Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-12-29
en- ERANCE.


City: Gumbel Bldg, Kansas City, MO-
TEMPERANCE.
Francis Murphy, American tenn
perance evangelist: born Wexford,
ireland, April "a, 1886; died Los
Angeles, June 80, 1907. During the
civil war he served In the Union
army. In 1870. at Portland, Maine,
he began the organization Of tenn
perance reform clubs, which were
established In all parts of the state,
and Of which he was the first presl-
dent. He made his headquarters
At Pittsburg, Pa, where after his
first address In 1875, the pledge
was signed by $4,000 people; and
before long the signatures secured
throughout the United States In re-
spouse to his endeavors numbered
as many as 10,o00,Oo0. His labors
were also carried on In England
with noteworthy results. During
the Spanish, American war he serv-
ed az chaplain in the United States
army.
In view of the recent defeat of pro-
hibition legislation offered in congress.
the above extract from the Encyclo-
Spedia Americana, is timely. Francis
Murphy did his best work nearly forty
years ago, but scarcely man lives
now in this country who was over ten
years of age then, but remembers what
Murphy did in the fight for temper
ance. Murphy preached temperance
and he lined up ten million men with
the blue ribbon of temperance on their
breasts. Murphy realized that simple
| prohibition law does not prohibit anu
that, to great extent it fails to en-
list the very men whom 1t is intended
to aid. He worked on the principal
that most men will listen to reason and
! can be persuaded, but that they cannot
6be forced to quit drinking unless the
Aorder comes from within their own
hearts.
A prohibitory law will not yet be en-
Forced everywhere and when one law
is evaded, circumvented and openly
violated it lessons respect for other
laws and the whole fabric Of peaceful
government by law and ORDER comes
into disrespect.
The Courier is absolutely against the
Eliquor drinking habit; it believes that
rum does about all the harm charged
7 to IL and more too, but The Courier be-
lieves that before this country gets a
national law prohibiting the manufac-
ture and sale of liquor, that great
big temperance campaign will have to
be waged.
ID Before national prohibition liquor
Nav can be made effective, the country
fmust 20 through campaign for tenn
perance.
The nation in it's different states has
had on this question too much law
and too little of the effort of persua-
Asion At the beginning prohibition
&neant temperance-but now we must
1set the two words separated.
Too much of the effort has been
made to get prohibition laws enacted
and too little effort to get men to
realize the harm they are doing them
selves and their families. by drinking
and encouraging the liquor traffic.
The movement for prohibition has
gone as far as it will go till it has
coupled with 1t systematic effort for
temperance.
It would be calamity to have a nat
tional prohibition law and not have 1t
enforced any more effectively than the
] liquor laws Of Iowa are enforced.
/ About thirty-five years ago there was
10 campaign in Iowa for and against The
proposition to adopt an amendment to
the state constitution to prohibit the
manufacture and sale of liquor in Iowa
At that time there were men who were
absolutely against the liquor business,
yet these men opposed making such
a law part of the state constitution
Because they felt that it would be
violated and they did not want clause
Tin the constitution that they knew
would not be enforced in all parts OF
the state. If it was to be law they
preferred that 1t be simply part OF
/ the statutes instead of part of the
A constitution.
n We do not mean that the effort for
aprohibition should be slackened. We
do want to state that in order to pro.
duce results, it will have to be sup
|, plemented by a strong, plain and con
tinuous campaign for temperance-an
effort to convince men and women that
y 1t is not necessary to drink intoxicarts
Aand that it is not right. 1t is not profit.
able, not manly, and is degrading 1t
nauses a loss of respect for self and all
Dthers-it keeps men away from their
! homes and their business. 1t weakens
Tthem physically and intellectually.
But those are the points that are
not being presented to them often
enough or forcibly enough Those
\ points can not be presented by laws
3 The human mind can not be made over
\ by law 1t must be done by thought
The prohibition movement will now
get its greatest impetus by temperance
REVEALS.
A national prohibition liquor law
will not be cure all for the liquor
disease. unless public sentiment en-
h dorses it, There is national law now
against selling and making liquor with
out a government license. 1t is vioiat