Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-06-08
Entered at the pOstonice at Marshall.
town a. second class mail matter.
WHA1 is l12

The solicitor general has defined
wlliskey. 1t is still whiskey if more
alcohol is added, remains whiskey if it
is watered, certain coloring matters
must be retained, etc. That's whiskey
technically.
It wouldn't be whiskey without alco-
hol; that the active principle, the
poison, the real thing. 1t wouldn't be
whiskey unless it made drunk come
In order to be whiskey it must be cap
able of destroying a mans decency. re-
straint, business sense, morals If he
takes enough of it. 1t must be power
full enough to steer man into police
court and land him in Jail. Strong
enough to make him and his family
day that he can't work for week if
he takes enough of it. Powerful
enough to make hi mand his family
wear old clothes. Sharp enough to
shave his .'linings" off, tear his kid
neys to shreds. 1t must be patent
enough TO cause one Marshalltown
factory to lose $500 of labor and its
employees $500 of wages Immediately
after the day of Shut down. Its sim
ply got to have these all in it or it
isn't whiskey any more than strych-
nine that will not cause commissions is
strychnine.
The technical definition is about as
applicable to whiskey and what be-
longs to whiskey as the term "busi-
ness" is applicable to the saloon. The
.sslocc<.' business" is misnomer. 1t
isn't business" and no one knows it
better than the man engaged in it.
There isn't any real argument over it.
Selling booze" is not an honest COM
mercial transaction. Not one man who
sells 1t will sincerely defend the traf-
fic as reasonable and decent avenue
Of trade. The best argument he will
bring is that at will always be made,
always drunk and if 1 don't sell it
some one else will" and that argument
will justify any criminal business from
burglary and theft to white slavery.
The fact is that selling booze as
beverage doesn't belong in the class of
legitimate business, whether sold by a
saloontst or peddled by the whisky
deacon from a drug store. Neither of
these men belong in the field of bust
ness more than whisky belongs in the
list of general commodities of trade
Both are going, and going soon. The
last legislature passed law which will
afford the chance to check up every
sale upon application blanks by drug
gists. 1t win be impossible to do as has
been done in the past, select a few of
the applications signed with the de-
contest names and pack them over to
the court house, while the big bundle
Of booze fighters applications were
kept safely out of sight. The last leg
islature was ready and willing to deny
the drug stores the right to sell the
stuff. In fact, according to the state
meut of prominent legislators, it came
pretty near to doing that very thing
1t waited to see how the new enforce
ment laws would work out. The whis-
ky drug store in Iowa is doomed. 1t
isn't business It's a saloon sneak
ing out from under the lnulct tax, hid
ing sometimes behind the skirts of the
church, of decent society. It must go
The technical definition is one thing
The thing itself is another. Whisky
the saloon and the whisky drug store
need fuller explanation and definition