New Britain herald., 1917-08-20
SIN AND CRIME.
Progressive Prohibition Calls Atten- tdon to a Vast Difference Between the Two.
(New York Commercial. )

(New York Commercial)
 It was bound to come. The presi- dent of the Non-Smokers' Protective League of America has addressed an open letter to President Wilson pro- testing against giving tobacco in any form to American soldiers and pray ing that the cultivation of tobacco be prohibited because the land should produce food. He calls supplying to- hacco to soldiers a crime and abuses the American Red Cross for being
 party to it.
 Were MT. Peasc not an earnest fa- natic his letter might be construed as a parody of the arguments of the ex treme prohibitionists. He thinks to- bacco is as bad as whiskey and asks 1 President Wilson to put then, in the same class. If the minority Mr. Pease represents were as well organ ized and as well supplied with cash as is the prohibition lobby at Washing ton, senators and representatives would jump at the crack of the anti ! tobacco whip Just as they hasten to l obey the manoates of the prohibition 1 lobbyists. They may one of these | days, for, if national nrohih,t,on | should become a law of the land. 1t w .1ioSC plO1SSSlOndl aSl- ] tators of their livelihood, and what
 would be more logical and likely than
 that they would start an anti-tobacco
 campaign to keep themselves in 1 clover?
 l Cynics says that human beings
 crave a certain amount of abuse or 1 imposition. If they find themselves
 free they proceed to letter themselves 1 just to feel miserable Under an 1 autocratlc government the people are l free to drink, to smoke, to dance and l to sin An autocracy understands the
 distinction between crime and sin | and leaves the latter to the private | conscience and the church. When | the people govern themselves they l leg1slate against sin as we'll as crime 1 and then proceed to regulate tastes
 and habits, as we'll as acts that con-
 cern the public.
 l In Germany before the war all cities
 and towns were wide open" and yet
 efficiently administered The report
 of the Rockefeller Foundation proves
 the lack of restriction. The German
 autocracy gave the people practically
 unlimited freedom of action in per
 sonal affairs as compensation for iron ] discipline In the service of the em- l pire. That is the extreme example of
 our day and Germans seemed to like | the system better than the political
 freedom of the United States coupled
 with restrictions of personal acts that
 do not constitute crime even. when | regarded as sinful.
 Americans are free to do whatever
 they please in the collective sense 1 They can change the form of govern
 ment by marking their ballots. Hav- i ing gained such liberty, they have al
 all times since tho Revolution shown 1 fondness for restricting the liberty of l the individual. At various times and l places in the United States the use of i toba acco in some or all forms has been
 prohibited Restrictions on the use
 of spirituous ond fermented beverages | have taken every imaginable form | Only the Constitution of the United States has stood in the way of the establishment of religious tests and the prescription of certain forms of religious worship in some states The governor of certain state of the Union now declares that he will not appoint to office a member or adher- ent of a certain Christian church that counts It's members in this country by the millions, and, incidentally, he holds lip Bismarck as his guiding star in this policy. We must have or ganized self-control, but why treat l ourselves as children?
 Thomas Jefferson understood tha difference between sin and crime and
 the reason for ignoring private sins and pun1shing crimes against the
 state. Sin Is violation of conscience.
 crime Is violation of law MT. Pease
 has right to think. and, he therefore enjoys the personal privilege of be- lieving that 1t is sinful to smoke: bpt
 he has right to make smoking a. crime and neither has a ninety Der cent. majority of the people. Car
 ried to it's logical conclusion, such leg
 islation will destroy personal liberty. The next step will be to make jt a crime to eat garlic or onions. The Prohibition craze will yet reach foods cards. amusements clothes and other personal affairs if our lawmakers con- tinue to surrender unconditionally to every group of faddists that sets LID a. lobby in the national or state cap-
 itals. Then we may welcome an au- tocrat in order to regain little per
 sonal liberty of thought and action.