The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-05-09
MISS MARGARET HASKETTS WINNING
ESSAY IN FIRST v, c, 7, l, CONTEST

Miss Margaret Haskell was the
winner in the W. c.. T. U. essay con-
pest held at the state university, and
her essay is herewith reproduced in
:ull. The Value of Total Abstin-
once' was her subject:
Many people today are SO thorough
of the value of law pro-
eibiting the sale of intoxicating liq-
ours, and take the whole matter so
entirely for granted, that they do not
}ealiZe the existence of wide spread,
hsistent, and often apparently INTEL
Igent opposition to it, and of various
attempts to show why prohibition is
= bad measure Such protesting
opinions come. in many cases, from
liquor interests, where we should en-
pect them to originate. Such are not
dangerous, showing as they do, the
hall-marks Nf self-interest. Others
come from quarters more unexpected
and more dangerous since they wear
o semblance of truth, and are often
sincere enough
Prohibition Does Not Prohibit
There is, first, of course, the OBJ
vious cry from those over-zealous de-
tenders of personal liberty who
contend that to deprive men of liquor
ls violation Of that sacred right
Such will say that the use of liquor
Is as much personal problem as the
use of coffee, or of any food, and no
more to be legislated against than in
temperance in eating, an evil, they
will invariably add, quite as prevail
) ent and as fruitful of harm.
There is again the oft-heard cry
chat prohibition does not prohibit"
and hence that the law is worse than
useless, being prolific of deceit, un-
derhand methods, and train of such
evils. Again we hear protests from
those who declare a prohibition law
60 be merely promoter of spirit
Of disregard and contempt for all
law. There are, moreover, those who
contend that prohibition law runs
counter to the deepest principles in
volved, since, forsooth. you cannot
1egislate man into righteousness;
chat in attempting to do so you defeat
the highest moral aims. destroying
Initiative, depriving the individuals
act of all moral value by removing
temptation and thus weakening his
will. Finally we hear protests from
those well-meaning enthusiasts in the
field Of social reform, who will tell
us that the saloon is at present sup
plying social need. however imper-
fectly. and that We have no right to
legislate it out of existence until we
have put something in its place in
the way of recreation centers, and
such substitutes.
Much of this sounds very convinc-
Ing to the person who is saying it.,
and to anyone who looks at the argu-
ment specifically. But if our earn
est purpose be the search for such
guides and safeguards as will most
effectually bring to ALL as speedily as
may be, relief from present evil, and
assurance of ultimate good, then
these f1imsy arguments fail, one by
one. since they are both unsound in
theory and would clearly be unpro-
ductive in practice.
Even more obvious and fundamen-
tai than those suggested are some of
the questions involved in prohibition
legislation. but they are such as it
seems are to we'll Established today to
need further emphasis. We need not
ask or answer whether alcohol be a
food, or even medicine: we need
not provide for the millions which, it
Is alleged. would be thrown out of
employment through the abolition of
The saloon: we need not prove that
certain percentages of illness, power
ty, pauperism. physical degeneration,
and crime, are due to intemperance.
We are fully cognizant that this evil
nrNhIcfivo Nf oil
reimbursement; we need not hinge
the matter on statistics. Happily
this question is neither question of
statistics nor, primarily, of moral
values. Both are commodities elusive
OF capture and illusory when handled.
1t is rather sociological question,
involving physical, intellectual, eco
nomic and broadly social values. so
vital that they cannot we'll elude us.
Even Hugo Munsterberg's interesting