The Wahpeton times., 1918-03-28
THE FALLACY OF PERSONAL
LIBERTY

ITO me-" says st. Paul. "all things
are not expedient" Further. 'If
thy right eye scandalize thee. says
Christ, "pluck it out and cast It
from thee* Il" The sophism of
personal liberty in the choice of
Ndrink OF no drink is shattered at
every turn of. civilized life, for no
man is free to place an act, the con-
sequences of which are directly or
indirectly injurious to his neighbor,
or to the community at large.
Now we claim that the drink habit
SO widespread today, is a serious in
jury to the average individual who
has contracted it. as well as to his
neighbor and the general well-being
OF the public at large. 1t should,
therefore. be abolished by legal en-
actment.
The hydro of strong drink has
dragged its Shiny length from the
days of Noah down to the present
moment. 1t has tainted people. pol
luted families and demoralized ma
tlons. Pagans and Christians, civil
lied and barbarous, learned and H.
literate. alike have been impregnated
with the foul breath of that .ubiuuit-
Gus monster. The pages of history
and the testimony of archaeology are
damaging witnesses to the rayages
of that relentless enemy of the hu-
man race.
During this long and interminable
devastation of home and country.
there has not been period in the
epoch OF the world that this implac-
able foe of mankind has not had its
staunch and fearless opponents.
Brave and patriotic men in all ages
and nations have had the heart and
conscience to raise their voice and
pen against the vile intruder, but to
little avail. World movements of
pledge-taking have swept the earth
from time to time without permanent
and effective results. Parliaments
and legislatures have wrestled with
the great problem, but still the NOR
al and social scourge has gone on un-
abated.
Church and state have Illuminated
against it. but the flood of drunk
enness las continued to inundate the
land until total submersion is now
threatened. Mighty organizations
have risen up against it, but still 1t
remains entrenched behind the taint-
ed gold of the bloated brewer and
distiller. Its victims are counted by
the millions and its palsied touch is
felt perhaps more fatally today than
at any other period in ancient or
modern times.
We hear much complaint against
the rich corporations, trusts and
monopolies, but little about the af-
fiuant brewers. distfllers, and
liquor dealers of the land. If there is
any truth in the old and familiar die
tum of the French proletarial that
1.-The rich are getting richer. and the
poor. poorer" surely it is applicable
to the Internationally Of the day
laborer and the manufacturer of in
toxicating liquors.
The liquor bill of the United States
for the year 1913 was $1,750,ooO.-
600. This surely is staggering in
dictment of the lavish and criminal
expenditure of the nation for a COM
modify which is neither necessary nor
useful for the maintenance of body.
or for the strength and vigor of mind
ofits citizens, who seem to have no
control of reason and of the COM
monest instincts of law of self-pre-
servation when the animal appetite
is concerned. To a vast army of
workingmen in this country the only
limit Of support to the saloon is
seemingly the sheer capacity and re-
lative size of their pocketbooks.
Hence, the upper trend of wages,
shorter hours, and better conditions
of labor are only surer guarantee
of fatter harvest and added mil
lions to the manufacturers of intoxi-
eating beverages. Nevertheless, we
have stood and always will stand for
general material betterment of the
workingman's lot, but we will stand
with equal. if not greater tenacity of
purpose for betterment of their
spiritual and intellectual conditions
also.