The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1908-03-11
WOOLLEY WRITES
OF PROHIBITION
GREAT TEMPERANCE ADVOCATE
WOULD LIKE TO SEE A NATION
AL PROHIBITION CAMPAIGN.
(By John G. Woolley in Chicago
News)

News)
HONOLULU, Dec. SO.-My commits
sion is to write letters from the Ha-
waiian Islands, presumably upon Ha-
waiian themes. In this and one sue
ceeding letter l am going to stretch
the goods enough to let me say some
things that need to be said about the
new spirit that ought to possess the
new alignment of the people against
the liquor traffic.
l am fit to say these things for two
l am a prohibitionist of the
sect and l am far removed
in mind and body from the rival and
fractional cross lights that are so very
apt to confuse the judgment.
In a word what should like to say,
if l could, to every member of every
organization in the field against the
liquor traffic, and especially to those of
my own party, is this, that what we
ought to try for in order to be fit for
these inspiring days is a great bap-
tism of patience.
At once the heaviest weight upon the
strength of the reformer and the sin
which all too easily besets him is a
chronic impotence which, greatly dim
inishing his helpfulness in bringing
others to his way of thinking, in tho
end makes him color blind to the sig
nails of his own success and indiffer-
ent, contemptuous or activity opposed
to the small, preliminary victories
that, however small, have no meaning
save to show that ne has turned into
to the home stretch and won racers
chance to make the goal.
This strange infirmity of earnest
minds has ever put an element of pa
thos into great moral triumphs and
sometimes caused the social daybreaks
or humanity loss; and our national
system of internal revenue defeats the
prohibitory states shamefully.
I was never stronger in the convic-
ton that the only antidote for the DeV-
erage liquor traffic is no beverage IL
uuor traffic. But the weakness of this
theory in practice in the immediate
crescent is that there are not yet
enough citizens who hold to that opln-
ion. Clearly then our main chance as
well as our only right in the premises
is to behave ourselves and direct our
energies so as to increase the number
of prohibitionists; and the way to dc
that is to run the race that is set be-
fore us by the sovereign-the people
to-wit: National eXaltatlon by loca
righteousness.
Patiently. There is no hope that tn'
goal will run to meet us, nor any wa!
to shunt the people from their plan
There is no sense in wasting time ant
strength and losing self-respect ant
the respect of others by stopping tt
throw stones at other runners, nor II
dodge the stones that may be throw
at us.
But whenever and whenever the pub
lie sentiment shows a light and trie
to hit the road of civic Righteousness
shame on us if we do not our level bes
to cheer it and to help it on the way
This necessarily means delay-clean
honorable, unwhining delay-patience
Another thing that makes stron
demand for patience is the solidarit
of the liquor traffic. Licensed or iii
cit, wholesale or retail, it is one. No
far from 80 per cent of the saloons ar
owned by the breweries, the distiller
les, the wholesale wine and spirit mer
chants, or tied to them by cut-throa
leases and chattel mortgages.
On the other hand, we who are 4
the race against the liquor trade ar
as diverse as it is united. They cal
us fanatics and themselves liberals
The fact is that the temperance move
ment has been waterlogged for half
century by conservatism and the liquo
power is organized fanaticism, with tn
power of fooling, frightening or pur
chasing it's betters almost reduced to
science.
But there is one point upon whic
we who are opposed to the liquor trai
fic do agree and ought to agree W
are in favor of majority rule and en-
forcement of the prohibitory feature
of the laws as they stand. The onl
way we can win, or ought to win, is b
drawing to our standard enough t
make us a majority. The only way t
do that is via the old corduroy high
way of patriotic obedience to the law
and patriotic endeavor to make ther
better. There is no truer scriptur
!: than the one which says in substance
The law is the schoolmaster to lead tn
, democracy away from selfishness an
meanness to altruism and true, san
socialism. Respect for law is the lon
way and the hard way but the onl
way the feet of democracy can trave
and there is no winged footgear fo
that course in any wise pear equal
: the broad, old-fashioned army shoes
patience.
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