Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-02-04

possible for this generation to erase
certain evils in our midst then it IS
the duty of this generation to do ii.
. This brings up the problem of what
is the best way to accomplish practi
cal results. One of the first features
in the solution must be an active
realization on the part of every per
son that it is not only his privilege
but it is his duty to live clean
moral life. He must do HIS part
These matters MUST be looked upon
that way All parties concerned must
assume their share of the responsible,
lty. The man who goes into the sa.
loon and drinks is doing wrong as
well as the man who sells him the
liquor. The man who goes into the
gambling room and CANDLES is violat
ing the law as well as is the man who
conducts the place. The man who
runs the house furnishes the oppor,
tunity and the geese who go there
furnish the eggs-both are guilty.
Before matters of this kind can be
permanently adjusted there must be d
full realization of the conditions that
make them. We must remember that
we have to consider the buyer as wei
as the seller. Agitation and discus
sion of these matters are necessary,
but it should be the kind of agitation
that will cause serious and sensible
thought over the question, and not agi-
tation that will raise antagonism 20
the very object that is sought. The
work should be along lines that will
add numbers to the movement instea.l
OF drying anyone away from it. We
must bear in mind that law is power.
less unless people are in favor of it's
enforcement.
A big temperance conference has
just been held in this state. 1t has
adopted resolutions ana has discussed
plans Of furthering the temperance
movement. The great majority of the
people of Iowa are in favor of temper
alce and the movement can in the
near future take a great forward
stride in this state if the efforts to
that end are directed along practical
lines instead of theoretical ones. But
it has been demonstrated that it can
also take backward step if this eff
fort is not handled in practical man.
ner
liz opPoi unity 10 HON uSIe anu JItc
general moral standing can be greatly
elevated if those directing this move
ment will act with view of enlist
ing the serious thought of the people
instead of trying to put theoretical
ideas into force One way will enlist
the people in the movement, and the
other will excite an antagonistic feel
ing in great many men who are real
ly in favor of PRACTICAL temper
ance
Harris Dickson in an article en-
titled The Battle of the Bottle" in
the Saturday Evening Post says of
Virginia:
I'm the forty-six no-license counties
the criminal expenses, for 1906 aver
aged eigty-two mills for each inhabi-
tant; the twenty-siX modified license
counties averaged ninety-one mills.
The saloon counties averaged one
hundred and thirty-nine mills, a ratio
which increased as the facilities for
getting liquor increased. Criminal ex-
penses Of the dry cities averaged two
and eleven mills, wet cities
four hundred anG ten. Criminal ex-
penses for the five strongest temper
ance counties averaged forty-five
mills; for the five strongest whiskey
counties two hundred and ninety-six
mills. The criminal expenses in Nor
folk county alone were greater than
in thirty-six dry counties combined"
in West Virginia, two years ago
the prison report showed that thirty
two dry counties had one hundred and
six men in the penitentiary, while
Fayette county alone, with eighty sa-
looms, had one hundred and f1fty-nine:
f1fty-three more convicts from one
wet county than from thirty-two dry
ones. The dry counties had one con-
Wet to every four thousand and TWEEN
ty-two Of population, while Fayetta
had a man in stripes for every two
hundred and two. and Mcdowell, one
for every one hundred and ninety
twenty times as many per capita
These may be coincidences-bu CO
medicines of this sort cost money
which business men and property
owners must pay-money for judges
Jurors, witnesses, sheriffs, police AMI
convict guards"
The governor of Florida makes one
statement:
1t was observed by merchants in
Try communities that their bills were
paid more promptly, that the volume
Of business was greater, that the peo-
pie became more prosperous and the
towns improved more rapidly-both
as to public and private improve
now. people look upon
The question 10th from a moral and 2
business standpoint"