The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1930-02-01

as righteous and glorious a war as was
ever fought by the sons of men. Our
warfare is not carnal but spiritual, our
weapons are not of the flesh, but of the
spirit We have done no man evil or
harm. nor shall we We have fought and
will fight only to clothe the naked, feed
the hungry and lift up the fallen; rather
we have fought and will fight to keep
men. women. and children from becoming
naked and hungry, and to save them
from the plumber and ravages of the most
cruel and heartless and inhuman traffic
ever known to man, to save our people
from the poverty and crime bred every
where by the traffic in strong drink and
to save our government from the blight
ing influence and corrupt control of such
a traffic.
Battle after battle has been won: time
and again the enemy has been put to
rout; stronghold after stronghold has
been taken; times without number our
white banner of righteousness and peace
has waved above the black banner of the
death dealing forces dripping with hui
man blood and hefouled by political plum
der. The enemy has been driven from
every field of open combat. Only the
sharpshooters and bushwhackers remain
to carry on their dastardly attacks upon
humanity and upon orderly government
bushwhacsers must be subdued whether
they are found on rum row. in the edi-
torial rooms of venal newspapers, or in
the halls Of the Congress of the United
States.
We could easily and happily spend all
of our time in recounting and in rejoicing
over the victories already won. But this
is council of war; and soldiers have no
time for mutual fluctuations over past
victories, however brilliant and glorious,
while battles remain to be fought. Our
business here and now and for the days
ahead is so to lay our lines of strategy, SO
to mobilize and marshall and train our
forces, so to carry forward the crusade
that it shall speedily come to pass that
every insurgent and rebel shall be sub
dued and brought to frank even though
unwilling, obedience to the voice of con-
stituted authority, embodying and eX-
pressing the will of an overwhelming ma
jority of great and free democracy.
It may be fairly assumed that no MEM
Der of this assembly needs to have re-
counted to him the several successive
steps by which the beverage liquor traffic
has been outlawed and branded as the
heartless criminal it is in our Republic,
and we are not here speaking to the I'M
believing and rebellious souls who may
yet be found. However, we are celebrat-
ing the tenth anniversary OF national pro-
hibition and 1t may be well TO note briefly
how it came to be. Before national pro-
hibition was adopted we had no license,
low license and high license. We had tried
precinct option, municipal option county
option and state prohibition. We had
even tried the most offensive, fruitless and
corrupting of all solutions, so-called gov
eminent control And always and every
where the liquor traffic proved itself to be
the same diabolical and lawless business
which refuses to recognize any authority,
respect and right or obey any law.
WAS NOT PUT OVER
National prohibition did not come sud-
denly and was not put over" on "our
boys" when they were away in France
and Flanders. 1t was not put over on
anybody 1t was and is the expression OF
the will of an overwhelming majority of
the American people The figures have
been given frequently. In a recent adj
dress DR.. Cherrington gives the following
summary:
Before this amendment was adopted,
rs per cent of all the counties in the
United States, so per cent of all the viii
lagos and IS per cent of all the townships
were already under prohibition by local
or state legislative provisions. Before ma
tional prohibition was adopted two-thirds
of na 0f tho ITnitad States Som