New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1914-03-25

and skillfully famed by adroit pro-
fessional politicians who seek to ride
into office on its crest, it serves to
divert the attention of the rank and
file from the grotesque economic in
justices under which they suffer. This
was it's purpose. It was meant, as
such crusades launched by the ruling
caste have always been meant, to
take the common mans eyes off the
life here and fix them upon the life
hereafter. 1t will pass. Its victims
will sober off presently. Men always
do, whether they get drunk on alco-
hol or on religious emotion. Life
cannot be lived long at such high
pressure Mans vital need of friend
" neighborly relations with his fell
low man is the ultimate corrective.
And man cannot imprison his neigh
boris will, do violence to his neigh
boris honest convictions, abridge his
neighbours natural freedom, without
creating an intolerable enmity be-
tween them, in place of the neighbor-
ly kindness which should exist and
which is the soundest morality. But
while the frenzy is on, one might as
we'll try to argue with mad bull
that a red petticoat won't harm him,
as to try to reason with one of the
frenzy's unfortunate victims. l have
no particular sympathy with the IL
quor interests of Texas, or Of any
other State, for the matter of that.
They have sinned away their hour of
grace, in Texas and the South gen.
orally, by failing to consider any but
their own selfish concerns. They too
have been blind or Indifferent to the
economic exploitation Of the workers
in town and country. They have align
ed themselves with the great indus
trial and transportation companies
whose meddling with the peoples
governments has been arrogant and
fragrant. They have ignored the out
cry of the poor and the oppressed on
the tenant farms and in the indus.
trial districts. They have given
neither sympathy nor material aid
to employees of the railroads and the
mills when these men have been fore.
led by intolerable oppression to 60 on
strike. They have employed in poll
tics, for the most part, professional
politicians quite as odious to the
Democratic masses of the working
people as any that are now employed
by the Anti-Saloon League. If Their
property shall be confscated ant
themselves impoverished by a fren
zied crusade which will put Texas in
to a moral strait-jacket, they will
perhaps acquire keener appreciation
Of the feelings of the majority O.
Texans who are economically sub
merged. The rich will enjoy thei
liquor, subject only to infrequen
prosecutions" prearranged for poll
cal effect, in their clubs. The poo
will get it only by descending to dis
reputable underground processes, an
lat risk of real punishment. Tn
quantity consumed will be, as it ha
always been in Maine, quite as grea
as before the prohibition law wa
enacted, but it will be generally Of
viler, more destructive quality. An
iif nationwide prohibition amend
ment shall be adopted, as it threaten
to be, then thousands of moonshin
distilleries and wine presses and littl
kitchen breweries will spring into be
|; ing, and an army of spies will b
needed to detect them-until outrag
ed common sense once more resume
control and the people repeal sue
unnatural laws, as they did in man
States half century ago, after an
other such frenzy swept the land
Reedv's Mirror -