Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1917-07-05
Ore
Peoples Forum
War With Germany-Why?

! suppose that question has been
asked over and over again, and as
yet there has been no very satisfac-
tory answer only that we had to-
that is, to maintain our integrity.
But is there not better solution
than that? There are very many
people that think and have thought
for years that our nation would be
punished for its wickedness. There
is something in the verse which says
Thus far shalt thou go and no far
ther.' l remember back to the time
of the abolition party, when 1t began
to agitate the question Of slavery;
how they were tabooed and scoffed
at and prosecuted, and also how
churches were divided and in some
instances families. But the abolition
party grew because God was behind
it, and in his own good time the
low-war-struck. When secession
got so rampant as to threaten to Sc
cede and have government of their
own, then Uncle Sam said eve will
have none of this" and the north
made ready to fight it out, and they
did to finish and the slavery ques-
tion was forever settled in our coun-
try. But those who favored abolition
and were the prime movers of the
freedom of the slaves had to see their
sons go to the front and be slaugh-
tered, and also those that were so
much opposed to it had to share alike
in the dreadful carnage. The nation
had to have money to carry it on, so
our lamented Lincoln, much against
his better Judgment, said, eve will
put tax on the liquor business and
receive big revenue from 1t. How
ever, 1t was big mistake and Lin
coin saw it and said ere he died, "The
next fight will be to rid the nation
from that curse which has caused
more death and destruction than all
wars and peatilence combined, and
yet our nation has let it go on and
on; let the whiskey power dominate
year after year, in high and low
places. Their political conventions
have been plead with year after year
for prohibition platform, but were
ignored every time. But there has
been some education going on for sew
eral years on the effects of alcohol
on the system and also on other lines,
and heavy pressure has been
brought to bear on the com merSal
side Of it, showing the cost Of caring
for the victims of drink, until at last
the scales have dropped from the
eyes of good many. They also real
ize how much they are taxed to main
tain jails, prisons, insane asylums
and various other institutions which
would not be needed but for the sa-
loon business. Just think how many
years the democrat and republican
parties voted their party tickets and
said, "The business is all right. It's
leagilized traffic. let it alone.
We need the revenue to make our
taxes less" But a prohibition party
has been working several years, sew
eral lives have been sacrificed for it's
promotion, and also the W. G. T. U.
has been big factor in education,
and the booze traffic has realized for
some time that its time was short, so
it has used every scheme the devil !
could invent to increase the business
And oh! oh! oh! the desolation, the
heart ache, the sorrow brought to
the innocent children and wives and
mothers! Will the Lord let such
wickedness go unpunished? Nay,
verify! Will the nations at war with
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