The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1908-12-30
THE OTHER SIDE.

/ The Gazette having extended an
invitation to any one wishing to pre-
sent any argument in favor of voting
wet at the coming city election,
the writer has concluded to present
| his views.
| He knows that many advocates of
prohibition will deny it, but it seems
to the writer that it is possible for
person to be in favor of total absti-
nence and to dislike the saloon and
yet not favor legal prohibition.
In the first place, every fairly
open-minded person knows that
shutting out saloons will not do
away with the drinking Of liquor.
Any person may drink at his home
or place of business or even on the
highway, SO long as he is not dis
orderly, without legal restraint.
And quite number of persons de-
sire to drink and will drink, what
ever anyone else may think about it.
There will be more dispute on the
next proposition but it ought to be
admitted that as long as quite large
minority of any community wish to
procure liquor it will, be sold and
intoxicating liquors are sold in all
places where the sentiment is not
overwhelmingly opposed to it. No
state, county or town in the north
has ever been able to make prohibi-
bition effective where the public
: opinion was divided on the subject.
There is no use Of treating southern
conditions as in point because there
the policy Of no saloons is a race
issue.
At the recent meeting at the court
) house the mayor of Renville came
over to show how easy it was to en-
force the law-and convinced every
} body before he was through that it
j was not enforced there at all. 1t is
absurd to suppose that in a commun-
sity like Renville two or three arrest
would in the first year keep down a
J traffic where greed on one hand and
desire on the other were urging it.
The writer predicts now that Rem
vile will go wet at its next election
for the very reason that enforcement
of the law has been a dead letter in
! that city.
Then there is the question Of rev.
enue. 1t is all well to sheer at the
man who objects to higher taxes,
but quite a bit of the sneering is
done by those who pay but little or
none at all. But let's be frank
about it. There will be the same
need of work on streets, the same
| school tax, the same interest on
: bonds, the same official salaries, etc.
: Prohibition will not reduce one of
these a cent, or at most but little.
Unless prohibition is effective the
increase of taxation has no compen-
sating advantages. And it's all right
to look at matter of $4,000 rather
carefully before throwing it away.
, 1t ought to be reasonably sure that
the change is going to reduce liquor
drinking, for it is the drinking and
not the selling that causes most of
. our troubles. Most temperance adj
, vocates claim that with prohibition
all bad bills would bel made good
but any business man will tell you
t that somerampant temperance shout
t ers are little forgetful about pay
ing up at times.
1t may be admitted, however, that
. the money question is not of the
: main importance. The writer thinks
, the loss to the city by prohibition
has been exaggerated and there
would not be any appreciable gain
or loss in trade or any row of empty
. buildings resulting from going
dry. He does believe that it is
not much use trying to make men
temperate by ordinance or statute;
that any policy of compelling people
to stop drinking when they want to
drink arouses opposition and in the
end helps the saloon. We need not
go away from Redwood Falls to see
how it works. The result of the
Sunday" meetings left for a time
the saloons deserted. The license
system was in force but vast ma
!, jority of our people concluded not
to drink and there was no sales