The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-11-06
\ THIRST FOR INFORMATION.

Senator Sutherland exploded some
OF the arguments OF many Of the Demo
cratic spellbinders when an inquisitive
/ individual interrupted the senator In
his speech at the Salt Lake theatre on
Friday night. Senator Sutherland was
discussing local option, and the in
quisitive one asked: why not apply
local option TO horse stealing. them"
The man who is known as one OF
the most ready debaters in the United
States Senate, had no trouble in han
ding the situation. as he was able 20
detect the sophistry in the inquiry at
once. The senator replied 10 his ques-
toner az follows:
Horse stealing is a crime and drinking
is a vice. Even the horse THIEF
does not try 10 defend himself
by saying he has a right TO steal.
while on the other hand, there IS
very large proportion OF men
who VIII assert that they have a
perfect right 10 drink as much
as they please, and men who are
not drinkers will contend as
strongly that they have the right
10 drink IL they see fit. You
cannot legislate virtue or moral
lty INTO men and women any
more than you can legislate hap
plness into them.
It was an excellent point that the
senator made. and he punctured by
those few remarks some OF the argu-
ments that nave been advanced by the
Democratic spellbinders in various
communities in the state. It has been
a favorite practice of theirs TO say that
if local option as applied to the liquor
question is the proper thing, why not
apply it to horse stealing and various
crimes? Senator Sutherland took the
proper view OF It.
As he says, few people would claim
that horse stealing is any part of the
rights Of an individual Using their
own arguments for a moment, IL the
state has the right TO say that people
shall not drink liquor, it ought to have
the right TO say that they shall no
drink coffee. There are reputable
physicians who prescribe liquor in
many cases. yet ii would be difficult to
find one that would recommend that
one Of his patients drink coffee. Many
people believe that the excessive drink
ing Of coffee or tea is as bad for the
human system as the excessive use of
liquor
But everybody recognizes that the
liquor traffic has its evils, and that it
is the business of modern society to
curb those evils. It is merely a ques-
ton for society as TO the best method
to use in minimizing them.
Two solutions of the question are ad- !
Local option, with strict reg
llation. and statewide prohibition. 1t
Is merely a question for society as TO |
which Of these solutions is the best. It 4
is painfully evident that in calling /
statewide prohibition a solution OF the /
liquor question. one is going wide Of |
the mark, because it has never solved /
[ anywhere that IT has been tried.
There are twenty states in the Union /
hat have tried statewide prohibition
n their career since the Union was
.ormed, and which have eventually re-
oealed the law because it was ineffec-
I've, and because statewide prohibit
ion does not prohibit. The majority
# these states have pinned their faith
o the local option side of the question.
md have found that IT is successful.
'he majority Of these states were sin
ere when they attempted to solve the
question in that way. but they found
hat it did not work, and they soon
bandOned it,