The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1909-08-10


speaks of "the appalling condition un-
covered in the case *of Casselton
barber who sold beer and whiskey to
boys from fifteen to eighteen years OF
age.' There is nothing particularly
appalling about this circumstance; II
is an ordinary condition under a pro-
hibition law that does everything but
prohibit.
How long, we wonder, will the God
loving, home loving, honest, law -abid-
ing citizen of North Dakota sit idle
and allow this damnable farce of So
called prohibition" to slide along
carrying with it a premium on GRIM
inality and a course to manhood? Bet
ter far re- submission and the open
grog shop than the North Dakota blind
pig. You ask why? Well, have a care
dear reader, If you be one of those in
dividuaIs who believe that the world
can be forced onto a cold water diet !;
If you be one of those who believe
that the prohibition law in North Da-
kOta Is anything but a curse; If you
be one of those who sit idly by and
dream Of nectar so sweet as that which
drips from the slimp brim of the moss
covered bucket that hangs in the wel1,''
while your neighbor Sits by, equally
idle, slipping three cents worth of bar
ley brew from a bottle for which he
has just parted with thirty-five cents;
we repeat, have a care, and read no
farther, lest that which is written here
in truth should wreck your faith in
mankind and knock the logic out of
Your boasted prohibition
There is hardly a city, village or
hamlet in the entire North Dakota
empire, where beer and whiskey can
not be purchased today. And the
average man who sells intoxicating IL
quor in North Dakota will sell 1t to
boys under age. to women, to habitual
drunkards, to dope fiends, to any and
everybody who has the price. Why?
Simply because the crime of selling
beer or whiskey is OF itself greater
crime than selling to minors or any
one else. When a man goes into the
liquor business in North Dakota, he
knows that he is at once a criminal by
the very nature of his business, and
why should he hesitate to sell to a
minor?
Prohibition is wonderful thing,
but 1t does not prohibit The object
Of prohibition is to defeat the demon
rum. save weak men, protect the home
and lessen the number of criminals.
But it does just the opposite-at least
in North Dakota. It makes criminals
Of more men, damns more young boys
and wrecks more homes than does any
other one thing; IT sends more men to
the penitentiary and makes more
criminals than does any vice or her
editary weakness to which man is heir.
Here in North Dakota a man secures
possession of a dirty shack in a re-
mote corner Of the town the rear cor
ner Of a basement, or any out-of- way
place; he goes to one of the local rep
representatives. of a brewery who has
carload or two of beer in cold storage
and he orders a case or two of beer;
If he can't get ii from the cold storage
representative, he goes to the depot
and gets it. His cash outlay Is prob
ably six or seven dollars, sometimes
much less. He then opens what is
commonly known as blind pig and he
is a full fiedged liquor dealer. He
knows that he is a law breaker and
consequently he is not particular who
he sells his liquor to. Cross the line
into Minnesota and note the differ
ence. A liquor dealer in a high IL
cense state must first invest hundreds
of dollars before he can engage in
business. He pays a license generally
around the thousand dollar mark.
There are laws governing his place
of business which must be observed
or the revocation Of his license is the
penalty. He cannot sell after II o'clock
at night or on Sunday Minors are
not allowed to even enter the place.
Topers and habitual drunkards are
placed on the blacklist" and he
cannot secure liquor. In North Da-
kota the blind pigger generally has
nothing invested; he sells more after
IL o'clock at night than at any other
time; he sells just as much on Sun
day as the people will buy; he sells to
women. drunkards, and every
one who has the price. There are no
laws governing the operation of his
business except the one which says he
shall not, and to offset this the gov
ernment sells him a license to do the
very thing which he does.
And every citizen of North Dakota
who buys a bottle of beer pays a cash
premium or reward as an inducement
to a man to become a criminal. The
world over a quart bottle of beer sells
for twenty five cents-except in North
Dakota.
Here we pay ten cents a bottle ex-
ira as an inducement to a man to be-
come a criminal He knows that If
he can evade the officers of the law,
or if he is able to 'fix' things, or
If he happens to be a particular pet
with a pull, he can make more money
in the blind pig business than in any
legitimate line. There are countless
inducements to blind piggers. Nine
out Of ten men who sell beer in North
Dakota and by the very act become
criminals, could not engage in the sale
of liquor in high license state simply
for lack Of capital. And the man who
does operate a saloon in high license