Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1927-07-21


there are not many more bitterly OPP
posed to it than the editor of this
paper. Alcoholic drinks do no good
and there Is certainly much to be said
against It, The stuff has caused all
kinds of poverty, wretchedness, MUIR
der, poor health, degradation and the
like, and it would certainly be most
desirable if people would know enough
to leave it alone. 1t is pity when
young folks through ignorance or
smartness take to the bottle. The
worst offenders however are those
who make or peddle it. No one ever
gained by using alcohol but thou
sands, yes millions, have lost. The
law of the land is against it and 1t
can be wiped out. The ideal condi-
ton would be that all people had
risen to the point where we could
see that alcohol was harmful and did
us no good and hence it was left alone.
But can anyone imagine 110,000,000
souls all united on that at the same
time and thus get rid of the stuff
without law. Now that we have ma
tional prohibition the thing to do Is to
work for it's ultimate success and not
run around in circles and say that
the conditions are worse now than in
the days of the saloon. They are not
worse and when you hear anyone
making such remarks you can put it
down that he is wet and does not
want prohibition to be success,
or a case of not following events.
Some of you older folks who may ar
que that it was better in the saloon
days when good whiskey and beer
could be purchased that did not kill,
think of the many pitiful sights to be
seen-a wife and children walking
the streets for hours waiting for the
husband and father to finish up his
gurgling and finally tired of waiting
entered the saloon and helped him
out. Those were not uncommon scenes
25 and 80 years ago. If alcoholic
drinks had not been misused as they
were and if the saloon as a whole
had not been conducted as it was
(this is not saying that there was no
respectable saloons or drinking par
lors) then there would not have been
the public sentiment against it that
arose. But now that we have national
prohibition us uphold it for it is
a great advance step that noble men
and women labored for for a hundred
years and with it's ultimate success
will be great lift to posterity. Ger
tainly big men who may have liked
a little drink in pre-prohibition days
will relinquish that little personal
liberty" right, as it is called, to a
drink for the benefit of weaker
brother who could not resist but
drank to excess. When we say big
men we refer to common people in
everyday walks of life-men who
think and work for the welfare of
their families and the nation. When
it is harder to get alcohol fewer drink.
Many family has been reunited and
made happier by the scarcity of al
coholic drinks. 8.
Such remarks as conditions are
worse now than in the saloon days"
often come from people who ought not
to say it and who would know better if
they stopped to consider, and If they
are people who have lived long en-
ough to know the conditions of bygone
days. We still have with us, and will
likely have for some time, the small
type of Legislators who wish to curry
favor with their constituents by voting
for measures permitting a referendum
vote on the wet and dry issue, well
knowing that it makes no difference
what the vote would be in a single
state so long as we have national pro-
hibition. Such stuff is only camou-
flage and is done in the hope of fool
ing vets into thinking that they are
working in their interest and giving
them hope. Yes, and it is, sometimes
done by Legislators who have felt the
curse of alcohol themselves and know
better.
A wrong thing can not be made
right by licensing it. One of the evil
effects of alcohol is the deadly work
done on the brain. In knowledge
there is power. Leaders of the pro-
hibition movement say that the Eigh-
teenth amendment came as the result
of a great scientific research. 1t is
not so much the tears but facts that
have come from the great laborator-
les that have caused national prohibit
ton, and the people of this country
are on test before the world.
Liquor has been outlawed in this
country and the thing to work for
now is drinkless people. All should
get behind and work toward that
goal.
But we have probably drifted some
what away from the original subject,
that of public barn dances. There is
likely a tendency for many to think
that when they go to a public barn
dance out in the country they are
farther away from law and order and
believe they can "cut up" more and
in that thought lies danger. But
here as in most cases it SINNERS
down to what sort of management Is