The Marietta journal. (Marietta, Ga.) 1918-1944, 1921-03-11
Was Mrs. Armor's Charge True?

1t is surprising how many people viii accept as
fact any sort Of a statement that IS cleverly put.
and without any thought or analysis of it at all,
make il a part of the evidence upon which they
form opinions of important matters Some of the
most intelligent and shrewd business men are often
influenced by smooth witty paragraph, when
but a moment serious reflection would expose the
utter fooishness of it.
1t is the knowledge of this trait or weakness Of
human nature that helps those who have any sort
of specious argument propaganda to promote.
All they have do to make it sound good and the
public will do the rest. Pat on little sugar coat
ing, and nine-tenths of the readers or hearers viii
swallow it without trying to find out what is inside
They accept it solid sugar very much as If their
heads had been made of solid ivory
Yet we do not mean 10 insinuate that the people
who do this fools 1t is just careless habit of
unthoughtedness into which it is so easy to fall
And all those misleading statements were not made
with any intention of deceivng or doing any harm
Frequently they only intended to be humor-
GUS
In order to illustrate just what read the
following paragraph:
Property taken in prohibition raids in five
States last year Melted the Government over
100000, and it cost only 100000 to cap
ture it.
This clipped from last weeks Literary Di-
gest, which paper credits it to the Washington Post
just why the Literary Digest man reprinted it, we
cannot say. Possibly he thought it surfi GENTLY
humorous to reproduce. Although Mrs Mary Har-
ris ArmOr, the celebrated temperance lecturer
charges that there is anti-prohbiton propagan-
da being promoted by paid cartoonists and para
graphers in the newspapers and magazines. we do
not believe the Literary Digest is guilty of being
knowingly used for this purpose We would be
glad to say much for the Washington Post but
knowing the reputation of that paper-claming de-
moeracy and practcing republicanism- are
ready to suspect it of any sort of nsiduOus propa
ganda.
But perhaps you are wondering what fault we
find with the paragraph, and saying to yourself
Why believe that is true, and tdOes look bad for
prohibition No doubt people are saying that
if this true, it alone would be sufficient cause for
the repeal of the prohibition law We stand ready
to admit that the statement is correct that the fig
ures based actual fact, although of course
we do not know of which five states the paragraph
er was speaking, submit for your consideration
along with paragraph of our own:
Property taken from people charged with
murder in five States last year did not net the
government much dollar and yet it
cost the government millions of dollars to pros
ecute murder eases.
The prohibition law was no more intended TO be
revenue raising bill than was the law against muir
der We have gotten too much ins the habit of as
sOclatng the liquor business with revenue raising
We should re-cassify it, and associate it with muir
der, and arson, and theft, and other crimes for
which it has so long been directly responsible In
all the years the government has licensed the LIQUOR
business it has cost the people hundred or
probably one thousand dollars for every dollar the
government got out of it.
The Washington Post paragraph may be state
ment of fact but deny that there is any sense
or any humOr, or any argument at all in it. So
many paragraphs of this character are now appear
ing, that sometimes tempted to believe Mrs
Armor has good grounds for her charges against
many of our newspapers.
If we understand CORRECTLY tho hoe