Arizona republican., 1911-04-03
SUPERINTENDENT BURKE
 ON PROHIBITION
A Reply to Republican Editoral.

To the Editor of The Arizona Re
 publican, Sir:
 am sure you will not think me presumptuous in replying to youI
 argument of Sunday morning on the
 question of prohibition. In the first
 place that you may not accuse me of ! being fanatic on this matter let me say l was educated as a teacher of
 political economy and history and as such l served eight years in college and university. The teaching of these
 branches of the university curriculum certainly do not tend to make one a fanatic on any moral or social dues- ton. Nor can anyone who knows me accuse me of rabid intolerance. To
 be sure l am employed by a large number of people of Arizona to do a certain work. "It is just as certain that ! believe in that work. am ina terested in it and enthusiastic about it. You would not have man con- nected with your great paper who did not feel the same way in regard to his work. The United States gov ernment employs experts in it's vari ous departments to do certain work for which they are eminently fitted. Can it be said that MT. Hill is a fanatic on engineering or Mir. Reed on the subject of reclamation?
 No one has ever requested you to champion the fanatics of either side of this question but you have. I believe, been respectfully requested to use the influence of The Republican against the admitted evil of the open saloon. even as you have been re- quested 10 use that same influence in it's favor.
 It Is as unfortunate as it is inherit able that a certain bitterness arises in contest of this kind even as there was bitterness of feeling arous- ed over the question of slavery and of gambling and prostitutes in the saloons. In my opinion this is neces- sary because of the great profit aris- ing from the sale of intoxicating Ii- quor on the one hand and the solic- itude of men and women for the vel fare of dear ones endangered by such business on the other. The feeling on both sides must be intense for the stake played for is a large one This feeling is to be deprecated but brave men and conscientious men do not shrink from a contest of this kind for any reason.
 In this reply l shall content my self merely with a reply to your main contention that because liquors may be sold unlawfully in Phoenix there fore it should not be prohibited but be permitted to be sold under the sanction of law.
 You say that: For the Iiuuor traffic as a traffic there is abso- luteiy nothing to be said. If it were possible to wipe the traffic from the face of the earth there would be no doubt as to the attitude of the aver age citizen. The traffic would be suppressed by an overwhelming vote" l agree with your implied assump- tion that this is not at present pos sible. Unfortunately for humanity but fortunately for the sake of evil Gence of the fallacy of your argu- ment we can draw an analogy which is convincing This analogy is not wholly my own but. was used more bluntly and with less mincing of words than I dare indulge in by Judge Frederick $. Nave. a former member of our supreme court. in an address delivered both in his home city of Globe and again at Stafford. On both occasions it was my priv ilege to be present.
 There is implanted in men a desire for sexual indulgence so great that. it becomes a menace to society. This desire cannot be wholly