Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1908-03-04
PROHIBITION PRESS BULLETIN,
BY John A. Shields, Minneapolis.

" eAOSAV - n SAeeA SSA VI q NS4AO04y
frequent attempts have been made
by prohibitionists and other tenn
perance advocates to get the liquor
men to openly debate the Temper
ance Issue before a public meeting.
On Feb, 5 Mr.. John A. Shields chal-
lenged Mr.. William B. Stewart to
such a debate. or friendly discus
sion, upon which Both Sides, -
the local liquor paper, makes the fol-
lowing editorial comment: "John
A. Shields, the shining light and
master prevaricator of the Prohibi-
tion Press Bulletin, seems to be
terribly disappointed because VIM.
B. Stewart has not met him in
joint debate on the liquor question.
Knowing Mr.. Stewart as we do. we
are not surprised at his refusal, as
he would be degrading himself by
taking issue on the platform with a
creature of Shields calibre.' In
deed! That scheme beats debat-
ing all hollow. It would appear
that both Sides" thinks thus to
hide the issue and to conceal the
champion by covering his head in
the sands of 81 am better than
thou" Certain mystics still cling
to the interesting theory Of the
TRANSPORTATION of souls. In the
light Of this theory, we should like
to have some of these educators"
examined by an expert on ostriches.
During the first fifty-two days of
1908 the liquor traffic in Minnesota
has made the following record /:
four insane on account of drink; 81
injured while drunk, or by intoxi-
Gated men; Sc killed while drunk,
or by drunken men. "Woe unto
him that buildeth a town with blood
and stablisheth a city by iniquity.' -
The man, the boy, the girl or the
woman that takes to drinking booze,
or who advocates the sale of booze
in any community, instead Of pro.
noting personal rights" does all
that he or she can do to ENSLAVE
society to filthy, debasing, health
destroying, crime-engendering,
treason-promoting custom which has
ruined many nations in the past and
will drag down to ruin and disgrace
the people that licenses and indulge
in the heather custom. -Wasecs
Herald.
Golfers Weekly, in addition to
offering a 500 prize, and several
$25 prizes for articles on the Saloon,
has announced a series Of articles
on the effects of Prohibition. Good
for Golfers.
There is just now being sent out
very widely and apparently from
many sources document entitled
"Some Interesting Facts for Manu-
facturers, Dealers, Insurance agents,
Transportation Companies, Farmers
and Wage Farmers. 1t purports
to give the disbursements Of the
business of manufacturing intoxi-
eating liquors, and among other
things gives the following statis-
tics: 1.-The Brewers, Maltsters,
and Distillers in the United States
consume in their products every
year 6,361, 1915 bushels corn, value
$27, PA ,208; 62, 76O, 900 bushel barley
value $62, $50, 900; $685., 900 bushel
rye, value $3,916,889." In compil-
ing the Statistic Abstract, the
United States Census Department
annually estimtes the value of the
grain crop by the price prevailing
upon December l at the farms. 1t
may be safely assumed that large
purchasers of farm commodities do
not pay materially more than the
farm price, and usually buy at prac-
tically the lowest rate which pre-
walls during the year-a rate often
below the one accepted by the Alb
stract. 1t is true also that the
Liquor Interests commonly buy the
unstable, inferior grains, paying
often only a small part of the price
that good grain demands. Follow
ing the statistics of the government,
we find the following values: corn,
$13, $50, 1862; barley, $25, 1904 1888;
rye, 1926, 1888. The discrepancy
on the part of the liquor document
is particularly noticeable in the case
Of corn and barley, where the val
ues are more than doubled. The
year under consideration is 1906,
in which corn was valued by the
United States at 1873 cents, rye at
$50 cents and barley at Ais cents
per bushe]. The author of this
liquor circular has valued barley
at 81 per bushel, a price which it
has never reached in the U. S. sta
tistics since 1868, while corn has
been estimated at practically rs
cents, double the value assigned to
it in the government statistics, and
a value which it has not had in the
Statistical Abstract in the history
Of government compilations. 1t is
perfectly safe to assert that not a