Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1908-03-04
Observations BY Uncle Si1as

It is DRAWN near toward vii
lage lection time now agin and I
reckon as there'll be the same old
fight on about the saloon license
question. Your Uncle 81 used to
effuse more or less on the temper
ance question about this time of
the year. Yes, I've been quite a
temperance crank for the last de-
cade. but do you know, fellers, I'm
all caved in now. My prohibition
tires are punctured. And it all
happened so sudden like and unex-
pected. was a walking the street
in one of our big cities one day
when was Unexpectedly attracted
by big poster. I stopped and
read and re-read. It was warn
in to the people Of the great ca
tastrophy which was sure to strike
this kentry if the present prohibi-
tionistic cement kept gaining
ground.
Well, sir, stood there and read
and | felt all my previous pet no.
tions about temperance begin to
melt like an iceberg before the
midnight tallow candle. l most
began to quake like aspen leaf
in the wind when l realized that l
had been helping to push this ma
ton toward the awful abiss of ruin
and despair by my past votin' agin
the saloon.
In the first place think of how
many thousands of men are engaged
in the liquor business who would be
thrown out of employment and will
be compelled to go out in the cold
world and do hard work. Why,
they would flood the labor market
and take the work away from hon.
est men, so that a carpenter or
blacksmith would probably have to
work for SO cents per day. And
then think of all the men as now
have lucrative positions on the po-
lice force, police courts, states pri-
sons, asylums, and other institu-
tions Of modern civilization which
are largely fed by drunkenness.
And then what would the United
States government do without the
tax on whiskey? What would our
cities do without the license money?
Do you realize that the drinking
men and the drunkards of this ken
try pay in millions on millions Of
dollars every year for the support
of the government which else would
have to be cruelty wrenched by in
come tax or otherwise from the
poor downtrodden corporations?
And then another thing, think of
the millions paid yearly by the
breweries to the farmers for barley
and hops! What would become of
the farmer? Wouldn't he go down
with the price of his barley and
hops? Why, man alive, if we
would have prohibition we would
see one Of the biggestest pannicks
as ever struck this solar system.
Now them are nuts as IS hard to
crack, / reckon, it will take more
than common fanatic anti-saloon
agitator to answer these question
soon.
Now l have been a thinkin' why
not carry out this line of reasoning
still futher than the whiskey mems
"educational' posters did? Not
be only on the defensive, but also
constructive. Why not build still
more saloons and breweries? When
the ones we have got are such a
boon to our prosperity, why not
make the kentry still more prosper
Gus? Pass law compelling every
one to drink beer and whiskey,
teach the children to drink. There
are lot of our mothers and sisters
who could do more than they are
doing to support the government
financially and help prosperity.
Wouldn't that give still more en-
ployment for men in saloons and
breweries? Wouldn't we have to
build still more jails and employ
still more policemen and have still
more police courts? Wouldn't the
farmer get still higher prices for
his barley and his hops?
| noticed that my old friend Prof.
Lobeck is going to speak in Will
mar pretty soon. Lobeck is a we'll
trained fighter from way back. He
has been hittin' the saloon as long
now that he's developed the muscle
- AKI<