Omaha daily bee., 1909-08-15

prohibitionist that such and such a saloon
is certainly a respectable place, and you
arouse his fiercest anger. lie would rather
hear that a murder has been committed in
one Of the hell holes" In his estimation
the respectable saloon is the very worst
kind. as It deoeives and beguiles the I'M
wary youth to his destruction.
The real character OF the prohibition
movement is thus seen in the way It reacts
on the prohibitlonists themselves. They
throw truth and reason and experience to
the winds, and often resort to the most
contemplate and disgusting methods to
gain their end. Some time ago. a travelling
salesman who lives in a town In the mid
die west, was returning home from a trip.
On arriving at his station, he noticed that
the streets were filled with people. Max
ing his way through the crowd, he dis
covered that a no-license parade was In
progress. II was a long procession, made
up of women and children. They carried
banners and flags, and sang temperance"
songs. Every child wore a badge on
which were the words. Vote for us;
we cannot" At the end Of the
procession were several files OF child
rem dressed in rags and tatters. One
of these, a boy, carried a huge banner.
Printed on the banner, in large letters. were
llebe WOIQS. NY lhAlSI 10 = uIuihdIus
Our friend the salesman looked at the ban
ner and then happened to glance at the boy.
Suddenly an expi ession Of Amusement camo
over his face, and, breaking through the
crowd, he ran up to the ragged banner
bearer and grasping him by the arm ex-
claimed: MY God, what are you doing
here, my boy?" II was this gentleman's
own son that had been dressed up in these
rags by the good Temperance" women and
sent out to carry this banner of shame and
humiliation through the streets. This ex-
hibition is a sample of the methods en-
ployed by prohibitionists to gain converts
to their cause.
Brutal and Vulgar Deception.
II these children really had drunken
fathers. 1t was unspeakably brutal and
cruel to make such a spectacle of them be-
fore the public. II their fathers were not
dTunkards. the whole thing was a cheap,
theatrical performance deliberately in
tended to create a false impression on the
public mind. And all this fraud and vul-
garity in the name of temperance and re-
ligion!
Here is another example Of the intern
perate temperance of prohibitionists A
professor in one of our universities &C
cepted an invitation to speak at a tenn
perance" rally In a church. In the course
of his remarks he referred to the miracle
at Cana, and expressed himself thus: II
have given this matter profound thought,
and 1 wish to say to you tnat 1 have
reached the conclusion that when Christ
turned that water into wine he did what
was wrong" Blind passion, wild fanati-
cism and bitter intolerance are the chief
chara cterlstics of the whole prohibition
movement. 1t must be apparent to every
sane and reasonable mind tina the sooner
this miscalled Temperance" crusade is
buried out of sight and forgotten the sooner
the way will be cleared for genuine tenn
perance reform.
Fails Of It's Purpose.
Finally, prohibition must be condemned,
not only because 1t has failed to accomplish
any good. not only because 1t blocks the
way to real reform, but because 1t is itself
the source of many social and political
evils. Those evils are briefly summarized
as follows:
l. Prohibitory legislation has never sue
ceeded in abolishing the liquor traffic, but
1t has succeeded in degrading and democrat
izing the traffic by driving 1t into secret
places. The liquor laws in most of the
states prohibit the use Of shades in saloon
windows and screens in front of the bar.
This wise provision is based on the COM
mon experience that the liquor business is
of such a nature that 1t is far more likely
to do harm when 1t is carried on under
cover than when 1t is open and aboveboard.
Now prohibition forces the liquor traffic to
secrete itself, not merely behind a screen,
but behind a barricaded door. The door is
quickly opened for those that know the
password, but shut against the officers OF
the law. The only practical question that
confronts us is whether we shall permit the
liquor traffic to be carried on openly under
the supervision and control of the law, or
whether we shall drive it into places where
the arm of the law cannot reach 1t. Lii
cense means the open barroom, prohibition
means the speak easy" Which Of the
two kinds is the more likely to harbor evils
and encourage intemperance?
2. II there is any one business more than
another that, in the interest of the public,
ought to be in the hands OF men with con-
science and moral principle, 1t Is the liquor
business. a proper kind OF license law can
do considerable toward improving the per-
sonnet of the trade. Prohibition, on the
other hand, discourages decent. honorable
men from engaging in the business, and
thus throws it into the hands of the most
INSCRIPTIONS and irresponsible men in the
community. Tn only qualification required
is the ability to beat the law without get
ting caught. A couple Of years ago, in a
certain town on Long Island, one of the
best hotels had to close It's doors shortly
after the dry law went into effect. The
proprietor of this hotel was one of the most
honored men in the community. Prohibi-
ton did succeed in closing this mans bar
and driving him out of the hotel business
as well, and 1t closed other decent places.
But what was the result? Why, within two
years between fifty and sixty Kitchen sa-
looms" were established in this same town.
1t Is a well known fact that most of the
men that run these speak easles' In a
dry" town are thoroughly satisfied with
prohibition. A license law would put them
out Of business. Again, the only question
is: Shall we encourage and project the de-
cent liquor dealer. or shall we encourage
the other kind? one kind or the other we
are absolutely sure to have.
Bad Effect ON
3. Prohibition has a bad effect also on
the drinker. 1t tends to discourage
the use Of the lighter alcoholic bev-
erages and to encourage the exces-
sive use OF the stronger liquors. This
tendency is especially pronounced wherever