Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1909-08-12
..o aacade Immediately fol-

the civil war, a great 'e"-
.ye. swept over the coun-
sr,njn a period of five years.
los VIZ. the six New England
Micbigan and Nebraska. adopt
.hibition. New York, Indiana
',sconsin also enacted prohibit
&c which, however, never went
'wect having been declared I'M
.,,io,al by the highest courts
oe states.
.pein. AFTER a lapse OF fifty
me country is witnessing an
temperance wave" which has
~ risen higher than its prede-
Nor is the end yet I'm sight.
., some sections of the coun-
ne wave has spent ITS force
.nrsars to be receding, in other
NE II is increasing in volume
strength. There are, at present,
srates in which statutory pro-
ion obtains-four in the South.
IN the West and one in New
and Under the Local Option
!, a number of other states are
rrohfbitionized on the INSTALL
plan. Not long ago it was es-
ted that saloons were being clos
the rate of thirty a day-nearly
10 year.
prohibition leaders boast that,
ten years ago there were only
Million people living in dry" ter
y there are now thirty-eight mil
If prohibition and temperance
he same thing, we are certainly
ling prodigious strides toward the
eniuin. But sober minded -peo-
have no faith in the professions
promises Of prohibitionists. Fifty
ago, the leaders of the crusade
nght they saw the dawn OF the
|ect day, when there would not be
ram shop or a drunkard in all the
They were Dnfident that the
blem of intemperance, which had
picked and baffled mankind for
lsands Of years, was as good as
led. The great dragon was about
be slain and his dead carcass hurl-
into the bottomless pit. But It
he'd out to be all a dream. The
gon was not slain; he was not
seriously wounded. If he dis
feared at all, it was only to ibetake
hself to the cellar to await the
5sing of the storm. In the course
a few years, the temperance
fe' passed away, and the frenzy
hysteria that caused it. and was
bsed by it, died out
The crusade not only did not solve
liquor problem, but it comp1icat-
the problem with new difficulties.
+ states that adopted the prohibit
/ system soon found themselves
hfronted with two evils instead of
r the old disease of intemperance
4 the new remedy of prohibition.
"a now, the succes-ors of the men
Pt rallied round the standard of
al Dow are making precisely the
me promises and predictions that
re made of old. They assure us
~ the present movement means
slness. They prophesy that this
we will not subside until it has
cpl over every foot of American
and has done to the rum traf-
what Jehovah did to the Egyptians
the Red Sea.
have simplified the
uor problem at the expense of
'h' reason and common experience.
'ead of suiting the remedy to the
ease they have tried to make the
ease conform to their predetermin-
remedy.
Inc liquor problem is one of the
81 complex of all social problems.
aoes not stand out alone, simple,
''hct and isolated. as prohibition
would have US believe. It is at
: moral, an economic, a physio-
'.ai' psychological and, in its
Il analysis, purely personal
oiem 1t contains many elements
=, involves many perplexing diff
ues When we look below the sur
. and study this problem in it's
yer aspects. we find that it's roots
ihextricably intertwined with
sc OF other social problems. So
genuine and thorough temper
: REFORM must be conducted along
ny different lines.
ne liquor problem is not exclus-
nor chiefly legislative problem,
:, hehce 1t cannot be solved by leg
''on alone. The evil of intern
'hce IS not caused, though 1t may
'ssravated, by bad legislation, and
',inot be removed, though it may
'essened, by good legislation.
;, "iain lines of temperance re-
:, tne most potent agencies for
ooiiolng up of moral character
: moral character is the basis of
psrance in all things). lie wholly
aue the scope of legislation. Legis-
- mas, of course. it's part to play
~ a not unimportant part-in any
program of temper
'eiorm; but when legislation en-
mes on the domain of the church
'he nome, when it ventures to
substitute for purely social
mural agencies, It not only fails
accomplish any good. but causes
:. s'eatest harm. Speaking general
,ne work that legislation can do
- moral sphere Is of negative
.e'er-preventing and suppressing
,'i-while work of positive
oe'er must be done through other
,''es. In undertaking temper
,e'orm work along any line, we
! iedrn to ha notia-< a-1 - ha