Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume], March 21, 1908, Page 11, Image 11

About Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1902-1919

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GOODWIN'S WEEKLY. 11
greater exhibition of arrogance and impudence
since the world began? I used this argument in
our campaign on Long Island last spring and one
of my opponents, a minister, tried to weaken the
force, of my argument by saying that I was mis
taken in supposing that the prohibitionists wished
to interfere with a man's liberty to drink. They
were only trying to abolish the sale, the traffic.
What a brilliant idea! If the manufacture and
sale of liquor were stopped all over the coun
try and this is the program how in the name
of sense could a man exercise his liberty to drink?
Any child knows that to prohibit the manufacture
and sale of a commodity is in effect to prohibit
the use Of that commodity. You may drink all
you please, says my clerical friend, but we shall
see to it that you don't get anything to drink.
This is his version of personal liberty.
But, even if we were to waive this question
of personal rights, prohibition must still be con
demned on the ground that it has not made good.
It has failed to stop the sale of liquor; it has failea
to remove 6r even lessen the evil of intemper
ance. Observation and experience backed up by
statistics prove this. And the reason for this
failure is obvious. No law can reach a man's
appetite, taste, desire. So long as men have the
desire to drink, they will find a way to drink,
law or no law. The combined armies of Europe
could not enforce prohibition in this country.
Keep people who wish to drink from drinking!
Why, the thing is a joke. It is enough to make
even a prohibitionist laugh. Prohibition has been
tried long enough to have proved itself a dismal
failure. If you wish to see how the scheme Works
or rather doesn't work, go up to the state of
Maine, where they have had prohibition for over
fifty years. Or come to Long Island and visit
some of our "dry" towns. My home town of Riv
et head was officially "dry" up to the first of May,
1907. During the two "dry" years, more liquor
was consumed and vile stuff too than had bSon
used during the previous two years of license.
The internal revenue collector told me that his
receipts during the "dry" season were guflater
than they had ever been before. The people at
last saw the folly of prohibition, and, at the last
election, voted for license by a big majority. The
B sheriff of our county, who lives in my town, re-
H cently told me that ho never saw Riverhead so
orderly and so free from drunkenness as it has
H boon -since the license law wont into operation.
H Tho whole moral tone of the community has im
I proved.
H Again, prohibition must bo condemned not only
because It has failed to do any good but chiefly
I because it has worked untold harm. Not only has
It not removed intemperance, but it has increased
H that evil and has added to it many other worse
I evils. The officers of the army are practically
unanimous In their condemnation of the anti-can-
teqn law And the same -causes that make pro
H hibftlon In the army a curse, operate with equal
force in a civil community. Human nature is
H the same everywhere. The abolition of the open,
H lawful saloon is everywhere followed by the set-
ting up of "blind tigers," "speak easies" and all
H kind of demoralizing resorts. Young men find
their way Into those hidden places, and are tompt
H ed until they drink themselves drunk. All sorts
H of vile and poisonous concoctions are dispensed
H in these low-down dives. During the past six
H years I have seen both systems in operation, and
H I have observed how, in many ways, the no-license
H plan has been a curse to our town. The prohibi
H tioniBt toHs us that the open saloon is a constant
temptation to the young. Well, be that "R it may,
H what does prohibition do? It removes this one
temptation and substitutes' in its place a great
miny temptations Infinitely worse. My advice to
parents Is this: If ypu wish to keep your son
from drinking to excess don't send him to a pro-
hibltion state nor to a no-license town. Young
minds are active and inquisitive. They naturally
wish to fathom all the mysteries. And when you
surround the drinking of a glass of beer with the
veil of mystery, when you tell your son that every
drop of liquor contains ten thousand demons, why,
you simply arouse the boy's curiosity, and the
first thing you know he resolves to break through
the mystery and find out for himself what these
demons look and taste like. When a young man
has been brought up in the false, morbid, stilling
atmosphere of puritanism, there is always great
danger of a reaction.
The net effect of prohibition on a community
Is this: It strikes a blow at the decent, law
abiding saloon keeper, and encourages the keeper
of the low-down dive. It snatches the liquor
traffic out of the hands of reputable, responsible
men and turns the business over to a set of men
who have no respect" for either law or public
opinion. Thus, prohibition punishes the very
man that ought to be protected and encouraged,
while it encourages the very man that ought to
be punished. It substitutes anarchy for law and
.order. And prohibition has the same effect on the
customer. It plits the decent, self-respecting man
to inconvenience. It surrounds him with petty
annoyances; while the habitual drunkard can get
all he wishes to drink just the same as ever, only
under far more degrading and demoralizing con
ditions. Moreover, prohibition is a prolific brooder of
hypocrisy, and perjury. It forces large numbers
of men to become habitual law-breakers, and
thus it weakens the sanction of law In general.
These evil effects are only what might be ex
pected of a system that defies human nature and
violates the principle of personal liberty. The
prohibitionists themselves are not free from the
taint of hypocrisy. Four or five years ago, when
Riverhead was "dry" according to the legal Ac
tion, one of our hotel keepers received a letter
from a whiskey concern asking him if he would
send them the names of any persons in the com
munity who, he thought, might bo likely to pur
chase wet goods. They had a very fine brand of
whiskey that they wished to recommend. They
would give him ten per cent on all sales made
through him. Well, the hotel man thought he
would have some fun, and so he sent in the names
of about thirty of the most rabid prohibitionists
in the town. He thought no more about the mat
tor until about two months later, when he received
a check for $27 as his commission on sales aggre
gating $270. I don't think the prohibitionists in
Riverside are a bit more hypocritical than they
are in any other place. A saloon keeper in an
other town told me recently that some of the out
and out piohlbitlonists In his town were among
Lis very best customers on the quiet. Such in
cidents of false pretense and cant are all too
common in every community.
