The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1910-10-25
SCANLON'S SPEECH

4
night from the band stand DR. W. H Il
Dodge Of the Presbyterian church. in 1
troduced the speaker. saying he rep |
resented the Presbyterian church of |
America on the temperance question |
He was saturated with the vital ques- |
ton. had made thorough study of il |
and was prepared TO instruct and i'm |
press by his figures and logic and |
came to abuse no one.
Rev. Griffith. pastor of the Meth |
odist church at Coleman. seconded the !
Introduction given by DR. Dodge on the |
ground that he knew Prof. Scanlon as |
a youth. student and teacher and |
when he. tGriffith) was pastor of the |
church at Springfield. W. Va. 20 years |
ago He said the professor really !
needed one to speak for him. he |
was big enough, strong enough and
eloquent enough TO represent himself. |
but from the fact that the speaker
knew the professors parents and the
parents of the woman he married and
| their position on this important ques-
! ton. il afforded him great pleasure 10
| say that being rearer in a Christian,
| temperance home. he grew up to speak
as he had been taught and believed.
/ Was a man of education. a graduate
| of the University of Chicago and had
made this great question study as
few men had.
Prof Scanlon then took the floor
and for hour and half gave such
| a presentation of the liquor traffic
! the makers and sellers. statistically
as to revenue. hygenically and its fear
full ravages in the lives. morals and
| citizenship of those who became its
| slaves. as was never spoken before in
a 10 irrn toto Ia 1noin nd
Ianswerable reasons were punctuated
! with pleasing anecdotes. telling illus
trations and side-splitting stories. all
aligned and woven into his eloquent
story. There was not a dry moment
in his address and interest in his pre-
sentation never ceased until he had
spoken the last word.
1t is impossible for the Star to give
even a synopsis of the manysided ar
guments and objections he met. pre-
scented by the liquor traffic. In the
course of his talk Mr. Scanlon said:
THE constitution of a state is the
most digrified and authoritative eX-
preston of the will Of it's people. 1t
is the embodiment and safeguard of
their most sacred rights. The people
alone have access to this holy OF
holies. 1t is exceptionally free from
personal ambition. strife and political
exigencies Here above all places
should be kept the crown jewels Of
health. happiness. virtue and religion.
upon all of which the liquor traffic
seeks to lay profane hands.
THE state is the civic unit OF our
country. Whatever power national
government has. was delegated to it
by the several states: whatever au
thority any county has was given ii
by the state of which it is a part.
Therefore both national and local gov
,ernments have their fountain-head in
and spring out of the state. Why then
make an exception Of the liquor traf-
fic. which is an evil affecting the
whole commonwealth. by allowing the
subordinate division to neutraliZe the
Will of the larger unit?
Constitutional prohibition is pure
. democracy. BY it the people speak di-
rectly and not through their servants.
Are the liquor advocates afraid to
trust the people to speak simultan-
eouSly throughout the state while
protesting to be willing that they
!. should speak in smaller groups at diff
, ferent times?
A fourth reason for constitutional
prohibition as opposed to local option
is that it stops the manufacture as
we'll the sale. 4 brewery a dis
tllery a large scale can scarcely
! be operated without detection while
considerable amounts OF liquor al
ready manufactured may be sold with
out discovery and the liquor traffic is
. such a persistent anarchist that every
: precaution must be taken against it.
Under constitutional prohibition
ar,,hn Of hn Ice iS1o &c
: bound by his oath to support such a
. law and the people are freed from the
, burden of petitioning their represen-
: tatives to do that which they are paid
!. and sworn do.
constitutional prohibition on ac-
count the difficulty of repeating is
: more apt to insure a fair trial OF the
: method. The liquor men can usually
hold out for the two years of
: the local option law. encouraged by
the possibility of its repeal If by its
. constant violations they can bring it
into contempt. while under a cOnsti-
!. tutional provision they know that the
: probable period of it's endurance will
= he much longer.
. Local option assumes that the liq-
uor traffic is without moral quality
and therefore may be lagalized with
out sin. This is not true. At law a
person is held responsible for the nat
ural and usual consequences of a Civ
en- action. The common result of the
sale of strong drink for beverage pur-
poses is crime and vice and poverty
and general social disorder. There
fore those who license it morally
responsible for the result of il. 1t is
confusing in that it makes a thing
legally right in one place and legally
wrong in another or both right and
wrong az the same time in different
| places The liquor traffic sanctioned
by local option in one county even
| in one town may trample down the de-
| cisions and rights of people through
out the state even the nation BY
what process of logic can a man per-
Suade himself that incorporated
village in any state of the nation may
maintain a brewery distillery which
spreads moral pestilence throughout
the nation?
The four great pillars of the repub-
lie are the home, the church the school
and the ballot box. The liquor traffic
corrupts or neutraliZes and counter
j acts and jeopa rdizes the nation of ev-