Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1910-10-20
FROM ILLINOIS.
Rev. A. E. Underwood, Born AMI
Raised in Audrain, Has
Some Good Words.
Chaplin, ILL.,, Oct. II, 10.

Message. a paper with stamp.
One not afraid to stand out strong
against any power which is
IprOven to be a menace to the good
Of the State. have reference to
the fight against the saloon which
is now on in Missouri. hope yon
win in the fight. May | add a few
facts gathered in my reading as
well as from observation. If these
quotations are not new to you per
haps they will encourage.
1t was my good fortune to live
in Oklahoma for three years.
Three months of that time was
during the reign of the saloon
previous to the entering of State
hood. The Constitution Of the
State prohibited the operation Of
the saloon, as you well know. Now
you probably hear it said that pro-
hibition in Oklahoma was a fail
ure. Such a statement is false. |
saw the county Jail in Enid fille1
with drunken men and few
women during the saloon regime
and after prohibition went into
effect the old Jail house was NOV
ed off the square and sold to a
darkey for a dwelling. 1t is fact
that it was useless as a Jail. The
Police Judge told me the cases Of
drunkenness had fallen off two
thirds. l noticed there were very
few drunken men seen. Now it is
true Oklahoma is to vote on re-
submission soon but that is no
argument against prohibition, be-
cause there have been thousands
of dollars spent there by the sa-
loon element to bring about re-
submission. Just here let me say
that the man who says there is
more "booze" sold under prohi-
bitiOn than with the open saloon
only shows his ignorance, for il
there is more business for the
brewer under prohibition Chan
with the open saloon, why, in the
name of good business principles
don't they fight for that which
makes business? Good business
men do not oppose that which
makes business better. Sc we see
at once the weakness of such a
statement. The reason the people
of Oklahoma have to vote ag III
upon the question is the result o.
the brewers money pouring ITO
the State in great quantities.
Again, some men say, as
one did of old, cam 1 my brothers
keeper?" Yes. We are response
BILE beings, an dto refuse to admit
the responsibility for others is the
parent of injustice and leads to
hatred md all the train Of evils
that follows ending in murder, as
it did in the murder Of Able. 1t
seems strange to me why men will
not heed the eXhortation of Isaiah
= (55 ~ whether they believe tn"
Bible or not. They know it Is
true. He says: "Why do you
spend your money for that which
is not bread, and your labor for
that which satisfies not?" To do
this will necessitate the denying
of the lower self for the sake O.
the higher self. We know that
/. liquor causes most Of our crimes
and the "amount of money we
,Spend on crimes in a year would
keep 1000 home missionaries al
= work for a 1000 years at 5000 to
5000 a year. Of course | reajzc
n this point has a little weight s
scme as far as the mission worn /,
Il concerned, yet they must see the
- possibility. If we take nine silver
dollars, which is g fraction over
n one inch. and set them up side By
side. the number spent for ntoXi
n cants in one year in this country
. it will reach 1858 miles, or almost
13 times across the State of Mis-
souri,. The two billions of dollars
spent thus viii supply the 1929,