The Newport miner. [volume] (Newport, Wash.) 1899-current, 1909-08-26

all liable to be led astray under the
license system, is far more liable to
| go astray under system, that encour-
ages secret drinking. Who wouldn't
rather have his son go into an open
saloon and get a glass of beer than
to have him join his companions in
some Darkroom resort? If there is
any class of young men in the COM
munity that need the protection of the
law, they are certainly not the ones
that frequent the W. c. T. U. prayer
meeting when the town is "dry."
While the good women are praying and
thanking the Lord for the great bless
ing Of prohibition, these young fellows
are probably protecting" themselves
in the "club' room at the far end of
some alley.
4. Prohibition creates widespread
and habitual law-breaking. Consider
the number of crimes that are commit
ted every hour of the day in a "dry"
state. And consider the bad moral eff
feet of this habit of aw-breaking on
the civic life. It creates the spirit of
| lawlessness. It tends to weaken and
break down that respect for the prin-
ciple of law and order which is so es-
sential to good citizenship. The fol-
lowing story shows how even good men
are unconsciously affected by this
| baneful influence: Some years ago a
clergyman went to certain summer
| resort in New Hampshire to spend his
vacation. On arriving in the town,
he went to the leading hotel. While
| waiting in the office for the supper
bell, he happened to open door, and
| found, in the next room, well-ap-
pointed bar. The proprietor was in
this room, and the clergyman, pointing
to the bar, said, "Why, Mr.. -, how
is thisg'' elbows what?' answered
the proprietor. "Why, you have a bar
here, and you are evidently open for
business. The hotel man looked puz-
zled and said: tEOf course I have a
bar. Couldn't you get what you
wanted9' "Oh, I didn' It wish any
thing answered the minister, "but
I wondered how you could run an open
bar in prohibition town. The genial
host felt relieved when he found that
his guest was not complaining about
the service. "Well, well,' he said,
81 didn t understand what you meant.
Why, that IS easy. I'll tell you how
we work it up here. You see, 1 was
high sheriff of this county last term,
and, while I dislike to blow my own
horn, I want to tell you that [ did
what very few. men in this county
would have done. Every three months
| I raided my own bar and had myself
| fned' AS he finished this sentence,
there was look of genuine pride in
the ex-sheriff's face. He seemed to
be blissfully unconscious that there
was anything wrong about violating
the law. This story was told to the
writer by the Rev. DR.. E. A. WATSON,
of Newark, N. j., who was himself
| the clergyman that had this converse
ton with the hotel man.
Here is another story which shows
the effect of prohibition as breeder
of rank hypocrisy. About four years
ago, shortly after a certain town on
Long Island went "dry," hotel
|
from a wholesale whisky concern in
Kentucky, reading something like this:
CIVIL you kindly send us the names
Of any persons in your town who, you
think, might be likely to purchase wet
goods. We have very fine brand of
whisky (naming the brandy that we
should like to introduce in your town.
We shall be glad to extend to you the
usual courtesy of ten per cent commits
sion on all sales that we may make
through the list you send u.s. Well,
the hotel man thought he would have
little fun, and so he made list of
about thirty-fve of the most rabid pro-
hibitionists in the place, and sent the
list to the whisky firm. He thought it
would be a fine joke on the prohibi-
tionists to have them deluged with
whisky circulars. And it turned out
to be a better joke than he thought.
For, at the end of three months, he
received a letter from the whisky
people thanking him for what he had
done, and inclosing check for twenty
seven dollars commission. This story
throws light on the curious circum
stances already referred to, that, as
the prohibition movement spreads, the
consumption of liquor increases.
| Ex-President Eliot of Harvard sums
up the whole case against prohibition
in it's effects on the social and political
life. He says: "The efforts to en-
force it (prohibition) during forty
years past have had some unlocked
for effects on public respect for courts,
judicial procedure, oaths and law, leg