The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-09-13
CIVIC LEAGUE IN
PUBLIC MEETING
SOUNDS ISSUE
Rev. Howard Addresses Large
Gathering on Lawn at Court
House in Support of Prohi-
bition Movement.
WILL WAGE THE FIGHT ON
LIQUOR INTERESTS TO END
Tells How Money Spent for
Liquor Will Benefit Popu-
lace Speech Free From
Political Argument.

Before a large audience last evening
the Rev. Elmer G. Howard of the First
English Lutheran church denounced
the liquor traffic as most Infamous and
declared that vigorous steps should
be taken to ward off the evil that will
harm coming generations. "The liquor
men have forced the fight and it is up
to the people to fight or surrender"
said the minister. His address was un-
doubtedly one of the strongest pleas
for temperance that has ever been
heard in Wayne county. 1t was non
political in the sense that it was non
partisan. No party was indorsed and
he gave his support to no special can
didate.
In part Rev. Howard said: I'VE are
not to think of the liquor foe as the
individual man who may be CHANGED
to be engaged in the various branches
of trade at the present time, but as
the organized traffic that goes on from
generation to generation. The grayest
difficulty in every moral conflict is to
bring the forces of Righteousness into
hand to hand conflict with the enemy.
"At the present time our forces are
unified as never before. The sagacity
of no Themistocles could have Or
dered a more satisfactory array of
forces than which is necessitated by
the present attack of the liquor foe.
1.-THE liquor interests declare that a
national federation is to be consum-
mated that will include every trade
and manufactory that in any way
contributes to the liquor interests.
They expect to have a great political
movement to be inaugurated. A
sweeping organization of the entire
United States is the slogan" Local
option and every kind OF prohibition
and temperance legislation is to be
start a fight that will daze some of
our opponents by its scope the liquor
people publicly announce.
1T is asserted that national prohibi-
tion should it occur, would be calam-
ity equalled only by the civil war. 1t
is proposed that the farmer receive
special attention and that the agri-
culturist faces a tremendous loss if
prohibition continues to gain as it
has in the past.
Union labor is aroused. Look at the
number of men that would be thrown
out of work should prohibition become
effective.
"A condition that will continue to
endanger and destroy the public
health, the public wealth, the safety,
and the morals. The issue before us
therefore is made up. 1t is forced up
on us, and we must fight or surrender.
1T may be concluded that prohibi-
ton does prohibit and that the liquor
| dealers have just reason for alarm
as to the outlook for their own bust
ness interests.
will prohibition produce a finan-
cial and industrial panic? 1t would
seem sufficient that this claim of the
| liquor men is devoid of any truth
from the fact that there has not been
panic in any state which has be
come dry.
THE Georgia brewers said that bust
ness would decrease and there would
be many failures, but this has been
| proven false, and the state has be-
come adjusted to larger prosperity
! that the removal of this economic par
asite will only bring.
| Every city in Kansas that has its
Continued on Page Two.)