The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-11-02
FIRE OPENING GUN
FOR TEMPERANCE
Speakers Address Local Option
Meeting Under Auspices of
Young Peoples Union.
LIMITED CROWD PRESENT
TWO CANDIDATES FOR lEGIS-
LATURE DELIVER SPEECHES.


perance was fired by the Young Peo-
pies Christian Union of Salt Lake yes
terday afternoon at 4 o'clock in the
auditorium OF the First Congregational
church. when three clergymen, Rev. L.
:. Bowerman, Rev. p. A. Simpkin and
Rev. F 3 Short. and two legislative
candidates, Samuel Russell and y. j..
| Corser, Democratic and American"
aspirants. bombarded the liquor in
| terests.
II was the start of the movement by
temperance supporters for the enact
ment of a local option" law by the
next Utah legislature. Only bare
half hundred people assembled TO hear
the oratory, the political excitement
and beautiful Sunday weather having
evidently conspired to otherwise inter-
est the people.
o. Rowland MCmford. secretary of
the union, presided over the meeting
and told how 400 members of the
young peoples organization of the va
rious city churches were behind the
movement and determined to wage a
vigorous fight to down the saloon. He
stated that a local option bill would be
presented 10 the next legislature.
Mr.. Howerman Talks.
Rev. L. S. Bowerman, the first
speaker. said, in part:
THE question of the anti-saloon
movement is a vast one. All kinds of
experiments have been tried in past
years to cope with the evil. No license.
high license. the dispensary and state
prohibition have all been tried, but
none of those methods accomplished all
that was desired.
The local option movement is one of
larger scope and has been found to be
more successful. Fifteen hundred sa-
looms have been wiped out in Illinois
alone in the past few months by local
option. The best way of attaining tenn
perance is by a great system of edu-
eating the people up to its benefits and
advantages.
Unless the moral sentiment of
community is back of local option, such
legislation would not have the desired
effect and would be practically nil Big
cities such as Chicago. New York or
Boston are not ripe for temperance, but
Salt Lake Is The temperance move
ment here, if properly conducted and
vigorously pushed, will be crowned with
success
II hope to see the day when there
will be national prohibition in the
United States. ! hope to see the time
when that curse of humanity, the sa-
loon. is wiped off the face of this great
country. We stand committed to no
party or no candidate in this temper
ance movement in Salt Lake. but we
VIII commit ourselves to the man who
has the moral backbone to fight the sa-
loon and fight 1t to the end"
MIR. Simpkin's Address.
Rev P. A Simpkin spoke as follows:
This temperance has neither politi-
cal nor religious significance 1t is a
movement for the whole people, for
their betterment and their uplift, and
is and ought to be above partisan poll
tics. 1t is the attempt to solve the
great moral question which enters into
our public life
There is no use of enacting legisla-
ton behind which there is no sentiment
Morals can be regulated by laws. but
they cannot be legislated into the peo-
pie. The sentiment of every right-liv-
ing and good-thinking man ought to be
behind the temperance movement. and
they ought TO indorse the values gained
by advanced temperance legislation.
The big brewers of the country have
given their assent to the betterment of
the liquor business. They acknovl-
edged recently that part of the saloon
business had fallen into the hands OF
INSCRIPTIONS men, men without morals.
They have expressed their desire TO
weed those men out of the business. We
think the best way is to abolish the
saloon evil entirely.
I'VE believe that We can achieve leg
islation that will solve the saloon evil
here. We think that dens and dives
and low saloons-and there is no cues
ton but that they exist-can be Grad
icated. The temperance movement here.
If successful, will be the salvage of
many lives which are annually wasted
because of the poisonous stuff which
INSCRIPTIONS saloon proprietors sell.
Local option will not only mean a
salvage of lives. but salvage of char
acter and finances We ought to real
lie that nothing affects the economic
life more than the saloon. Our greatest
loss caused by the liquor interests is
the loss of young mems characters. We
are ready for temperance in Salt Lake. i
We are ready for legislation that will
drive the dives and dens out of exis- |
tence'
Talks along a similar strain were
given by the Rev. F. q. Short and J
Samuel Russell and y. D. 6orser Spe- T,
cial music and singing was rendered by
a quartet and vocal solos were given
by Mrs. Peters and Miss Armour Dit
mott