Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-04-25
Secretary Daniels Order.

oiu II Iciius d man Wiio lsletihS al iiiS
heart a warm place for Maine. He
has written forcefully and expressive
~ for the Journal on previous occa-
sions. We hope he will continue to
do so, for he always has something
to say. BY way of introduction, we
would say that he is president of
Shaw University at Raleigh, N. c.:
Editor Kennebec Journal:
l have been interested in your re-
cent editorial references to the order
of Hon. Josephus Daniels, secretary
of the United States Navy, placing
the officers on the same plane as the
i enlisted men so far as the use of
intoxicating liquors is concerned. This
order issued on the grounds of safety,
! efficiency and health ought to receive
/ the approval of the entire country,
and happily does meet with the hearty
appreciation of a large majority of
right thinking people everywhere. That
/ it should meet with the approval Of
! the liquor interests was not to be
expected, but that it should be criti-
cised by the Navy League at Wash
ington and some of the staid CD New
England Dailies shows full we'll that
Mr. Daniels and the mighty and grow
ing prohibition sentiment throughout
the South have not been correctly
estimated. The statement that Mr..
Daniels has no right to impose his
individual ideas upon the officers of
the Navy, made by editorial writer's
who criticise the order and disapprove
Of sc for
that it would not deserve serious con-
sideration had it not been so often
repeated. A brief rehearsal of some
local and state historic facts will put
the matter before readers in its true
light
Twenty years ago last March I NOV
ed from the grand prohibition state
of Kansas to Raleigh, n. c. Since
that time / have lived almost directly
opposite Mr.. Daniels home and our
relations both as neighbors and friends
have been uniformly pleasant. Mr..
and Mrs. Daniels have four splendid
boys. Mrs. Daniels is a lovely mother
to these four boys and the father
makes himself a delightful companion
of his sons. The sons are as proud
Of their father and mother as the
parents are of their sons and their
home has an atmosphere of love, cheer
and family loyalty. Mr.. and Mrs.
Daniels understand full we'll the
foundations of the true American
home and also the forces that under
mine the American home, blast the
lives of so many young men and
young women and bring them to I'M
timely graves. Twenty years ago
there were in Raleigh S5 or 40 saloons
doing their destructive work After
strenuous campaign they went out
of existence and then the devil came
in a little more respectable guise un-
der the name of the dispensary, but
the tail and cloven hoofs soon appear
ed disclosing the same old adversary
After another campaign, still more
strenuous and statewide, the old
North State was carried for prohibit
ton by about $4,000 majority. In all
these exciting times, Mr. Daniels,
through the Daily News & Observer
of which he was managing editor. was
a strong leader, and, long before it
was popular, and at great pecuniary
loss he refused to publish saloon or
whiskey advertisements. Other Eouth-
ern states have come to their senses
on the liquor question and even the
great empire of Texas lacks but little |
of being prohibition territory and the I
temperance sentiment is growing in |
the North also. 1t was in obedience |
to Mr.. Daniels lifelong conviction of I
duty and in response to an awakened |
public consciousness concerning ter |
rible evil that led him to issue his /
wise and timely order an order that I
meets with the approval of most jour-
nails that are not in the grasp of the !
liquor interests or in some way profit I
ing financially from the whiskey traf- I
fic.
The bugbear of international rela- 7
tons is again brought up. Must we T
all the time be yielding to other ma
lions and accepting their parctises? T
why should not other nations re- /
speet our laws and customs? In our
own homes guests do not dictate to |
host and hostess. Why then in in /
functions?
We wish to throw out right here a
word of warning. When the Civil War I
closed there were few spindles in t
North Carolina. Now the cotton in |
terests in this state are only second I
to those of Massachusetts. The I
strides of progress in agriculture are /
great Last year the average |
yield of cotton per acre was greater !
than in any other cotton producing I
state. Since the coming of the pro- I
law there have been erected |
in Raleigh three elegant bank build /
ings that represent an outlay of three I
quarters of a million dollars. New |
stores have been erected, old ones re- |
modelled and the new first class resi-
dences represent hundreds of thou T
sands of dollars, and this progress I
is not confined merely to Raleigh, the |
capital city, but it is true of most Of |
the state. What else could be expect /
ed? When you turn the unproduc
tive consumption of whiskey with the |
idleness and crime into I
practical prohibition with its conse |
quent industry, thrift and enterprise, |
there are bound to be prosperity and |
a growth in morality and Goodness. |
If Massachusetts does not watch out, |
she will be falling behind in the eco
nomic race. Good habits mean thrift, |
bad habits poverty.