East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1914-03-13

ADDRESS this intelligent audience OF six
thousands people on the temperance
question, Il is quite evident from the
crowd before me that this question
is one of the burning question of the
age n is not some small minor issue,
b,Ut a great and important statewide
ass5 worldwide question. Some years
.xso the world was discussing the sill
s>er and gold standards as the money
standard of the nation, each was
claiming for his question that IT was
the question of the age. and at the
ssame time there was in the United
states treasury six hundred million
dollars in silver and six hundred mil
lion dollars in gold that comprised the
whole amount as the reserved fund
of this nation at that time. And yet
at that very same time the drink Dill
<of the nation was twenty-one hundred
million dollars, question that COM
Drises more money than both the gold
and silver in the United States treas
nry, was then and is today the para
mount issue of the age. King SOLO
anon the wisest of men gave me a taxi
which l desire to use tonight in con-
nection with the principles that shall
deduct from the great lawyer, Black
stone. solomon said, They have sold
the boy for a drink of wine and the
girl for a harlot." Isn't il disgraceful
40 think as you read that provero
and prophecy that we are today living
IN that very age, but it's nevertheless
Srue. A few years ago two colored
men spent the night hunting possoms.
they had toiled all night and caught
nothing. Tired and weary with the
long hunt, hungry and half starving
they sat down on the bank of river
70 bathe their tired and weary feet.
One said to the other. Brother Bill
lets talk about the best thing to eat.
~All right" said he. Brother Sambo.
You are more in the habit of making
public speeches than I am, you speak
xirs,'' "All right" he said. "the best
things to eat, would suggest that you
get a big fat possom, clean him nice,
put him in big oven. put dozen
big sweet potatoes round him, and a
pound of pork sausage inside of him.
and a pound of butter on top of him.
put him in big hot oven, roast him
brown, then take de possom and de
sweet potatoes off in de woods wild no.
body to bother you but yourself, and
sit down and eat him up" The other
slarkey blazed away and hit him on
the butt of the ear with his fist and
knocked him in the river. The poor
siarkey swan out coughing and spit
ting water he said. Brother Bin what
did YOU do that for?" He says, Be
cause you lying Niger YOU never left
any ground for me TO argue on" So
il is ladies' and gentlemen, when We
come to this great question of temp
erance. there is no ground for the
man to argue on when he takes the
srfer side. There can be but three
reasons why any man, who is man,
should vote for or argue in favor of
whisky traffic. The first he is in
corrupt politics and must favor his
constituency. Second. he is SO low
and beggerly that he wants to make
an almighty dollar at the sacrifice Of
my boy, and hence it's money con-
sideration. The third, he is thirsty
gullet and wants TO drink whisky.
Anyone of these must be the reasons.
and the only reasons. / used to think
rhat because the saloon was licensed.
and therefore a legalized institution
that IT was none of my business to
interfere. but have long since out
grown that theory. We cannot by
just and a righteous law legalize
crime. and for that reason the saloon
IS not. and never can be- a legalized
institution. II exists by the law of toll
seration, only. 1t is simply tolerated.
same as big wart on a mans eyelid
or 4 carbuncle on the back of his neck.
And il you don't believe this to be true
let me ask you a question. Why is it
hhas a town board in any city or town
~can revoke license at any time and
-soW the man out of business without
giving him an explanation of why
they did 1t? You can't treat my
hardware business that way, or my
grocery business that wan neither can
s5os revoke a doctors license, or law
,S1er's license in the same manner.
What is license anyway? 1t is a
permit granted by some competent
authority to do an act which other
wise without license would be ille-
legal. But you say. "Bulgin. didn't a
man have a right TO keep a dog be-
fore dogs were ever licensed. and IL
you license doctors and dogs. why not
incense the saloon?" The answer is
very simple. the saloon does not belong
-tc the doctor class. and there's only
'cne class of dogs that it belongs to
and that's a mad dog. And with all
due apology TO the dog ] draw this
comparison. We license a dog to fix
the right ownership we license a doc
tor to prohibit quacks, but we never
license mad dog. The day will come,
and 1t isn't far distant. when this
grand old flag OF ours will refuse 70
waSe over a single saloon. Slavery
as gone. and why? Because you can't
maintain a wrong thing by righte-
Gus law The saloon is capable Of
ten thousand times more deadly crime
and productive of ten thousand times
more evil than the bondage and slav-
cry OF the black man in the south. I
have been thinking lately, and !
would like to ask the question to-
might to some of you lawyers and SEN
ators and legislators, why did not the
whisky people take an appeal from
Jodge Artman's decision OF the state
of Indiana few years ago, which
decision pronounced the liquor traffic
"A crime They didn't dare ap
peal that decision. because the highes,
courts In this land must agree with
rhls graaf tttrixf and nropauoca ~.