The Glenwood post., 1914-10-17
AHD
VuU - no00

In this tsapesanee campaign IN
hQsoR interests are setting festh Pc
esiiax Asctrinee, . few sf UAieh
visA to nstios- They elain tAst tn
iosaeisg tie saIoos u ts.qssaaes, fss
tsapsssses y sslf-eestrol. This 1ss-
tsiAs vas sst forth in tAsir PsPss,
"fhs Rseerl," psblisAsd i. Dssves.
Hsv tAis u inpay a snerss.sy ase-
tstas vithsst . GRsia Of trush in Il,
= everyone ksovs that laws have bsss
naAs sf vsrisss kinda fer fifty years
seeking to control the trslie, bat il
vais.
In the ssne paper it is srgssd that
saloons ere . necessity to the prosPeri-
ty Of . country aad that prohibitisa i.
blight. Now 1 believe it is . asfs
proposition to state that the prosperity
of = country depends largely: First,
upon its natural resources, such - its
soil, mineral deposits, forests, rivers,
etc.; second, upon its commercial ad-
vsntages and markets; third, upon the
per cent Of ability employed in repro
duction and the value of its finished
products.
1t is evident that the saloon adds
nothing to our material resources, and
on the second point it is just as evil
dent, but how about the third PROPOSE
tiony Let US take a few examples.
The lumbermsn takes the raw material
which is worth $1,000 thousand feet
| and its finished product is worth $50
a thousand feet. The miller takes the
raw material worth $l.6O q hundred
and its finished products, flour AMI
meal, it worth $500 . hundred. Ths
farmer takes the raw prairie land
worth $1,000 an sccre and after years
of plowin& eultivsting and i.provins
it is worth 800 per acre. Yet yoa
say these industries are all assets to
nations wealth and prosperity.
Let US call the saloon to the witness
stand. What is your businessf Selling
whisky, beer, run, etc. What 10 ths
nav material upes which yos wssk Z
Primarily tie boys and young me. Of
our nation, 100000 . year, also thoas-
ands Of girls to satisfy the passions Of
men. influenced by liquor.
Lastly, what is yosr finished pro-
dueti Drunkards, hariets, murdersrs,
begsars, insane, etc., etc, AID to eass
for the finished product Of this bus:-
ness about tll.O0 is spent where d IL
received in revenue. We have in this
country 100000 drunkards, 1s7,4s4 in
sane. All these are ssPpers a.d not
producers.
Another feature Of their campaigs
is the advocating Of local option, the
very thing the whisky elenent has
been condemning, riAieuliAg a.A laAss-
ing most earnestly to defeat all these
years. Now it occurs to me that Il
would be unjust discrimination to say
that the people of = town could legis.
late upon this question and not a pre-.
cinct, or . precinct and not . county
or county and not 4 state or = state
and not q nation.
What would be thought of the idea
of local option to control the spread of
such diseases as smallpox, typhoid fe-
yer or tuberculosis! And yet rs a
spreader of disease liquor is . far
greater agency than any of the dread
full diseases named. Note the follow.
ing; In the years 1900-l9OS $4,000
men from 25 to 65 years Of age were
reported to have died in the United
States from alcoholism and from hard
ened liver, due to alcoholism-lO,O 900
more than died from typhoid fever.
In reference to this point Of license
and local option, let me quote few
lines from Abraham Lincoln: "The
liquor traffic is q cancer in society,
eating out its vitals and threatening
! destruction, and all attempts to reeu.
late it will prove abortive. There must
be no attempt to regulate the cancer,
1t must be eradicated; not a root must
be left behind, for until this is done all
classes must continue in danger of be.
coming victims of strong drink"
Even the supreme court of the United
states has declared, "No legislature
can bargain Qicensel away the public
health or public morals, the people
themselves cannot do it, much less their
servants. II. G.. MILLER