The Ronan pioneer. [volume] (Ronan, Mont.) 1910-1970, 1915-01-01


with a full appreciation of the terrible
havoc to society that Results from the
present widespread policy pursued in
Montana regarding the sale of IN
| toXlcants.
That the present system neeos radi-
cal revision is certain. AS was said
in this same column, some weeks ago,
unless the coming session of the
Montana legislature takes decisive
action this winter, looking towards
the elimination of the present ad-
mitted evils of the liquor business,
we believe nothing can prevent state
wide prohibition campaign two years
hence.
If the liquor interests shall sue
cessfully oppose such action by the
legislature, we believe they will in
vite disaster to themselves and pos
sibly the annihilation of the entire
business, except that which will be
carried on by the bootlegger and
through the medium of the blind pig.
We realize that the question here
discussed is one that the politicians
always seek to avoid and one about
which most newspapers preserve a
discreet silence, but the issue con-
fronts us and we might as we'll meet
it fairly and settle it in a dispassion-
ate temper.
In saying what we have said, we
are fully aware of the fact that these
views will not meet with he approval
of either radical advocates nor the
dalical opponents Of statewide pro-
hibition.
Residents of the Flathead reser-
walton already know the meaning of
prohibition, the kind within a pre-
scribed territory, with open saloons
on all sides. There is not saloon
within it's boundaries, neither is there
a place where liquor can be bought
at least not openly. But at that, if
we take the court records for it, there
must be gallon after gallon brought
in and sold by the bootlegger, that
always present menace in dry coun-
try.
In spite of the fact that the United
States government expends thousands
of dollars annually to stop this traffic,
and keeps an army of special officers
on duty 365 days in the year, the
court records tell US that liquor flows
on the reservation almost as freely
as water in the governments irriga-
tion bitches. Not because the officers
are negligent of their duty, because
many will bear testimony tot he fact
that they are diligent, competent and
always on the job, but because of the
fact that as long as liquor is manu-
factured and offered for sale those
who want it will find some means of
securing it. In a dry country the
bootlegger is the only source of sup
ply and the exhorbtant prices paid
allures many into the traffic. Their
career is q short one, for before many
cargoes are landed they fall into the
hands Of the ever vigilant officers and
are soon in limbo. Others take their
place and the jails of Missoula, Hele-
ma, Great Falls and Butte are emptied
of one batch only to make room for
another. This sort of prohibition
doesn't prohibit. 1t may curtail the
amount Of liquor drank. 1t certainly
makes lawbreakers, sneaks and pos
sibly perjurers. If Montana as a
whole was dry, it would do more
toward stopping the liquor traffic on
the reservation than any other one
thing, except stopping it's manufac-
ture. The source Of supply would be
too remote for the bootlegger and few
if any others would attempt to intro
duce it.
The sale of liquor can not be regu-
lated on the reservation under the
present laws and the government is
undoubtedly doing the only thing it
can do to suppress the traffic. This,
however, is not the case with the bal
ance of the state The people of Mon
tana can find samples of local pro-
hibition on several Indian reservations
within it's borders. If to their liking,
they might try it themselves. A
strict regulation might offer the bet
ter method of solving the question,
outside of the Indian reservations