Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1915-04-09

Gan open letter to Governor VIM.
Spry, by Professor N. L. Nelson.)
A great sorrow has fallen upon the
people Of Utah through the act of its
Governor--a deep, dumb anguish; an
indignation too profound for mere dis
putation, and almost voiceless be-
cause burdened with shame for our
fair commonwealth, and with deep
distrust Of its rulers.
The Peoples Voice.
idaho, Colorado, Arizona--each of
our sister states has virtue enough to
register its moral will; but Utah, the
pioneer-Utah that presumes to carry
the banner Of moral and civic right
eousness--is too feeble to get out of
the slough. ! am so disappointed that
I wish ! lived thousand miles from
the state, in some community where
the promise Of moral harvest does
not always end in smut"
Such is a sample Of the mutterings
one hears on the streets. Other re-
marks have more staccto ring:
"Oh, let me alone; I'm too Disguised
to hear myself think. There's no sat
isfaction in words. I'd just like to
smash him with my fist, and then
grind him under my heel. But even
that wouldn't help-there'd still be
the shame Of it left"
This deep sorrow needs a voice,
lest it smother underground and be-
come hopeless indifference. Twice
within five years, the uplifting will of
the people has been crushed down by
the forces of evil shifting with your
hand; and IL our indignation shall re-
main dumb now, then the very root Of
social reform is in danger of dry rot
This letter is addressed to you, Mr..
Spry, and not to the Governor of the
state; for in you, the man, / discern
the complaint tool--nay, the cham
pion-of forces that ! hate with a
vehement hatred. And If talk to you
in Anglo Saxon, it is because you are
using the Governor--which means
me, my will, and the will of my fell
low citizens-to do dirty work; work
that makes me blush for shame.
The Right to Crush Whiskey.
The right Of a people to put down
whisky, and to crush relentlessly all
its panderers and supporters, should
they stand in the way, no longer
needs argument. II is right above
and beyond the pale Of reasoning. 1t
is something felt in every fibre of
ones moral being; a something born
in the deep STRINGS of the social
consciousness, which is the voice of
God to man.
Has the race right to stamp out
the great white plague? No one hest
tates about the answer. But suppose
a million people were dependent for
their living upon the propagation Of
this disease, should we still have the
right? Suppose further that millions
of dollars in capital were invested in
it; that for a thousand years the race
conscience had been dormant as to
the atrocity Of the plague. Could the
diabolical traffic in death hom tuber-
culosis be conceived as so entrenched
by custom or past sanction, that the
awakened conscience Of the commun-
ity must stop to argue before begin
ming a merciless war to the death
upon It?
There then lies, in a nut shell, the
final right and reason behind prohi-
bition; save that my illustration falls
far short of exhibiting the full and
clear completeness of that right. For
consumption carries away merely the
body--it does not touch the soul Con-
sumption does not fill our jails and
bride judges and governors. Nor are
its hands red from the blood of inno-
cense.
shall not stop, therefore, to handy
words with you about invested whis-
key capital concerning which you are
so tender; for the right Of the race
TO live, and to grow nobler, carries
with it the right TO sweep away