And now, a word about this local option
scheme. Local option is just simply the old prohi
bition nostrum with a new label on It. It is an
entering wedge. It is a bait held out to catch
those that could not be caught on the straight pro
hibition line. The prohibitionists could make no
headway in this state with the old war cry, and
so they have taken up this local option plan to
help them get a foothold. In one respect local
option Is worse than downright state prohibition.
It keepB the liquor question eternally open. It
creates a thousand local contests in place of one
gf-nonil contest. It is a Damoclean sword con
sU.n 1 hanging over the head of the community.
In principle it is just as iniquitous as prohibition
and in practice it is just as demoralizing. It is
an outrageous injustice to the liquor dealer. He
is constantly threatened with financial ruin. To
day, you tell him he may go ahead, Invest his
capital and carry on his business under the pro
tection of the law. Tomorrow you have an elec
tion, and lo, the man finds that his business has
become a crime against the State. And so you
force him to become either a criminal or a bank
rupt. Now, what is this but down right conflsca- H
tion, legalized robbery? With all due respect to M
the advocates of prohibition, I venture to sug- j
gest that even a liquor dealer has some rights 11
under the constitution of this country. Again, lo-
cal option is an instrument of graft. If it were jS
not for the fact that these Anti-Saloon Leaguers
are all honorable men we should be tempted to 'jjl
suspect that the scheme was devised for the sole !iftfl
purpose of levying blackmail. It places the sa- ' M
loon keeper at the mercy of every political striker 11
in the community. It also has a tendency to de- ;'iiH
grade the saloon. Looking forward to the possi- llll
bility that this town will vote no-liconse at the 'tjl
next election, the saloon keeper is under the con- ifl
stant temptation to resort to unlawful and im- mH
proper methods of increasing his in ome in order ''1H
to lay up enough money to tide hir over the "dry" 48S
season. This seesawing from wet to dry and Jffil
from dry to wet disturbs business, corrupts poll- ,
tics and has a demoralizing effect on the whole 'jH
community. Is it not infinitely bettor to say to 'lJH
the saloon kepor: You may 'retain your license ''fflfl
just as long as you conduct your business in a de- ''IBB
cent and lawful manner? Is It not better to treat j9
the saloon keeper with justice and fairness than M
to treat him as if he were an outlaw? i-aBl
The complaint is often made that the liquor liSS
interests in this country run our politics. Well, v8fi
if this is so, whose fault is it? Is it not the 'iffli
fault of those who have devised all these unjust, rai
extreme sumptuary laws? In Europe, the sa- ijBm
loon keepers never attempt to control the eloc- ianl
tlons. They don't bother their heads about poll- !iJBj
tics. And I don't believe they would here if I'SBI
they wore not compelled to do so. They are 'fP
forced to keep in politics in this country to pro- ')mll
toct their business from the assaults of the fanatl- "ilPf
cal reformers on thp one hand and from a whole . Ef
horde of political strikers and grafters on the tliHf
other hand. The prohibitionists and the profos- 'tfll
sional politicians have joined hands to bleed the '!
saloon keeper. The legislative club Is constantly '-IPF
held over his head. These saintly prohibitionists ' V
go into politics to drive the saloon keeper out of "S1
business and then complain because the saloon jf
keeper goes Into politics to protect his business. 'lim'J
The only way to take the liquor interests out of ijKm
politics is to take politics out of the liquor bust- flUJ
n ess. "IH
Some of our good church people tell us that '
the associations of the saloon are bad. Well, 'trafl
again, whose fault is it? What have those church mm
people over done to elevate the saloon and make '1flli
it a better resort? What have they offered the Jl
workingman as a substitute for the saloon? Ab- ''ImP
solutely nothing. All that these pious people have 'IfflP'
over done has been to heap vituperation, insults '
and abuse on the head of the saloon keeper. They ''flit'
have ostracised him, practically excommunicated ,' mt
him from the church, put the evil mark on him, Wsjt
treated him as if ho wore a moral leper, laid all ,'"
the sins of humanity at his door, warned men to j 1 f
keep out of his place as they would keep out of ''i&V
the jaws of hell. And all this abuse has been 'III
heaped upon the saloon keepers without dlscrim- i,mt'i
ination. The good, bad and Indifferent have been '9'
included under this wholesale indictment. And I J
then, after having done all in their power to de- .'-r
grade and demoralize the saloon by passing crazy,- 'm
unworkable laws, they come along with their cant- ' ' Jj
ing complaint that the associations of the saloon I 3
are bad ! If church people would only discrimin- .1
ate between the good and the bad men In the jjkyf
business, if they would only encourage the de- SIl
cent, law-abiding saloon keepers and join with m$
them in trying to get rid of the other kind, they tl Jmj
would accomplish some practical good. If there lj agf
are some dishonorable men in the liquor busi- 'lis
ness, so there are in every other business. You 'Wg
will find crooks and scoundrels in every walk of JM
life. You will find them even in the churches, tMftv
well up in the front pews. 'Iff