The gold leaf., 1910-10-20

% ba construed TO Hledll tue iiSht 10
establish bar-rooms and stillhouses
in the State. no matter il it is by will
of the majority, then it follows by
the same parity OF reason. that the
same authority can establish and
maintain houses of ill-fame and
abodes of vice and immortality,
gambling dens, farobanks and other
vices add libitum.
Local self-government cannot be
distorted into meaning any such
liberties. Under this idea of local
self government any township in
Forsyth county, if minded might
vote on the question of polygamy,
and by a majority vote express their
will in favor thereof and undertake
to carry this idea oflocal self-govern-
ment into operation, but the people
of FORSYTH would not submit to such
a state of affairs for "a hours; they
would get together and drive every
Mormon out OF the country, or
send them to the penitentiary, not
withstanding the Mormon plea of
| local self-gOvernment as In Utah.
Take every other vice known to
civilization and add them all together
and they will not equal in enormity
the wreck, ruin, devastation, de-
pravity, misery, wretchedness and
unhappiness brought upon the
human family by the manufacture,
sale and use of intoxicating liquors.
NV dear friend, there are so many
things to be said against local option
as it refers to the manufacture and
sale of Intoxicating liquors that L
find it impossible to stop this COM
munication short of an effort to con-
vince you of your mistake in its ad-
vocacy. There is not one good word
to be said in it's behalf, but every
thing that is bad and demOralizing
NAV be added to it's account. Byits
lawlessness and instigation OF law
breakers it forces on us n standing
army of police officers in time OF
peace, to maintain order and pre-
serve the dignity of civil government.
1t is wealth devOuring parasite; it
crowds our prisons, lunatic asvlums,
hospitals and poor houses with in
mates. Of the hundreds OF thous-
ands OF lunatics now crowding our
asylums, and jails, 5 A per. cent are
sent there by the use Of intoxicating
liquors, while 95 per cent. of all ofthe
criminals now in the penitentiaries of
the world are sent there as a result
of the use of Intoxicating drink.
Under the protection OF law local
option being one feature it has plum
L0,oAc 1yioh0I wont h
and defiled our manhood. 1t defes
their teachings, ISLANDERS their princi-
pies and fosters every vice and crime
in the calendar of infamy, a moral
and political anarchist and an un-
mitigated curse, an institution which
habitually Y readiuncts to the profes-
sional and corrupt politician, estab-
fishes itself in the plague spots and
slums of every large city in the civil
lied world; like a great vampire, it
seeks the life blood of youth, crushes
the last hope of age and poisons the
moral atmosphere Of American life;
it worms it's insiduous way into the
domestic circle of the happy homes of
many thousands of families, and
leaves in its wake desolation, ruin,
misery, broken-hearted wives and
starving children, and finally fills
more than one hundred thous-
and graves every year with what
might have been good useful citizens
of the United States. Such is local
option.
| am not superstitious in my re-
ligious belief, but if the census report
of the United States is true the ven
geance of Almighty God is upon the
manufacture and sale ofs intoxi-
eating liquors in the United States.
The number OF men in the United
States who live to the age of SO years
engaged in all other occupations
other than manufacture and sale OF
liquors is 45 per cent, while the num-
Der engaged in the manufacture and
sale of distilled spirits who live to
the age of 55 is only p per cent.
The number of men in the United
States who live to the age of 65
years engaged in all other Occupa-
tions other than the manufacture
and sale of Intoxicating liquors is 80
per cent, while the number engaged
in the manufacture and sale of liquor
who reach the age Of 65 is only s
per cent. This in itself is alarming,
but the farther We dive into the CEN
grows the spectacle. The per capita
consumption of Intoxicating liquors
had doubled between 1860 and 1880,
while the population increased 80
per cent. and insanity had increased
400 per cent. while the increase of in
sanity for the same period was 15o
per cent. To make it plain so that
you cannot misunderstood my po-
sition, in 1860 there was one defective
Cnsane) to every 1910 of the popu-
lation; in 1870 there was one to
every 1000 of population; in 1880
there was one to every so of the
population. The official statistics
show an increase of 800 per cent. in
insanity in the United States during
the past so years, and that during
the same period the per capita of
consumption Of Intoxicating liquors
has increased from ) gallons to %
gallons. From this statement you
can easily figure out the dire result
to the human family. At this rate
the entire population of the United
States would become insane in 265
years. Do you think local option
would benefit this state of affairs?
There is only one way to deal with
this monster liquor, and that is deal
with it like you would a rattlesnake
chop off it's head. There is, how
ever, one hopeful sign for the future;
the religious sentiment of the Chris
tian churches. There is not room
enough in the civilized world for q