Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1910-10-06
The other Side.

Suppose the Statewide Prohibi.
tion Amendment is defeated ir
November and that two years
hence those who are opposed to il
should, through the initiative and
referendum, force vote upon
statewide saloons-and suppose
they should succeed in carrying
such an amendments and thus com.
pei the seventy six counties which
have voted dry to have saloons
whether they want them or not:
Anyone who is acquainted with
the zeal of our Prohibition friends
knows they would protest in
stentorian tones at the mere sug-
gestion-and yet this is exactly
what'they are trying to force up
on the counties which believe in
high license. Regardless of local
sentiment or local conditions they
propose through statewide prohi-
bition to force them to come with
in the prohibition fold. Under
the present local option law the
counties which have voted dry
have exercised the right of local
self-government-the same right
of which they now seek to de-
prive the wet counties which
have voted wet.
Among the great principles up
on which the Republic was found
ed the greatest and most sacred is
the right of local self-government.
1t was the intolerance of the
Mother country which drove the
Pilgrims across the sea to America
and in later years it caused the
writing of the immortal Declara-
ton of independence which in its
opening phrases enumerates seer
tain inalienable rights = that
among these are life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness-that to
secure these rights governments
are instituted among men, deriv-
ing their just powers from the
consent of the governed.
Like a pillar of fire that great
phrase has cast its effulgent rays
over the entire civilized world ever
since the hand of Thomas Jeffer-
son penned it. 1t is the very bed
rock on which our beloved Repub-
lie was founded-the promise that
all men, rich or poor, high or low
shall have voice in making the
laws which govern them. To
establish this great principle,
Washington and Jefferson and
Patrick Henry and John Adams
lived and died. To secure it for
.pastarity tho pa4riats OF s77e loft
their crimson foot prints upon the
SHOWS at Valley Forge and
dubbed their guns at Bunker
Hill. Our country is facing grave,
social and economic problems
these times. One hundred million
souls are struggling for a liveli-
hood within our borders. Thus
far, thank Heaven, if the spectral
sentinel of colonial days could
walk once again and he could still
say, "AlPs we'll on the Potomac
tonight, "-and God grant this
may be as true within twenty-five
years from now as it is to-day. If,
however, it is to be true picture
of the future we must cling fast to
the ideals of the past-those great
truths and promises which have
given our country a meaning
which no other nation has ever
possessed-and more sacred and
important than all the rest is the
pledge that government shall de-
rive it's just powers from the CON
sent of the governed! Clothe it
as sentimentally as you will, the
exponents of Statewide Prohibi-
ton assault this fundamental
principle of popular government.
By sheer force one-half of the state
proposes to deprive the other half
of the right of home rule. On the
theory that might makes right the
wet counties are to be practically
disfranchised SO far as their voice
in the regulation of the liquor
traffic is concerned. Not only will
such an abortive attempt fail SO
far as the observance of the law is
concerned but it strikes a blow at
the right of local self-government
which cannot help but weaken the
faith and confidence of the aver
age citizen in his country and it's
institutions, should the attempt
succeed.
The average community, it
makes no difference where it is in
this great state of whether
along the prairies OF the Iowa
border or down amid the crags of
the Ozarks--is dominated by God
fearing men and women-men and
women who love their homes and
their country and who are slowly
but surely climbing ever upward
to a higher and nobler manhood
and womonhood-and these men
and women are the best able to
work out the destiny Of their own
community. They understand it
better than anyone else. They
know whether this or that law can
be enforced or not--and our plea
is that you grant to them the same
right that you demand for your
self-the right to work out their
salvation in their own way. If
their progress seems slow, lend
them a kindly hand of help. In
stead Of beating them into your
way OF thinking by sheer might,
show them the error Of their way
by argument and kindly persua-
sion-for human nature ever
has and ever will resent force.