Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-03-14
The Prohibition Proposition and It's
Far Sweeping Effect.

>OAN
sentative consideration than that in
volved in local option now pending
The matter is not one for hasty action
either way. 1t is the old prob
lem of accomplishing the greatest
good for the greatest number, but the
the very depths of social life on the
one hand and touch the foundation of
business prosperity on the other. The
tendency of public discussion now is
to bring the theoretical and moral as
pect to the front. If this attitude is
persisted in, we may be certain that
the other phase will assert itself later
The happy medium would seem a pub
lie policy giving equal consideration to-
| all sides of the question at the same
| time so that whatever solution is final
| ly reached, there may be stable adj
| justment.
There is grave danger that in long
continued controversy involving appar-
emily conflicting and contradictory
facts and statistics. the average voter
will become confused and permit some
thing irrelevant or foreign to the sub
! ject to determine his position This
is all too often the case when a qucs-
ton of Importance vitally affecting the
people is submitted to them for their
verdict
AS an abstract proposition, the liquor
traffic, as it has BEEN conducted in re-
cent years, is indefensible. The I'M
regulated saloon is one of the gravest
menaces to decent citizenship, and it
| is strict adherence to truth to say that
the power back of the saloon,
the brewery control, has brought
about existing evils. If the practice
had been to govern the saloon. to re-
strict it and to compel respect for law
and at the same time to prohibit the
diabolical auXiliaries> that too often at
tach to it, the enemies of the saloon,
as a saloon. would be much less num-
erous than they are. It is a deplorable
condition for which the manufacturers,
as class, are to blame, that has
brought about a state of war on the
saloon as an institution 1t is by ap-
|
loon as run, rather than in standing
on purely moral grounds that
the advocates of prohibition can
alone hope to win. For pro-
hibition as a remedy is unpopular
both in principle and in practice,
and herein comes the misnomer
that reposes in the suggestion of local
option, and likewise the phrase, "anti-
saloon territory" Local option awaited
IOf in this specific instance, means pro.
nibition. and the form of prohibition
presented does not simply contemplate
the anti-saloon spirit. In effect the
llaw. under which opponents of the
liquor traffic are acting, is far more
sweeping. 1t does not stop with put
ting the saloon out of business. II
seeks TO prohibit, not only the sale
but the delivery of alcoholic spirits
within the township of Rock Island
1t goes further than that. 1t puts the
, man who INDUCES in purchased liquor
beneath his own vine and fig tree, in
the position of countenancing mis-
demeanor. It's scope and its spirit are
therefore not solely anti saloon, but
+ anti-drink.
1t is conceded that the advocates o
: local option, in theory and in applica
, ton, seek the betterment of the HUI
man being, and to surround him will
, safeguards to good living Hence it il
that only when, the weaknesses ant
Inconsistencies of human nature ar
:, taken into account can safe, san
and reasonable course of action be, de
:, termined upon. And this conception o
! the situation deals with the ideal solu
: ton of the liquor problem without &C
ing into all that there Is in the prac
teal side.
The advocates of local option to
large extent base their reasoning upol
i ideal conditions, which, if they existed
Il would absolutely sustain them, bu
which do not in fact prevail, and car
> not prevail until man reaches the pei
, fected estate.
e In considering local option as az
k tplied to Rock island, these facts Shout
8 be borne in mind:
), Local option is prohibition under al
: other name and restricted to the are
:. that votes in favor of II.
, Prohibition involves radically diffel
, ent conditions from any that have eve
: prevailed in theNcity.
. Whether strict prohibition can be er
i forced here is more than an open que.
II ton
Local option affirmed, will call 70
an abrupt reorganization of the city
Z finances and will shift a considerabl
Ii portion of the burden of taxation t
new shoulders. The revenues from So
e loon licenses will cease, and the defici
l. between the income from this sourc
e and the expenditures must be met
: Unless other means of income are i'm
/ Tmediately forthcoming a vast curtai
a ment of expenditure will be unavoida
Y bic.
C Rock Island is one of three contig
S uous cities constituting, in a sense
: one community. but competing eac
with the others for trade and CONNER
I pial ADVANTAGE Tho connlata clocfuo N