The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1910-07-08

ARGUMENT KILLED


fully warmed up on the subject. we peg
to respectfully address to them TWO
earnest "Please Don is, viz:
Please don't insult human intelligence
any more by alleging that prohibition
does not prohibit; and
Please don't prate any more aoou'
the restrictions which prohibition u
charged with placing upon personal
liberty"
The two old things that are used as
arguments against prohibition are utter
" worn out and it makes sensible p'o'
pie sick to hear them repeated.
ANY man with grain Of sense knows
that absolute prohibition is Impossible
and has been since God on Mount SINAI
gave the first prohibitory laws to Moses
By those God-given laws. murder heIt
and other sins were emphaticaIly pro-
hibited, but, Notwithstanding the TACT
that human laws as well as the Deca-
logue, prohibit murder and theft,
those crimes are daily perpetraten
throughout the United States. AS
these laws do not absolutely prevent
crime, would any one but an idiot or an
anarchist advocate their repeal? Ana
yet it is just as logical to oppose the
law against murder on the ground that
it is disregarded as it is to denounce
the efforts to prohibit the liquor tarillc
for the reason that people will sell and
drink liquor in spite of all laws.
If we must not prohibit liquor selling
because people will sell it regardless OF
laws to the contrary, then we should
not prohibit theft or murder because
men will persist in stealing and COM
hitting murder to the end of time.
As to personal liberty, "only two
things need be said First, as it is
urged in behalf of the man who is de-
termined to drink liquor, he should
consider the fact that prohibition seeks
to stop the selling rather than the
drinking of liquor. In DeSoto county
for example, in which it is unlawful to
sell the stuff, no man is prohibited
from drinking all the liquor he can
get.
Secondly, if majority of the people
vote for prohibition they have the
"personal liberty" to enforce it. In
such case, it would be arrant pre-
sumption for the minority to claim that
their ideas of personal liberty should
override and defeat the declared wishes
of the majority. In other words. the
majority are entitled to some personal
liberty" themselves.
Now, if our whskey friends will
only abandon these two nonsensical
arguments (?) and address themselves
to the real questions involved, We
will give them vote of thanks. |
The only questions worth considering
are, first, will prohibition contribute to
public peace and morality, or to disor-
der and vice? and, second, will it bene
fit, or injure the commercial interests
of the State? These questions and
these only are open for debate, and
our whiskey friends will greatly obige
US by combining themselves to the issue
and not seeking to lug in lot of irrele-
want nonsense.
Don't tell US about open saloons in
Savannah and in Portlan, Me-, for,
thank God! we are not living in either
of those places.
And for heavens sake don't bring in
those two disgusting old things which
you think are arguments, to which |
we have directed your attention in the
beginning hereof.
Don't worry us either about Alabama. |
Statewide prohi ,iton prevails there /
and handsome majority of the people .
are in favor of it. 1t has not brought ,
them to beggary nor caused any very
desirable citizens to leave the State.
Nor has it caused the people to com.
NIT robbery. murder or any other ser
ious crime that we have heard of.
Now, let US all be calm and not get
excited. but talk this thing over as
friends considering only the good Of
the State. and then let us vote out the
soloons and be happy. -Punta Gorda