The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-02-20
Report Legislative Committee Made to LEAGUE

lion seeking whom he may dcvour.''
Our. lord and Master tells us that "the
thief oometh not but to steal and to
Kill and TO destroy. i am come that
they might have life and that they
might have 1t more abundantly." and
l st. John tells us that ''the Son OF God
was manifested to destroy the works
OF the devil" But this great purpose
OF the Master was not accomplished
without resistance and strife He
phophesied that 'many shall be Of
Tended and shall betray ono another
and haze one another Suppose yc
that am como to give peace on earth?
! 1 tell YOU, HAY; but rather division"
! And again, For ! am come TO SGT q
! man at variance against his father.
and the daughter against her mother.
! and the daughter in-law against her
mother-in-law And 4 mans foes shall
! be they Of his own household" No
effort to bring in tho Kingdom OF God
can he successful without Il struggle
! with the powers of darkness. Certainly
I there will be division and strife and
Z bitterness. Bmt there Will not he one
4 tithc of the bitterness and strife that
i there is already among us. which We
I tolerate because We have become ac-
/ ousiomcd to H.
/ Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow?
Who hath contentious" Who hath
! bab6lins? Who hath wounds without
! cauSc?'' Sit in our police courts and
watch tho procession. How many
( drunk and disurdcriv? How many
! lights? How many murdcrous assaults?
How many murders?
/ Step into the home. Of our people.
I How many arc nllcd with s,rif, and
bitterness because OF strong drink?
! How many are filled with mourning
( because or son or Il daughter OH the
road 10 hell because OF strong drink?
1low many wives and children arc
! beatcn by men made into brutcs 10y
strong drink How many haVc gone
TO tho poorhousc. how many to the
insane asylum. how many metz. aye,
how many wives have been murdered.
and how many houses destroyed by
strong drink? And vet the opposition
newspapers become very solemn and
greatly concerned as to tho peace and
Quictness OF the state and prcacl, n
sermon on tho horrors OF an election
held f1h' tho purpose of taking away
from tho saloon the protection OF the
| law, and of branding ii az criminal,
or indeed as the United States Supreme
Court has SAID. as the greatest source
OF poverty, insanity. Vice and crime.
Count up all the ennitics. all the as
saults. all the murders. all the ruin
resulting from elections on the LIQUOR
| license question ever since the pas
sage of tho local option law of Vir-
ginia, nearly thirty years ago Give
fun weight to every thing, and then
put I'm the other side of the Balances
the cnmitics. the assaults. the paupcr-
ism. the insanity. the lost sons and
daughters. the ruined homes. and the
actual deaths by murder and other
wise. caused by the liquor traffic in
Virginia for one single year, and the
ruin wrought by the liquor traffic in
a single year far. far. outweighs all
a. hi a t,.,f
ton elections for the entire thirty
years.
When any newspaper. a defender OF
the saloon, begins To moralize and shed
tears over the trouble caused by
prohibition election. it is necessary to
discrcdit either its sincerity or its in
telligence. for no intelligent, we'll in
formed editor can state sincerely that
1 the strife produced by Il prohibition
election can he compared with the
! evils which exist as the product of
the saloon, which evils are present
daily and their source is known, and
yet these wet newspapers do not de-
nounce this ever-present source. but
do become very SOLICITORS of the peace
of the community when it is proposed
TO make all effort TO remove the great
est disturber of the peace
This objection to the passage of the
bin Is rooted in either hypocrisy or
Ignorance, and ~ Il reflection upon the
man who offers it,
Another objection TO the bill is that
were the people to vote to abolish the
license system. ii would he an in
lrlhgcment upon the personal liberty
OF the Individual CITIZEN VINO has the
personal right to drink Iiuuor to his
comfort, and furthermore and espe-
cially II is urged trat not only the
rights of individual citizens. but also
OF individual communities are ignored
by the passage of this bill. and it
makes II possible for the citizens of
one section of the State to impose its
views upon the citizens OF another
section. which section may be bitterly
opposed to the action proposed to he
taken.
IL Is almost peurile for the citizens
OF any part of the State to raise this
objection TO the laws passed by n ma
1ority Of the people Of the entire state.
and 1t is worthy of note that this
argument is used very rarely cxccpt
as to the liquor traffic. The people of
lldewater Virginia are obliged to live
and TO work under the laws passed bv
the representatives of the entire State
although they may realize that the
conditions surrounding the fish and
oyster industries cannot he fully I'M
dcrstood by residents Of the hill conn
Try. Inc "moonshiDcrs" OF the noun
tain country may desire 10 he . lave
~ 49, va ticA are under
lhc law not only Of the rest OF the
state OF Virginia. out of the JTnited
states. The judges who preside in
Inc various circuits OF the State are
elected by the General Assembly OF
the state. Tho entire body of laws of
the state under which we all live is the
expression Of the will of the entire
State.
There Is great reason why the INV
concerning the sale or intoxicants
should be State wide. The effect of
me sale of intoxicants is not confined
10 me SHOP, or the street. or the
ward, or the town. or the city where
inc sale IS made he intoxicant re-
Iuccs inc earning capacity of the
hTlhhcr ana makes him less valuable
as citizen and Il taxpayer The in
'oAichnt increases the amount of
papucrism, insanity and crimes. and
thllS affects tho Stni, To-, rnin ,..i.i,