70 get H. The writer resides IN a neighbor-
hood where Il IS necessary to 20 eleven
squares IN order to lind a saloon. but
should the voters Of The city vote the town
dry, very remote possibility, IL is prob
able liquor could be nad nearer 10 hand.
Let us make a brief summary Of tho
premises where voters have voted them
selves dry and note the result. Take
Maine. for instance. Maine Is a prohibition
State and has been for sixty years. The
writer has Travelled considerably IN the
Pine Tree State. and observed as he
went. Rockland. Knox county, Maine, a
ltown Of nearly lOOo0 population, although
illegally dry Is admitted 10 have more men
IN Il who drink to excess than any other
town Of Us size in the United States.
Moreover, Rockland, Maine, offers a
greater percentage Of women who not
lonly drink but are disorderly as well. Per-
lhaps on the sly but OF loose character for
all that. Besides this there are elk towns
IN Maine whose combined population
equals that of Wilmington. yet the police
records Of those SIX towns show greater
number OF arrests for drunkenness than
do the police records OF Wilmington. Don't
you believe IT, you who hope to vote VIII
m.ngton dry? Well. just offer to defray
the expenses OF the writer. accompanied
by news paper man. and 1 will be only
too glad to travel thence TO convince you.
Maine Is a shipping State. NJ ne also fur
n.shes an enormous amount OF work for
stone cutters, and the writer has heard
more than one sailor and more than one
stone cutter say: Build a roof over Maine
and you VIII have one gigantic disorderly
house"
But we can set those far off places aside
and come nearer home. Most folk in Della
ware have heard OF Delaware and Chester
counties, Pennsylvania. Now il happens
that Coatesville IS situated I'm Chester
lcounty, and that the town Of Chrstiana
Is located in Lancaster county, just over
the line very convenient. Christiana bears
about the same relation to Coatesville
that Chester Pa. does to Wilmington
No community could be subjected to a
more d.sgraoeful experience than Coates
vile went through during the dry spell
Yes, Chester county and Delaware county
voted themselves dry. There are iron mills
located in Coatesvllle and il was custom
ary for the hands to change turns every
Monday at noon. Il so happened that be-
fore the dry spell those of the iron work.
ers who wished 10 set drink did so satur-
day night. The regular saloons boing
closed on Sunday, the men, as a rule, were
sober and on time Monday. But during
the dry spellg It's a sad tale TO tell. but
often the saddest Is the truest Every
Saturday afternoon men could be seer
lined up at the Coatesville depot, jug IN
hand waiting for the tran 20 Christiana
IT'S a notorious fact that liquor could b.
had in Coatesvlle. but By the glass. and
the people had such a craving for drinl
that they wanted IL In large quantities
That was because il was hard to set.
During those days some Of the men who
went 10 Chrlstiana to have their jugs
filled stopped there long enough to TAKE
few drinks on the spot, and by reasor
OF the stop, lost the train back. on sucl
occasions they took later train, on'
that did not stop at Coatesviile. but th'
men We're willing 70 go 10 Downingtown
seven miles beyond. and walk back. Thii
must have been a great hardship, fol
they often had several bundles 20 carry a.
well as the jug. They had to go 70 Christi
ANA to have their jugs filled and while
there made many purchases much TO th'
loss Of the merchants Of coatesville, Th'
writer don't want 10 see Wilmington pas
through the same experience. and I be
llieve the merchants OF this town vii
esree with me- What a sorry spectacle
must have been to see those men earryinl