The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1911-04-25
EVIL DISGUISED AS GOOD
Prohibition and Personal Liberty-Pro-
hibition Consistent with Law

ASSOCIATION OF Valparaiso, 1Hu' uS
powers of evil delight to take for
their standard all emblem of heaven.
The prince of darkness comes, trans
formed into an angel of light" In the
facts of today this truth is confirmed
The liquor traffic hides behind the in
sigma of truth, and takes personal lib
erty for its watchword, Therefore,
stand here tonight, not to hap anathe
mas upon the drunkard, not to proclaim
the economic evils of the drink traffic,
great as they are, but to tear from this
shameless hypocrite of the ages his thin
mask of righteousness, and to proclaim
him as he is.
Consider the status of the liquor traf-
fic before the law More than half a
century ago the saloon forces began to
make the hollow plea before the courts
of the land that prohibition endangered
the freedom of the individual. With
pretended patriotism they declared that
the abolition of the saloon infringed
upon the constitutional privileges of
American citizenship. The Supreme
Court passed judgment upon these
sophistries 1t swept them away like
cobwebs Decision after decision was
handed down. Finally, in the case oil
Crowley VS.. Christensen, the court de-
livered an opinion, approved by every
member of that judicial tribunal, and
written in such definite and forceful
terms that none could misunderstood
its meaning This decision declared
that the retailing of alcoholic liquors is
not an inherent right of citizenship, and
that the restriction or entire prohibition
of the liquor traffic does not infringe
upon the liberay of the individual, But
the GROWING decisions rang out in the
court rooms of this grand old State of
Indiana, when Judges Artman and
Christian boldly declared that the mere
licensing of such a moral ulcer as the
liquor traffic is immoral, illegal and un
constitutional And God grant that, not
only from Indiana'S district court, but
from America supreme tribunal, shall
come the words: From henceforth, o.
rum king, you are outlaWed; no m IRE
shall legislatures license your villainies
or protect your crime
But some may think that court decis-
ions alone do not prove prohibition con.
sistent with personal freedom. To them
would say, consider the true nature of
liberty itself What is this freedom we
so fondly cherish2 Is it the right to-
do as one pleases, regardless of others
welfare? Is it the right to break law,
to injure property, to destroy life? No,
that is not liberty that is license. Ex
cept a man remove beyond the confines
of human habitation, he may not do as
he will As long as men dwell together,
so long must each regard the others
rights What, then, is true liberty?
True liberty is that sphere of action
granted TO the individual in the exer
else of which he does not infringe upon
an equal sphere of action granted to-
others. Apply this principle to the
saloon. True, we are told the law can
not say what man shall drink if no
one is harmed thereby But the fact is,
the saloon does harm some one 1t
seizes the faborer in its greedy clutch
and flches his toil-bought gold. 1t
crowds the vacant corridors of poor
houses, prisons and asylums. 1t touches
pure hearts with its polluted inger-and
behold blighted souls2 1t blows its
poisoned breath upon innocent woman
hood-and behold dead hopes and
ruined hearts! Sin and sorrow follow
in its wake. Death and destruction mar
shall their cohorts upon its track. Then
do we infringe upon personal liberty by
the prohibition of such monster The
government itfringes upon no constitu-
tional rights when it compels the owner
|of powder mill to conduct his bust
ness apart from other buildings; the
public safety demands it. The health
officer tramples upon no individual free
dom when he tacks the smallpox placard
upon the disease-infested home; the pub
lie health demands it. Then who dares
TO affirm that the prohibition of the
liquor business infringes upon personal
liberty? For the liquor traffic is hum
dredfold more corrupting than lottery,
a thousand times more deadly than the
smallpox, and ten thousand times more
dangerous than the powder mills in
America.
HOW DID He ACQUIRE THE
TITLE OF GENERAL?