Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-12-29
Real Penalties Can End II.

ton party sentiment IN liils Coutitty ~
the actor, of their military officials at
JuareZ We do not refer, of course, TO
the action of executing all or the soldlefs
of the government who Tell INTO tneIf
hands taking no prisoners ana recos-
nizing none of the rules of civilized war
fare. The action we have In nina rs
that of issuing an order That anypooy
found running saloon, or seillns OF
small. any intoxicating liquor, shall De
court-martialed and. on convictlon' I'm I'm,
mediately placed against wall ana niled
with lead. -,
Prohibitionists may not approve the
means, but because the means is 1ustl-
fed by the end many of them may m
sist that the same means would work
the same end anywhere in the word;
For in Juarez there has been totai
suppression of the liquor trafnc. Inc
threatened penalty has been as emectlVe
TO close saloons there as the old Chinese
plan of cutting off the head of the presi-
dent of an insolvent bank long was TO
promote banking stability In China. IL
has been demonstrated, in Juarez, Mex
co and by the rebels of that country,
that prohibition is practicable, that in
short, prohibition can be made to pro-
hibit. "
I Yet nothing is more certain than that
public opinion in this country will never
Justify the inflietien of such penaltles
for violation of prohibition or local optloh
laws We are satisfied that the great ma
iority of Prohibitionists would themselves
protest against their use. The end, mere,
would not Justify such means as 1t may
be claimed to do in Juarez Mexico mas
a drink called mescal, which will 1ustlty
the most rigorous measures needed 10
prevent its sale or giving away. one
must have tried mescal in order to under
stand and in a large measure sympa-
thize with, the Mexcans IN their many
acts which, to us, seem cruel ana par
barous. A man filled with mescal can be
forgiven many things, If; indeed. man
can be filled with meseal and live to be
forgiven anything. Americans not Who'll
ly unseasoned to ardent drink nave
never ventured beyond one glass OF mes
cal for fear of losing identity, and with
it all restraint. If we had mescal. the
Juarez plan might make an appeal to us,
first because mescal ought TO be sup
pressed and second because the Juarez
plan would be sure to suppress list.
Louis Globe Democrat
We are a little surprised that they
object to even mescal, down in Mis-
souri,. With 300 murders and more
than twice that number of suicides
year, it would seem that some of the
home distilled and home-brewed
good" poison was quite effective.
1t is from ST. Louis that some of the
most alluring booze circulars come
through the mails to Maine homes.
The children of Christian families of
Maine find in the mail box enticing
free offers of Thanksgiving Spe-
cial," and christmas Cheer" booze
all the way from Missouri where sa-
looms and distilleries and breweries
are on all sides. and their competitive
advertising fills the pages of the news
papers. 1t is a marathon race for
new victims down there, and the mail
order business adds to the unholy in
come In the paper from which we
clipped the above editorial were all
kinds of booze advertising. Maine
/ papers are prohibited from carrying,
sired, but st. Louis papers filled with
booze advertising are circulated here
by Uncle Sans rum trust affiliations,
and Maine can't help herself.
Prohibitionists might not approve
of shooting every man caught selling
poison to another but it would in
sanity put an end to a hellish traffic.
One or two shootings would scare the
cowardly sneaks who now defy the
make believe punishment everlast-
ingly into their holes. They are will
! ing to carry disaster and tragedy into
other homes for the sake of money.
The dastards of Augusta, who are
now peddilng out a little stuff here
and there as Accommodation" to their
| friends" are just as guilty of the
| crimes committed by their customers
as are the poor fools themselves.
| Who was to blame for the frenzy of
the Buxton man who set out to
slaughter his family? Who is to
blame for the awful Load upon the
heart of an innocent boy who killed
his father in defense of his mother?
There is an awful judgment for the
man who furnished Rowe with that
stuff.
But, considering the Mexican dras-
| toxicating poison, why is it ALWAYS
necessary to suppress the liquor traffic
at any cost, in time of public danger,
as the first precaution? 1t had been
said that prohibitory law was impos-
sible of enforcement in Bangor, where
the notorious plan" has been so long
the fetish, but it was easy enough to
shut every rum hole at the time of the
fire, when that city needed every
ounce of brain which God had given
it, and when MEN instead of beasts
were required. They first shut off the
| booze, as Mexico has done.
Bangor could suppress it's wor-
shipped commercial sacrifices when
real danger threatened the evil itself.
Mexico can stop its national bedevil
ment when its vice-rotten leaders
need intelligent human beings instead
of quarrelsome lunatics. China is
able to suppress the opium traffic, now
that IL has awakened To the fact that