Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-04-16
BOOZE MUST GO.

Editor Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
Sir: heard person say the
other day, IF Hawaii was TO try
another vote on prohibition in the
| near future il would surely go
| through
| believe that man was right There
has been no world change in hun
dreds OF years that has grown so
last as this flying wedge Of prohibi-
| ton The movement has been start
Cd: at the right moment il was con-
gidered good thing and pushed
! along. There is great something
abroad in the land whose chief aim
is to reach and teach and win the
| American people This does not mean
| that this something is TO be satisfied
| with winning a few hundreds or even
| thousands here and the re. but the
millions who labor with their hands
| and are in every sense the backbone
upon which will depend the coming
progress and hope of this nation.
This task OF winning them over
will he accomplished as sure as the
sun is going to rise tomorrow. 1t has
| commenced already, and from every
quarter of the land of the free there
has been a decided stand made for
the total elimination of liquor. backed
up by the highest authority in the
state, or If It has not actually come
to pass yet, there are rumblings that
foretell of it's near approach. There
is no fancy. no dreaming. no eXag-
geration about it all. The liquor men
of the whole country have been
brought to a realization Of the fact
that they have fight on their hands,
terrific fight, fight that they are
going to lose. They have been backed
off the boards to a finish so far. They
arc at a standstill A standpatter Is
mar who has stopped and cannot
get started again, while progressive
is one who has started, and cannot
stop, and in this respect the prohibi'
ton movement is a progressive of the
deepest dye. 1t would seem that 1t
is the psychological moment to drive
the alcohol trade, bottle and barrel,
from the confines CT the United States.
1t is most encouraging to note the
local manifestations of prohibition in
clinations that are daily making their
appearance throughout the city, and
with each day they are getting helder
and larger The treating" PROPOSE /
ton is receiving much attention. Peo- !
pie do not read these signs and pass
on, but in nine cases out Of ten they |
read then the second and Thrill time.
They thlnk it all over and in many !
there Is sown the seed that grows to |
an idea that there is moral neces- |
sity, especially so right here in the !
territory Of Hawaii. Of destroying the
liquor traffic.
The argument that prohibition is an
infringement on personal liberty and |
that each person has a right to deter
mine for himself what he shall drink !
has no valid excuse for living and is |
kept alive by the interests that traf
fic in liquor. There is not country
in the civilized world that does not |
exercise some kind of authority over
the making and selling of liquor. 1t
is thereby under control, or under the
right of control Once this right to
restrict liquor in any'uf its phases is
made manifest and the 'personal-lib-
erty" argument goes fluey.
Traffic In, and the use of, liquor are |
two very different propositions. If
the obtaining of liquor is made diff
cult by the act of government. that
is the users misfortune. Why should
the government put itself in a way
to hold out the intoxicating glass to !
the man who has not the will power
or the manhood to resist, but give
helping hand toward dragging him
lower?
- How about the saloon? That is the
clearing house for the whole rotten
business. There can be no traffic in
liquor without the saloon. 1t is ad-
mitted from one end of the land to
the other that the saloon is an evil
that is sapping the very life of the
country. This is even admitted by
those who fatten the. saloonkeeper's
purse. And this same saloopkeeper
would do all in his power to prevent :,
the locating of a saloon next to his
fine home that he has built from the
earnings of those who frequently
starve and abuse their families He
would consider it an evil Of the worst
kind. Is 1t any less an evil when To-
Gated at some other point or near
some other mans home. or a school,
or a church? If 1t is an evil because
of its proximity to any of these will
somebody kindly tell, me of the dis
lance that will make fhis evil a bless,
ing? The saloon inaHawaii is admit
teddy bad for the laboring class as we'll
as all other classes; society should not
tolerate it: the number of them in
the community should be lessened. or
better still, banished altogether.
There are those who may contend
that prohibition does not prohibit.
That is up to those who make the
laws. OF course there will be viola ;
lions of the law Just as there are VIC