The Republican journal., 1912-04-11
oo-ohibition, Personal Liberty
and Public Sentiment.
M e C. DOW. BELFAST.

,neakers, in long winded TRADE
Tic prohibition in the senate cham
Ss ~ Augusta is reported to have said
p'' ,,sr saw-a prohibitionist who be-
lS IN prohibition for himself as well
A' tb, other man. About that utter
d ,tseIt have nothing to say at this
''' ~ 1t is too silly and absurd to merit
'D mention by men who believe in logi-
'' comment and truthful presentation
emo in close touch with the actual af-
..s NJ the farm, and knowing, as do,
,tbir.t about the conditions of life in
farm homes of Maine in general and
waldo county in particular, feel that
.,rd not be out of place, and may do
,,o oooi at this time, to call the at
..1or Of the intelligent reading public
:. some truths pertinent to the questions
f1rrnlbtion, personal liberty and pub
If a0ment.
ysoaestion affecting the public NOR
a. or the public good in a material way,
ran yer be taken wholly out Of politics
rf-s country until after one of TWO
-,,ess has happened. Either the major
,.rt o. he public must lose all interest
i.r,. natter or they must come to look
,oar a.. accept existing conditions as
aerarsrt,
THIS ming true, the great questions of
..raperante reform and prohibition will
.qays p. in the politics of Maine, and
.s.r,,t of the world as we'll, until such
fine a- men cease to desire to profit by
-ss7g and selling alcoholic liquors.
.r -he dawn of the millennium is yet
..rauav. that time will not soon arrive,
,- SIS the Socialists, as they claim, have
IN correct solution of the problem in
A.r theory of solving it by the elimina-
90. { the profits.
II night as we'll accept the fact that
uosimron is, and for long time at least
nj. continue to be in some degree, po-
g+rs matter. 1t is fight to the finish
and wa are in it to stay. A fight in
c;5of the moral and material we'll being
a laa 1eople must be paramount to the
success Of any office seeker or of any
m'tea party. A warfare in which the
righteous thou shalt not" of the sober
5l.gen must weigh more in the evidence
Than the you may if you wish" of the
NAH who may be influenced by personal
desire
Prohibition as an act of law is based
noa the fundamental truth that "the
sga 10 sell Intoxicating liquors does not
n1er. a citizen of the State nor in a
citizen of the United States" All pro-
tbitory laws, whether statute laws or
cas uti6nal ones, are based upon that
ra4sputed principle.
We're his not a great fundamental
tuia The right to enact prohibitory laws,
even In restricted territory by local
|Qtoa would not exist.
True. the right could be assumed by
Ii. power of might, as it is in regard to
nsns4 avs, but such acts are at their
1es' ways acts of eXpediency and not
| Of fundamental justice. Governments,
Wa, State and national, have some
tunes TO ask, not what is right but what
|Bsypedient.
The man who will not admit that pro-
|n5uon is fundamentally right is either
R,ranr of the great foundation principle
mWrich it rests or else he is dishonest
b position. The only claim that can
honestly made in support of local
ro7 IS that it may be more practical,
more eXpedient, than prohibition. If
3engAt to sell liquors were an inherent,
a9gral right, then all that we could
would be to regulate the conditions
4a which men, all men, might exer-
eye that right.
rmamentally, there are only two
7asS Of dealing with the liquor question
-Tars which are based on moral justice
a ' principle Of equal privileges to
special privileges to none-either
A luon for all or the legal right to
s,l1r all. That principle cannot be re-
llsa NJ denied in truth, as it is based
'I4' a vital part of our inherent rights
which the constitution itself rests.
i then we vote to prohibit man from
E1g intoxicating liquors we simply
Eie that he shall not do by law what he
'2 no right, as man or citizen, to dc
'l6out the law.
0Q You see any injustice in that my
submission friend? Is it any infring
u'0J Of a mans personal liberty tt
orally prevent him from doing what he
@5' not have the natural, or personal
Sn' to TO, even in the absence of al
@slHmissionists in this State cal
a option license laws, temperance
''s Whether they really believe it, o.
''''Hr they hope to fool few (ol
@'y voters by the claim is not for me-
'ay They know, and God knows,
tl'l don know either the limitations O.
p7' brains or the elasticity of theil
Sosoie1ces.
Based upon the fundamental fact tina
onan las an Inherent right to sell in