Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-12-27
PART or DISCOURSE
ATTACK ON SUNDAY.
GAVE ARGUMENTS
AGAINST THE CLOSING or THE
sALooNs-ouoTED STATISTICS
THAT EMPHASIZED POINTS.

dressed a large audience OF men ana
women Sunday evening at the Grand
opera house In opposition to prohibi.
tlon. He declared that prohibition II
contrary to reason, false in its logic.
opposed to human nature, destructive
IN the equality Of man, contrary to the
divine order, an enemy to labor. In.
lmlcable to agriculture, and powerless
as remedy to drunkenness. He cited
statistics to show that there are more
arrests In dry territory than whera
saloons are regulated. He was fre.
quently interrupted by bursts OF ap-
plause and the shouts of hurraf,s. The
speaker began his arguments against
prohibition at o'clock and his con-
Guiding words were spoken an hour
and one-half after. Capt. w. H. 6.
Jaques introduced the speaker.
Mr.. Windle said In part as follows:
Tho Logic OF Prohibition.
am always pleased when given an
opportunity to discuss any vital uues-
ton OF human interest but we are
here tonight to talk on the question of
prohibition-one that is agitatfng the
country from ocean to ocean. Prohibit
tlon is wrong, Some people think it
IS right. am going to prove to you
conclusively and absolutely that it is
wrong, and If don't, then want no
man to accept our side Of the case. II
you are not convinced that prohibi-
ton is wrong, then you want to sup
port that contention, but II you are
convinced that 1t Is wrong you should
uphold that conviction to the fullest
extent. You ought to have the courage
OF your conviction. You should stand
by what you think rs right, though
the heavens fall. Prohibition ID. wrong
because 1t is contrary to human rea-
son. It Is unreasonable to believe In a
country where all men are equal
that one man has right to say to IN.
other man that he shall not eat some
| thing that he shall not think some
| thing or that he shall not drink some
| thing You carry as much sovereignty
under your hat as / carry under mine.
The theory on which this government
| is based is farce. We have been
preaching the equality OF mon for one
hundred and thirty-five years and IL
you and are equal you have az much
right to tell me that shall drink q
glass Of beer as have to tell you that
you shall not.
"If we win this fight we are going
to pass law In Ottumwa; then 90 to
Des Moines and have state law en-
acted compelling prohibitionists to
drink glass of beer every morning
! for breakfast. How much respect
would they have for law like that?
They would spit on It.. made that re-
| mark in fun. simply to put the shoe on
the other foot. All the prohibitionists
in this country would be instantly con-
verted into champions Of personal
liberty If such a law we're passed.
| prohibition Is contrary to reason.
"A man takes boat ride, browns HIM
self or somebody else. What Is the
remedy? Prohibit everybody from TAX
ing boat ride? That is prohibition
logic. A man shows that he is In
capable of handling his own private
business, dissipates his fortune What
is the remedy? Appoint conservator
for him, but not a conservator for
everyone in town. That would be pro-
hibition logic. In free country
might abuse my liberty and lose 1t, but
deny that one man can forfeit the lib
erty Of another man. Think it over.
It is unreasonable to suppose that
your action can forfeit my liberty.
/ Prohibition is not only contrary to hui
4 man reason, but it is absolutely false
/ in its logic. They pick out bad
saloon and condemn all saloons on that
account. They pick out a bad saloon-
keeper and they want to put all
saloonkecpers out Of business on his
account. Suppose we pick out bad
banker and argue that we wouiu
abolish the banking business on his
account. Suppose we pick out bad
preacher and want to close all the
churches and prohibit them from
preaching the gospel What would you
think Of that? Our logic would not be
any more false than the logic preached
from the prohibition platform.
Again they say that 100000 men fill
i drunkard's graves every year. To
listen to Billy Sunday you would not
think that you could go through life
i and dodge drunkard's grave.
I How many drunkards among your
friends can you name tonight. I have