The national prohibitionist. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1907-1911, 1908-02-13

IespoHdence) = aklng 1or MS text " / he Last
Stand of the Saloon: Walter B. Duffy's Mo
ton for Stay of Execution Reviewed and
Denied Clinton n Howard in his lecture
today in the Asbury church reviewed the New
York Safe Brewers convention held last week
in this city
This convention was of the most spec
tacular ever held by the trade in the Empire
state. The New York delegation brought along
as guests of the liquor dealers three preach
ers, Rector WATSON of Riverhead Dr. Sheen
field, a Lutheran minister of New York and
Chaplain Smith of Governors Island These
clergymen addressed the convention, attended
the evening banquet and were warmly received
by the brewers
An even more important event the appear
ance at the convention of Rochesters king dis
tiller, Walter B. Duffy president of the COM
pany which makes the notorious whisky known
as ''Duffy's Pure Malt" Mr. Duffy made the
principal speech of the convention, and was
given three columns in the press reports The
chairman of the local brewers committee to
welcome and entertain the visiting brewers
and preachers, was John Bradley president of
the Rochester association who is still fighting
an order from the court, now on second appeal,
to destroy the reputation of Mr.. Howard.
The announcement that Mr.. Howard would
review the convention brought out large audi
ence one of the most disagreeable Sundays
of the year The address delivered first in
the Memorial Presbyterian church and repeated
at the Asbury, was in part as follows:
Tried, condemned and on the way to the gal
lows, the saloon is getting good Denied its
last appeal for Stav. it sends for the chaplain
to perform the last sad rites and insure re-
spectacle funeral
"The rector and the rectifer have granted
absolution to the departing brewery Like the
Philistnes in the days of Saul, the saloon has
selected its CHAMPION and Rochester distiller
has defed the armies of the Lord. This is the
first time within my knowledge in this city
when man engaged in the business has risen
to defend it. The gentleman who prepared
the distiller's argument possesses keen sense
of humor. He devoteS one half to proving
that Prohibition is failure and increases the
market for the dister; and the other half
to proving that Prohibition is conhscation be-
cause it destroys the value of the distiller's
property by taking away his market for whisky
at is failure because it increases con-
sumption; it is conhscation because it destroys
the market 1t is something in the nature of
an Irish bull 1t is the same kind of logic
which says Whisky makes good business;
Prohibition increases the sale of whisky; there
fore Prohibition will kill business!
"Mr Duffy denounces Prohibition as an
arbitrary and despotic power. The state has
always been obliged to arbitrary and des-
potic power when dealing with criminals It is
arbitrary and despotic for the state to take
away a mans life, but it does even that to pro-
tect the life of its citizens. And if to protect
society the state has the right to take the life
of a citizen, who shall deny it the right for
an even larger reason to take the life of the
saloon?