The Morning examiner. [volume] (Ogden, Utah) 1904-1910, 1909-01-31
EXTRACT FROM AN OPEN LETTER
DISCUSSING THE WET" AND
"OPYr QUESTION.

OIs y CUES ION.
Fellow Workiagmen of Roanoke -
On December 30. 1908. red letter
day in the history of the town. you
voted and the 'drys" won out. In read
inS the arguments and studying the
iahulated votes for and against the
saloon, | concluded, that no longer
being amongst you, ] would venture
few remarks on the election as
viewed by IL worker
In the first place. | am heartily in
favor OF any movement for the up
| lifting OF humanity; but. although not
q Missourian, yet you must show me
| that local option. or prohibition, alone
Will dc so. II II did, what would be
the necessity Of sending missionaries
! 10 Turkey. Persia or India. where the
| religion of the people prohibits the
manufacture or use OF intoXlcantS?
| Surely, if the use of intoxlcants is as
! tho prohibs state, the cause OF pow
erty. vice and crime of all kinds, then
those people should be paragons OF
peace. plenty and pure morals. But
| iG such the case2 Mo- From all
'lioS6 lpHull -tS tOIlt luG tllto vi
starving millions OF murder, arson and
| dcpraved morality, a cry which finds
a responsive echo In the hearts OF tho
| starving millions of Europe and
| America, not FOR relief from the demon
CT drink bur from the hydra-headcd
| mouster who absorbs the wealth pro
duced by the working class OF all
countries No. drink Is not the cause
OF The evil: you must dig deeper and
whcn YOU get to bed rock. you VIII
fad that vice and intemperanoe arc
merely effects which will continue as
lonS as you permit the cause 10 re.
iain
Non.Alcoholc Countries,
Why 40 millions die by starvation
| in non-alcohoic Brahman India? Pre-
vious to the British conquest thereof
the natives. knowing that there came
years of drought, prepared for IL by
storing away In their public store
! houses something against that calaml-
ty. Under Christian England's rule.
everything except bare living Is
swept away from the poor people by
the English capitalists. leaving the
people penniless in the face of famine.
In alcoholic Turkey and Persia the
poor suffer the same fate at the hands
of their own arlstocracy II is the
same story everywhere, irrespective
of religion. creed or color, The CRY of
hunger from Christian England'S mil
lions is echoed all over Europe, and re-
echoed across the broad Atlantic to
the bread lines In the industrial cen
ters of our great republic" under the
T1II %
fame" Again and again is the cry
taken up In our Christian United States
carried across her broad bosom to the
Pacific slope. and on across that broad
expanse of water to China and Japan.
It's the same old story the people suf-
fer because the aristocracy as we'll as
the plutocracy of the Old World and
the capitalism Of the New absorb all
the wealth, except a mere pittance,
from the working class who produced
IL all, That, and not drink. is the
cause of poverty, intemperance, vice,
crime and depravity of all kinds.
The conditions Will continue and get
worse year by year as long as the
working class by their votes sustain
the present system of capitalistic ex-
ploitation. be 1t In mouarchIal Europe,
or In republican United States
Society Dinners Versus the Bread
Line.
AS long as this system of eXploita-
tlon of tho working class goes on VIC
have our Seeloy dinners, where nude
girls step forth from the pie when It
is cut open and promanade the din
ner table in natures dress TO the de
light of Our" bachelor 400 In New
York; we will have Christmas trees
for puppy dogs. hogs dining with
their mistresSes from Silverwarc and
reclining In beautifully upholstered
cradles while The children of those
who produce IL all shiyer in freezing
atmosphere either in their novels OF
on the streets and men stand in bread
lines waiting their turn for cup OF
coffee and a roll
oh, the degradation of It, to think
that strong man able and willing 20
work is driven by starvation 20
smother his natural pride and ACCEPT
In aims part OF the wealth produced
by him and his sure that he is blame
less in this matter? Are you not the
ones TO whom those starved mothers
and children of this country are point
ing their bony fingers as they shiyer
in their rags at the Street corners
or in their dens? oh. their hollow
checks and raking cough say to You
husbands and fathers of the working
class that not the capitalists alone.
but YOU also are responsible for their
condition. You can change these
conditions by wiping out capitalism.
AS means TO that great end ! would
urge YOU to connect yourself with and
work for the advancement OF the only
political organization In the United
States, the Socialist Labor Party.
pledged to overthrow this present syS-
tenn of capitalism. and rear in It's stead
the Cooperative Commonwealth,
wherein all willing 20 work shall be
afforded an opportunity TO do so.
and enjoy to the full the fruits OF
their toll. And as means or lmmedi-
ate relief. while battling FOR the final
goal. ] would urge You to form
branch OF the transportation depart
ment of the Industrial Workers OF the
World to take the place or Your prc5-
ent working class disintegrating craft
unions.
Ballots Need Backing.
Besides political organization the