The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1913-06-19

but after all hasn't a man a NOR
al and legal right to go to the nat
ional capital and have his say about
legislation that is pending? Nothing
has been disclosed in the investiga-
ton of the Washington tariff lobby
indicating that any attempt has been
made to improperly influence mem
bers of congress. There is a good
deal of tommyrot about the lobby
talk, alter all"
There is a lot of truth in the above.
Lobbyists who employ old-time meth.
DDS of bribery and coercion, are of
course abhorrent. They are usually
representatives OF interests that have
no legitimate case upon which to base
their claims. I'll Ve
But the men who have so far taken
the stand before the Senate commit
tee are not lobbyists in the above
sense at all. They represent interests
affected directly by, the, tariff. There
is a group of these men working for
free sugar--advocated by President
W~ilson-and another group oppos-
ing free sugar, It. should be borne in
mind that both sides in the tariff CON
~troversy have selfish interests. The
consumer wants the tariff so arrang-
ed that it will mean money in his
pocket. The manufacturer wants a
tariff that will mean money in his
pocket. The 4selfishmenssi of the one
is no more to be exalted than the
selfishness of. the. other. If the, con-
sumer's interests should've. consider
ed, the producers should also. IT
either party at interest wishes to pre-
sent its case in person, The Republi-
can believes it. is the duty of con-
lgress to hear. any such statement. 1t
is true that the consumer is seldom
represented, but that only makes it
the duty of congress to exercise the
more concern about his welfare.
1Surely that fact alone does not make
it a crime for the producer to tell
his side of the story.
@3sSM
lWHAT DISCOURAGES DRINKING.
1t has often been remarked by this
paper that a great deal can be done
to solve the liquor problem, if the
use of liquor is divorced from attrac-
tive OF so-called fashionable sur
roundings. A lot of men acquire the
habit of drinking just because it is
believed to be Smart" Time was
when ability to intoxicants
was regarded by many as a sort of
measure of ones manhood. Liquors
have all too long played an important
part in formal dinners and banquets.
1t is difficult to understand Just why
it should be considered a brilliant
performance to- engage in poisoning
ones self, but it seems to. have been
SO regarded for centuries. This idea
that drinking constitutes, on the one
hand, a manly accomplishment, and,
or, the other hand, an illumination
of social affairs, has been largely,
very largely, responsible for the
maintenance and growth of the. habit
of drinking. p.t,.
When liquor is sdespised in high
places, when it is understood that it
destroys manhood, when it is recog-
nized and described In all respectable
circles, for just. the evil. and sordid
thing 1t is, the habit of drinking will
become less fashionable.
This is seen, by the. New York Tri-
bune, which says in a recent editor
|ial: III
One does not have to. go back to
Danitlv Webster to find an. era when
not only drink but drunkenness was
considered a decent and respectable
practice. The, damning., DESTROY
ing effect of drinking to excess is now
accepted as a commonplace. The
Edrunkard is no longer a, hero. He is
Ian object of pity like every other
weakling. n
"Of course, hard drinking still -exs
lists and crops out now and then in
one quarter of another. But, taking
the country through, there can be
no question that here, as in England,
both rteetotalism and temperance
have made enormous gains. The pre-
sent conspicuous ease of Colnral