Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1908-01-31
MR.. LECKIE BOTH WET AND
DRY"

lIerieS Company, has succeeded i'm
getting himself interviewed by
newspaper reporter i'm Bluefield, on
the liquor situation, as To Pocahon-
taS. This interview also found its
way into Roanoke paper, and per
hapS into other papers, published i'm
wet towns, and supporters Of the
liquor traffic. In this way, the gentle
man, while claiming to he "a dry
man from the bottom of my (hiS)
heart, and opposed To the liquor
traffic when il can bc prohibited, "
throws the weight of whatever in
fluencc he may have, whether il be
much or little, against the suppress
sion of the traffic, not only in his
own home town, aS he has always
done whenever contest has come
up, but also wherever his interview
is read.
The object of This notice Of Mr..
Leckie'S position as stated 10y him i'm
said interview, il To- point out what
seems 10 us the error into which he.
men. have fallen, and also the illogic
al conclusions To which this position
forces him: lie says, after stating
that he is well known in Pocahon-
taS, and had never been inside a
saloon i'm that town, and had never
taken a drink of whiSkey i'm his
life:
As far aS POcahontaS is concern
cd think il will not be Il good
thing for the town To be dry. Poca-
hontas is a very we'll regulated
mining town. IL is progressive and
the citizens want rs good Il city as
can be had. Al the present time the
town is wet that is liquor is sold
there. If il should be cut out there
viii spring up iunumerable dives,
in which liquor will be sold. ann
dry man from the bottom of my
heart and | ann opposed To the liquor
traffic when il can be prohibited.
Pocahontas is located so close 10 the
state line that AZ soon as the liquor
traffic is cut out i'm PocahGntas il
will be shipped from Bluelield and
other places with the result that the
liquor will he drunk in Pocahontas
and the authorities will have no
power 10 regulate the shipment or
dispose of il. Under the present
regime we have open saloons, and the
people arc able To regulate them by
ordinance. As the saloon is driven
out the people will have no Say,as to
how much liquor shall be shipped
TO the city or where il shall be
drunk. The question is, shall we
have open saloons which we can req
ulate or shall we have dives or dens?
lie further said that until there Is a
law which will prevent the ship
ment of liquor 10 dry communities
from wet ones, the open saloon in a
town, situated like Pocahotas. Is the
lesser of the two evils"
Mr.. Leckie's reason for opposiny
prohibition in POcahOtaS embraces
the same old time-worn argument.
that liquor Will be sold ANYWAY. if
not lawfully, then, unlawfully. The
same argument was strenuouslV mn
forth when the fight was made i'm
This town, and in fact, i'm every other
town where local option or prohibit
lion has been an issue, and i'm the case
OF Tazweell and every town where
the test has been made has proven
TO be utterly fallaciouS. \ few men
put in Jail or heavily fined, or boil
or sent 10 the penitentiary, will soon
put stop to such work. This old
argument has been exploded long
ago, and We are surprised that Mr..
Leckie should again try TO have if
thrashed out.
Suppose ii to be true, that Iiouor
would be sold on the sly i'm Pocabon-
tas-it would necessarily be very
sly " and affect but comparatively
few. The old argument is so futile
on its face, and has been 50 often
disproved that it is unnecessary 10
consider il.
Talk about ''dens and dives and
prohibition! This is putting the ease
exactly backwards. Saloons, "dens
and dives is the proper order.
Doesn't Mr. Leckie know that tre,e
are "dens and dives in Pocahon:.s
now? Doesn't he know that Ii ,uor is
sold illegally in that town now?
Doesn't he know that "dens and
dives trek after and fatten upon
open saloons? a man of his inteIli-
gence and wide observation should
know, that there are certain forms of
vice" dives and dens" if YOU wish.
that live, move and have their being
In the atmosphere of the orca saloon.
That when the saloon goes these %
too, as necessary consequence. This
Is history, and history will repeat
itself when the saloons leave Mr..
Leckie's town.