Bisbee daily review., 1911-06-21
GOV. BALDWIN kOT
 FOR PROHIBITION
Connecticut Executive Gives Reasons for Declining to
 Approve the Policy
(New Haven. Conn, Upion-)

NOF. DoAuHm was interviewed to-
 day regarding an editorial which ap-
 peared in the current issue of The
 Voter. the official organ of the Pro
 hibition party of Connecticut, to the
 efiect tAat he on the ground that the
 orgau zation favored the prohibition
 of the liquor traffic. had refused to
 deliver an address of welcome at it's
 national session in South Ranches
 ter next July.
 The goveWor said:
 I a.n aootsd with izvitssioRs ts
 give addresses 0n all sorts of oOca-
 slons and have to make some selec-
 uon- In making my selection for
 next month ! concluded not to accept
 that of the total abst nenca society
 which is referred to is the artic e
 from The Voter which you show me
 "l think that a pledge or total ab-
 silence from intoxicating liquors is
 to most men a safeguard of health
 and character. but l am not believer
 in crowding total abstinence down ev-
 erybody's throat. Prohibition in my
 Y-eW should be a matter of local op-
 ton and while l am not accustomed
 to take anything myself I have a. ways voted for license in New Hav- en, believing 1t to be too large a city to be governed under the rule nf pro hibition.
 MT. Hohenthal. with whom I had my correspondence, is chairman of the state executive committee of the prohibition party of Connecticut I am not in sympathy with the legisla- tive or constitutional platform of that party"
 The artic.e which apeared in Tha Voter follows:
 On the ground that the organiza- ton favors the prohibition ot the liquor traffic, Goernor Baldwin has declined to deliver an address of wei come to the members of the oldest national total abstinence society of America at Its national session in South Manchester Tn July"
 Gov. Baldwin makes it quite clear that he is not in favor Of prohibition Consequently he will not make an address of welcome to the Prohibi- . on 10 be held In South Manchester in July. He has many other functions that seem to him to deserve his pres ence more than a body Of undoubted- ly we'll intentioned enthusiasts who, in the words of the governor. "ars trying to crowd total abstinence down everybody's throat"
 Good for Gov. Baldwin This is what we call having the courage of ones convictions. And better still the convictions fin this instance are right and just. Prohibition has proved a flat failure.
 
 Hampshire. after many years of trial, repealed prohibition, the best judg- ment of the country believed that prohibition was a dear issue. The statewide prohibition wave that start cd with Georgia in 1907 did not rep resent the sober sense and conviction of the public, but was brought about by a frenzy, created through bun oombe, that had no parallel in the political history of the country State wide prohibition was doomed from its beginning. It will probably never again move the public as it aId in the eighties, when 1t was really a serious issue. and as it has done dur ing the past few years Missouri's majority against prohibition last No vember was 21s.125 total of G32.6S7. This ove-'o~ . 027 ma. jority agains- ~- Pennsyl- vania IT 1SF' a IS majority against prohil .-- about $500 in a total vote or about 10000. Pubic sentiment on the question is more correctly reflected by the Missouri than by the Florida vote. There are important contests yet to be waged. The elections to be held on the oues- tiOn in the states sf Texas and West Virginia shortly gre merely the cri- mination Of past agitation and their purpose is to clear the boards Of the issue. Tn the state of Maine resubn1fs- sion has been forced by an overwhelm- ing public opinion against the wish of the dominant party in the state
 Everywhere there Is evidence of a distinct tendency away from prohibit ton. The needs of more than SO per cent Of the people have called into existence the liquor trade. the prod net of which their overwheImln.; fadg- ment has declared by usage {" he The people are seeking to hinder individual abuse as far as pos sibIe by regulating the distribution of the product, but experience has taught even the total abstainer that prohibition does not prohibit
 II IS the duty of the liquor trade to show sturdy compliance with the laws as they are. Rad laws tempt diso- and this is more natural ~feu tle laws forbid things not felt bv the mass Of the people to be Un- reasonable. Bad laws enforced and compiled with hasten theIr own in- Laws cannot stand which. Tn their effect defy the will and the belief Of the people. So long as the 'iquor trade stands firmly in the po- [ sition Of obedience 10 present regula- ion and shows a willingness honestly 7 do its share in the improvement of he laws, it will be wo-t1Y of 'he junction which the public at large de- fires and eventually will secure.
 Macsu ay gave as one definition CT history that it was a series of expert nents in government At no distant 'sv fhs people and the lIquor trade