The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1908-06-02
500 PEOPLE
HEAR STEWART
PROHIBITION ORATOR DRAWS
BIG CROWD AT THE METHO.
DIST CHURCH LAST NIGHT,

Before six hundred people-all
that could be packed into the First
Methodist church including gallery
and standing rOom-Oliver Stewart
of Illinois delivered an address on
the liquor question last night Stew
arr is the man who was ,ected to
the state legislature from Chicago
on the Prohibition ticAet in a district
comprising 1000 voters. For five
yca.. he was chairman of tn: IA
tiCral Prohibition party.
The speaker discussed the present
methods of dealing with the saloon,
and attributed it's present strength
to the fact that it has governmental
protection. He discussed the idea
Of government ownership.
What would be the difference, :"
said he, eff the government owned
the saloons. The man and the drink
woul1 get together the same as be-
fore. The only difference would be
that instead of being just ordinarily
drunk he would be governmentally
drunk. What would be the effect if
they were outside the plane Of the
law?
Not Fighting SaloOn!1eepers.
I am not here for the purpose of
fighting saloonkeepers. The saloon
keeper does not like the business.
He is there for the money there is
in it. What | am after is the busi-
ness and not the man who is running
it. What is it that makes drunken
ness? 1t is the appetite of the man
plus the protection which the law
gives to the business. Keen the
man and the drink apart and you
have sobriety. Put them together
and you have drunkenness.
To keep a man from drink-that's
temperance.
To keep the drink from the man
that's prohibition.
Temperance applies to the drink
er.
Prohibition applies to the drink.
Drinker Not Free Moral Agent.
The question is asked, why not
start big crusade of temperance re-
form? I'll tell you why it won't
work The man whom you wish is
not free moral agent. The drunk
ard is not drunkard from judg
ment-he's a drunkard from appe-
tite. He may be rational on all 9TH
er subjects but on the subject of
drink he is not a free moral agent.
Did you ever think, what would
be the result if a man started ont
to buy another article with the sane
recklessneSs as he does whisky?
Suppose a man took. it into his
head to buy overcoats. Suppose he
would go down the first thing in the
morning and buy one before break
fast; then after breakfast he goes
down and buys another: and then
he kept buying overcoats until ne
gets loaded And then he should
start home ''loaded down. with over
coats He falls down lin the ditch"
His friend comes along and says
Where are your groceries," land
he says, Search me-" And you ask
him what he was going to do with
those overcoats, ard he would tel
you Its none CT Your bHsiHeSS
1t wouldn't be long til: he would
be in the asylum.
If man should have a mania for
overcoats you would send him to the
asylum. If he has a mania for
drink send him to the-legislature
No a man cannot spend his money
just as he pleases. When he ceases
to be a reasonable being then the
law will take him in hand. his ap-
plies to anything except to drink.
Does Prohibition Prohibit?
You hear it said that there is
more drinking in Kansas-a prohi-
hition state-than there Is in Ne
braska where the saloons are wide
open. If this is true why do not the
brewers and the distillers all over
the country join in and help to place
the whole country in the prohibition
column?
Strength of Liquor Traffic Over
estimated.
The strength of the liquor traffic
is greatly oyerestimated. IT is nor
nalf as strong as we think it is
It's only strength lies in the faot that
It is protected by law. Take away
protection and you take away its
main prop Make the liquor busi-
ness an outlaw, the same as the
eounterfeiting business ani you
have killed the business. How are
you going to do it?
You've got to do it with the leg
islature Elect the right kind of
men to the legislature and you have
got the law that you want. It's
a purely legislative fight.
The speaker stated that he had
just finished twenty-nine day cam
paign in West Virginia. and had
made forty-four towns and spoken
ffty-two times. He is now on a
twenty-five day tour OF this state.
ne raised $4,000 for use n the cam