The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-09-01


So long as the butcher is accla lined a hero.
there will be many to covot his honors and
follow his bloody trail But when lie is
isolated, when society will have none of him.
when he is thrust low in the social scale
as his brother of olden times. the hcadsman.
his sort Of fame will be distinctly undcsir-
able. In that day the fighting nation will
share with the unspeakable Turk If to-day
the contempt of world civilization. and we
shall be nearer peace by long mark than
we can ever hope to be when hero worship
accorded tho butcher, fires the imaginations
and hardcns the hearts Of men.
Good Citizens Should Stand Together
nNE of the most doplorabc features OF
- the liquor problem in this country is
that the many sincere advocates of the pro-
hlbltory method of dealing with it arc neces-
sarliy allied with stratum of the population
which is lower morally than the licensed re-
tailers under the local option system
This is said with considerable reluctance
but ordinary processes of reasoning and uni
versal experience make the statement neces-
sary in such Il grave situation as the present
The craving for stimulants is admittedly a
widespread appetite among human beings
particularly among progressive nations No
legislation will eradicate that appetite AS
long as the craving exists. means will be
found TO satisfy II. Under tho local option
measure # control. which is impossible
when the sale OF intoxcants is declared IL
legal. Under the licensing system viei-
iant public opinion cal restrict the granting
of licenses to those who conduct their liquor
selling establishments with due regard To de-
corum and 10 the plane Of public opinion
prevalent in the community which has grant.
ed the privilege of retailing spirituous
liquors 1t is possible to lay down rules and
regulations for tho government of such
places, and those rules and regulations will
he enforced Just to the extent that public
opinion desires them to be.
Moreover. license has a monetary value
and tc preserve that value the licensed re-
tailers constitute III some degree board OF
censorship as to the doings OF all holders of
licenses. Respectable saloon keepers are
among the most determined and effective
enemies Of the disreputablc followers of
that business. They must be so in self-de-
Tense, since the iniquity OF one affects them
all.
But the moment that prohibitory law is
forced on community. the reputable saloon
keeper conducting legal business under pre-
scrlbed restrictions, disappears, and his place
Is taken by the scum of the pCpula tiCn, YER
min that conduct an Illicit traffic with moth
ing to lose aud everything TO gain, and who
Will. therefore. chcerfuly sell poison to chill
drcn or to negroes or to idiots--to any one
vampires arc elusive. Their stock -in-trade
is easily removable from one place TO another
they can and do go freely from city to city
ana from one State to another wherever a
popularity unwelcome prohibitory law invites
their presence.
TO this class alone Is there any prospect of
profit in a Statewide prohibitory law Many
or our business and professional men our
artisans and cur laborers sorely troubled
at the possibility of fair Virginia departing
from the straight path of local rule in local
matters. The only elements in our popula-
ton that regard Statewide prohibition with
emotions of satisfaction are those who see
In 1t the possibility of moral progress and
those at the opposite end of the scale who
know that Statewide prohibition assures
them opportunity for profits out OF "a liquor
traffic SO vile that the ordinary licensed
saloon Is milk white in comparison
Wherever Statewide prohibition has been
enacted, II has been proven that the hopcs of
moral regeneration have been disappointed
while the growth OF the bootlcgger and the
jointkccpcr has been made painfully mani
fest to every unprecedented mind
Good citizens should stand together
Those who sincerely desire moral and physi-
cal progress cannot BIO in wholesome alia nee
Richard Harding Davis, who expressed so
knowingly his disgust at tho quiet atmosphere
IuoWn III vera CRUZ, should be happy now thai
he has been arrested in Germany on susui-
cion OF being spy.
The kaisers foreign secretary said that
Belgiums neutrality was only "a scrap of
paper The Belgians' opinion appeared TO
be that il was worth considerable of a scrap
We used to read that Paris was besieged
by American tourists. Now We learn that the
Kaiser has raised n personally conducted
party for the same purpose
Iuerta is in Madrid How crucl is war
that will not let him spend his har,!-carncd
money On the boulevards OF Paris
The changes imminent in the map of En-
rope has made folks forget all about recent
changes in the map of Brazil
oscar Strauss prediction that The war will
end Kings would be more credible il some
q them would get on the firing line.
Germans inclined to agree with
sherman and leave of the "goland"
Turkey about TO declare war o. the allies
Another convert 10 Christianity.
II Mexico has any sense Of hlmor /, will