The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-06-22
ARGuMENTuM AID IGNoRANTIAM.

Hypocritiea Maine, the Erentng JoafHd' pt"-
duces most astonishing argument against tue
Maine prohibition Law. The charge is boldly
made that liquor is sold openly without inter
ference other than an occasional raid and
seizure Of stock: that the officials cognizant of
these violations of law. are either po~eriess or
too unmindful of their solemn oaths to attempt
to enforce the law; that saloon keepers, who
stand in with the administration, are granted
indulgence to conduct the business, and that
The whole business is holier-than-thou, hspo-
critical biur
The whole article is an argument based upon
Ignorance OF the facts, and Is a fair sample OF
tho unfair method of attack sometimes indulg-
ed by opponents Of prohibition. II is easy to
make sweeping assertions. especially when one
ia many miles distant from the locality under
Indictment but the end of argument is to con-
vince the reason by the statement of facts and
the presentation of such proof as makes the
facts indisputahle. So far We are concern
3D. we decline respectfully but emphatcaiiy to
accept the unsupported statements of an organ,
openly hostile to Anti-Saloon legislation and an
organ hundreds of miles distant from the COM
muni,y 1t eritieises, and having made no inves-
tsgation Of the conditions it condemns. There
is a generous presentation Of alleged facts. but
a conspicuous absence OF convincing proof.
hence the deductions drawn from the alleged
facts with sober fair-minded must lose
their force
The virotnidn has no doubt that liquor is
sold In Maine. and that men sometimes get
drunk We also quite sure that whatever
violations of the law committed not
by the friends of temperance. but by such foes
OF law and order as are the logical product of
the liquor traffic II appears to trife in
consistent and Illogical that certain men should
constantly charge to prohibition violations of
the law that are committed by, and edirectly
chargeable TO, the foes of prohibition. Be this
as it may, bold TO assert our doubt that
conditions are anything like so deplorabe and
universal as our contemporary would have us
believe. If so. find ourselves at loss to
understand the attitude of Maine towards this
prohibition regime They intelligent,
as patriotic, as high men as They live in
close contact with the system, watching Its OBJ
Grafton and it's effects from day to day. and the
majority seem satisfied to have the law remain
For more than generation this prohibition
amendment has been part OF the organic law
OF the State repeated efforts have been made
to have ii repealed yet they have all proven
unsuccessful We submit that the attitude o.
majority Of intelligent citizens toward the
law is more conclusive of it's successful opera
tion than the unsupported and sweeping allega
lions OF far distant organ. hostile TO prohibi
,ion, can possibly be OF it's failure We may b.
unsophistioated TO believe II and daring TO SAL
II, but really we think that the people OF Maine
In their verdcts registered at the polls from
time to time, better judges Of condition.
there than the Richmond Journal howeve
sweeping its charge OF the laws failure it
fierce denunclation of prohibitionists hoier
thanthou, hypocritical buffers.
We conclude by quoting the words OF dis
tinguished resident of Maine. whose in
teectual powers almost as we'll adapted t.
the processes of observation and resultant con
cusion as The Journals; who has tn
advantage trifing one. to be sure, in tn
munity and amid the conditions of which h
speaks Senator William p. Frye. who says: q
ean remember the time when. in the State o
Maine. there grocery store at nearly ev
cry four corners in certain portions of the State
whose principal business the sale of New
England rum. when the jails were crowded ant
poverty prevailed To-day the country por
tions of the State are absolutely free from tn
sale OF liquor. poverty is comparatively un
known. and in some OF the counties the Jail
have been without occupants for years at
time The law is not failure II has been. OF
the other hand, wonderful success"
We somehow feel that William p Frye AM
the majority OF Maine citizens know more abou
conditions there than the Richmond Jouraa
Does and hence this violent ontburst of RICH,
eo6s SOUL outraged by the hypocritical BLUM @
the prohibitionists. does not appeal to our rea
son. We dismiss 1t with a smile.
THE PAGET TWINS.