Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1917-08-23
PROGRESSIVE PROHIBITION.

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
tobacco to soldiers crime and a.
buses the American Red Cross for
being a party to it.
We're Mr.. Peasc not an earnest ia
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
President Wilson to put them in the
same class. If the minority Mr..
Pease represents were as we'll organ.
lied and as well supplied with casI
as is the prohibition lobby at Wash
ington, Senator'S and Representatives
would jump at the crack of the anti
tobacco whip just as they hasten tc
obey the mandates of the prohibi.
ton lobbyists. They may one O.!
these days, for, if national prohibit
ton should become the law of the
land, it would deprive these pro
fessional agitators of their livelihood.
and what would be more logical ano
likely than that they would start ar
anti-tobacco campaign to keep them.
selves in clover?
Cynics say that human beings
crave certain amount of abuse or
imposition. If they find themselves
free they proceed to fetter them
selves Just to feel miserable. Under
an autocratic government the people
are free to drink, to smoke to dance
and to sin. An autocracy under
stands the distinction between crime
and sin and leaves the latter to the
private conscience and the church.
When the people govern themselves
they legislate against sin as well as
crime and then proceed to regulate
tastes and habits, as we'll as acts thai
concern the public.
In Germany before the war all
cities were wide open" and vel
efficiency administered. The report
of the Rockefeller foundation proves
the lack of restriction. The German
autocracy gave the people practic
ally unlimited freedom of action il
personal affairs as compensation fol
iron discipline in the service of the
empire. That is the extreme exam
pie of our day and Germans seemeo
to like the system better than the po
litical freedom of the United States
coupled with restrictions of person.
al acts that do not constitute crime
even when regarded as sinful.
Americans are free to do whatever
they please in the collective sense.
They can change the form of govern
ment by marking their ballots. Hav
ing gained such liberty, they have
at all times since the Revolution
shown fondness for restricting the
liberty of the individual. AT various
times and places in the United States
the use of tobacco in some or all
forms has been prohibited. Restrict
ions on the use of spirituous and fer
mented beverages have taken every
imaginable form. Only the consti
tuition of the United States has stooo
in the way of the establishment OF
religious tests and the prescription
of certain forms of religious wor-
ship in some states. The governor
of a certain state now declares that
he will not appoint to office a mem
Der or adherent of certain Christ
ian Church that counts its members
in this country by the millions, and,
accidentally, he holds up Bismarck
as his guiding star in this policy. We
must have organized self-control, bu
why treat ourselves as children?
Thomas Jefferson understood the
difference between sin and crime
and the reason for ignoring privat,
sins and furnishing crimes against
the state. Sin is violation of con.
science; crime is violation of law.
Mr.. Pease has right to think, anc
he therefore enjoys the personal
privilege of believing that it is sinful
to smoke; but he has no right to
make smoking a crime and neither
has ninety per cent of the people.
Carried to its logical conclusion,
such legislation will destroy person.
al liberty. The next step will be to
make it crime to eat garlic or
onion. The prohibition craze will
yet reach foods, cards, amusements,
clothes and other personal affairs if
our lukewarmers continue to surren-
der Internationally to every group
of faddists that set up lobby in the
national or state capitals. Then we
may welcome an autocrat in order
to regain little personal liberty of
thought and action.