The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-02-19

voted out saloons last November. Cali
| ifornia reports five counties and $50
cities and towns under prohibition law,
with movements for the extension OF
the prohibitory territory constantly
under way, and prohibition sentiment
| gaining rapidly"
| Connecticut has two-thirds of its ter
1 ritory and two-fifths Of It's population
under prohibition" In Florida, under
| its county local option law, thirty1SIx
out of forty-six counties have adopted
/ prohibition. More than three-fourths
! of the area of the state of Illinois is
under prohibitory law of some kind.
+, "One-half the area of the city of Chi
cago and twenty-five per cent of its
population are under local prohibition.
In Indiana. it is said, 'the gains in mo-
license territory are so rapid that it
is difficult to keep statistics up-to-date,
and the outlook for a state prohibitory
law is hopeful" Many states have
local option laws, including Michigan.
Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ken
lucky. Ohio, Oregon, Colorado, and
Florida, while of a larger number, In
] ending most of these, it is said, this
state is sure to have a prohibitory law
at no distant time.''
country in which we are most inter-
ested. but in almost all civilized lands
the leaven is working and law is be-
ing invoked to aid the righteous to
throw off this greatest curse of the
ages
j 'All round the world
Our cause has right Of way"
and thereat we will take heart and
rejoice.
That this awakening of temperance
sentiment is not superficial, but has
come to stay, is evidenced in many
ways, notably, the attitude of the
press of the country-their acceptance
of the situation. and in general their
! willingness to regard favorably a re-
| form which after the struggles of a
century has at last won it's place to
public recognition. A few months
ago San Francisco paper publish
ed an article entitled 1.-The Passing
of the Drunk, - beginning in this way:
'fSadly the inebriate looks from
| the hill top at the setting sun, for he
must realize that be and his race must
| soon follow that luminary and that for
| them there can be no dawn, no awak-
/ ening. The doom of the drunk is seal
! ed. The greatest temperance move
ment the world has ever seen is now
/! in. progress, and before its memorable
advance everything must yield. That
| this view is tacitly or openly taken by
most magazines and newspapers, relIg-
! ious and secular. is most cheering
| sign. The crusade undertaken by such
| magazines as Collier IS, Pearson s and
| the Ladies' Home Journal against
| alcohol in medicines is interesting-as
well as the terror shown by the hundred
weekly, fortnightly and monthly news
papers and magazines whose business
| is to boom the liquor traffic, and the
! frantic appeals of brewers, distillers
! and saloon men to their followers, IN
conventions and personally to eliminate
| the degrading aspects of the - trade
and make the saloon respectable be
| fore public sentiment forces the law
makers to squelch the whole business
| But the lawmakers, too, are waking up
and becoming conscious of the unmis-
| taxable trend of public sentiment even
| in the national congress. to the extent
| that there is strong probability or
| the passage of a prohibitory law for the
| district of Columbia, and possibly for
| the territories under Federal control.
There is also a bill before Congress
called the McCumber- Thrill bill, to
prohibit the sale of LIQUOR in any shin,
navy yard, naval station or building
| owned or used by the United States
| Government or in premises adjoining.
These are only a few of the encour-
| aging signs of one dav. of which many
more could be given, if time would per
nit. We can only stop for q moment
aow to consider the interesting question
as to the cause Of this ''arrest of
| Thought" upon the temperance ques-
ton. Many causes have been at work
no doubt Tt is a day of reforms, or
| At least attempts at reforms in many
| lands Since reforms are in the air,
no one can overlook the fact-that as
Senator Tillman said in Congress a few