Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-03-30


showing that the working men OF
America spend for drink less than
SEAS each year per capita. This
is about four cents a day. II the
drys are right in their contention
on the cause of poverty, the differ
ence between riches and poverty is
four cents a day. If there is a
working man in this house 1 want
to say to him that it is not the
money he spends for beer that &C
counts for his poverty, but the
money he earns and never gets
the money he earns that somebody
else spends for automobiles, dia-
monds and palaces, that accounts
for his poverty.
The drys claim that 20 per cent
of insanity is due to drink, is equal
ly absurd, because nine times out
ten when a man goes crazy the
cause of his misfortune cannot be
determined. | call your attention
to the fact that when a criminal
enters the plea of insanity in court.
the lawyers On both sides can al
ways secure leading scientific eX-
perts to contradict each. other on
the witness stand. One of these
experts declares the man to be
sane, and in the opinion of the 9TH
er he is crazy. Now IL these learn
ed men cannot tell when a man is
crazy, where can we find a scientist
who can tell why he lost his mind?
Kansas has had prohfbition for
more than thirty years, and accord
ing to the report of the board of
hnr in
lums are crowded and running
over. The report says:
There is always large waiting
list of destitute insane in each
county, who, when the state cannot
take, are farmed out"
The dry orator and editor inform
you that 80 per cent of crime is
due to the liquor business. They
base their charge upon an official
record, which nobody can dispute.
But let us take a glance at the rec
ord in question. 1t is found in
criminal court dockets and was
made by the confession of burglars,
thieves, rape fiends and cold-blood
ed murderers. After they were
caught, and there was no way OF
escape, they laid the responsibility
for their crime on booze. This they
did in the hope that there might be
some dry man on the jury who,
when he heard that booze was the
cause of their crime, would turn
the murderer loose and want to
hang the saloon keeper. Arguments
based upon records made by these
cowardly ours are worthless. No
body believes these criminals when
they say that booze did 1t, except
prohibition agitators. The monster
may be so low in the scale of ex-
istence that he would have TO climb
a ladder to- get to hell, but they in
stantly place him in George Wash
ington's class and refuse to believe
that he could tell lie to save his
perjured soul.
T | spent nearly month In Car
negie library, Pittsburgh, studying
the criminal records of the world.
These show that 46 per cent OF all
criminals were abandoned in child
hood; that 10 per cent of all GRIM
inals have no trade or profession,
and that rs per cent of all crime is
committed by people between the
age of II and %. Take 100000 peo-
pie. between the age OF IL and %,
and 100 900 between % and 40, the
older crowd would drink 10 times
more liquor and the younger crowd
will commit 10 times more crime
in the period of time. The differ
ence is due to- the indiscretions of
youth, who says to himself, Il can
commit this crime and outwft every
Sherlock Holmes on earth" The
older man drinks more, but he
knows better.
Uncle Sam on Jan. 1. 1910, as re-
corded in census bulletin 121, ex-
amined all the jails in the United
States. He found in prohibition
Kansas, Al empty jails, in Illinois
81 empty Jails, lbut in prohibition
Maine there was not an empty
prison in the state. This explodes
t1e prohibition fallacy that If You
abolish the liquor business you
abolish crime. The police records
OF Memphis, Tenn, a dry city.
show 81 murders for each 100000
Of population. The police records
for Milwaukee for the same year,
show less than four murders for
100, 900 population. The principal
cause Oh crime udu DceH dDOlISHSu
in Memphis, but not in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee is as wet as river. This
shows there's something wrong
with the prohibition theory. 1t is
false
Prohibition is not only wrong in.
principle. but it Is antagonistic to
the Divine order as set forth in the
holy book and emphasized by the
example OF Christ
now call your attention to few
texts In the bible which forever fix
the attitude OF the Deity on the
question OF drink.
The first of these you will find in
Deuteronomy IA 26. Here we have
a specific permission from God TO
spend money for wine and strong
drink. 1t reads:
And thou shalt bestow that
money for whatsoever thy soul
lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep,
or for wine, or for strong drink"
! defy any prohibition minister to
show where God ever withdrew this
permission. He gave his people the
same right 10 buy wine and strong
drink that he gave them TO bay
oxen. or sheep"
When God says you may buy wine
and strong drink. and the drys say
you shall not. they prove that God
and the prohibitionlsts could never
agree. In this conflict between
human and Divine aufhoyttv va