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About The Reason. (Savannah, GA.) 1908-19?? | View Entire Issue (July 4, 1908)
2 tigers." If this is the best showing that prohibition can make, the sooner such laws are wiped off the stat ute books the bettor. Tiie reason for the utter disregard of prohibition laws is not far to seek. Man has alwavs reseated anv • • • interference with his personal liberty, ami when such a law is foisted upon a community in defiance of its wishes it is not to bo expected that the people of that community will lend any considerable aid to its enforcement. Besides this, tin* very means that have been employed in the passage of such laws have brought them into disrepute even before they became oprative Manv good people. in their enthusiastic support of what they believed to be a righteous cause, have acted under the erroneous impression that “the end justifies the means." and only too frequently have been guilty of the identical acts which they strongly condemned in the opposition. Eor instance, in Georgia. which was the first Southern State to place a prohibitory measure upon its statute books, then is a law forbidding lobbying in the eapitol building, but the prohibitionists disre garded it absolutely and rode over it rough shod. The corridors, committee rooms, cloak rooms, and even the streets about the building were literally filled with prohibition lobbyists, morning, noon and night. Men. women and even children swarmed over the place, prayer meetings were held, sans intermis sion. Senators and Representatives were button-holed on tin* street and at their meals, were followed to church or into barrooms, were shadowed to their hotels or boarding houses, and were importuned without ceasing to vote for the measure, until life became a burden. Concerning women, who forsake their home duties and force their way into pulpits or upon lec ture platforms to support or oppose political meas ures or candidates, the less said the better, and we cannot too strongly condemn the practice of bringing innocent children into such scenes. If we violate existing laws in our (‘(forts to secure the passage of certain legislation we cannot reasonably expect others io observe or respect the laws which we have caused to Im* enacted by such methods. It would be surprising indeed if they obeyed its mandate. “Two wrongs have never yet made a right,’’ and good cannot be made to come out of evil. Tlu* only permanent good that can result to the people is by convincing them that in temperance is a great evil and one of the chief causes of misery in the world to-day. In the early part of this century laboring men went on strike for tin* sake of getting their rations of rum, and it was considered a remarkable achievement for a ship to Im* completed and its cargo stowed in tlu* hold without considerable quantities of grog being appor tioned to the men: even labor unions maintained a fund known as “liquor allowance’’ which was spent in refreshment of the members at their meetings. All ibis has been changed, and the improvement was not brought about by legislation but by moral sua sion. and because the men themselves became better and wiser. THE REASON Just what method of dealing with this perplex ing question will be productive of the greatest good to the greatest number, we do not feel that we are competent to determine, but there are certain evils in connection with the liquor traffic which could easily be eradicated. If public opinion declares that a bus iness or a man is disreputable, they will soon be come so. whether the accusation was merited at first or not. It is also true that men whose deeds are evil love darkness rather than light, and that sins are committed under the cloak of darkness, of which men would never he guilty in the broad light of dav. c We believe that incalculable harm has been done in this country by the social ostracism of the liquor dealer, and by the accusation, which is so general, that his business is disreputable, and if conducted at al] must be carried on behind closed doors so that the public may not be shocked by what takes place in the barrooms. Nothing could have been more conductive to the degradation of the business, to the propagation of the social evil, or to the promotion of gambling than this very attitude with regard to Ihe sale of liquor. The American standing bar with its screen doors, back rooms and the treating habit has been enormously instrumental in increasing the number of disreputable saloons and placing tlu* traf fic on a lower plane than it would otherwise have occupied. We have traveled in many European countries where men. women and children sit in gardens and cases, and sip their wine or beer in full view of the street and of the passers-by. and wherever this plan is in vogue drunkenness is almost unknown and boisterous conduct is never permitted. It has been suggested by manv intelligent men who have given much careful thought to tlu* temper ance question, that the best solution of the problem, in our Southern States at least, lies in prohibiting the sale of ardent spirits and encouraging the man ufacture of pure beers and light native wines. It is argued—and it seems plausible—that human nature always has and always will demand beverages containing more or less alcohol; it is pointed out that Holland was redeemed from the curse of gin, and became the sober, industrious na tion that it is to-day simply by the estab lishment of coffee houses where malt beverages were given the right of way and severe restric tions were placed around the sale of ardent spirits. Thomas Jefferson said: “No nation is drunken where wine is cheap,’’ and it is stoutly affirmed that people will be content with a milder beverage, but where the prohibition is placed upon al] alike they will invariably procure alcohol in its most concen trated form. “The proof of the pudding is in the eating there of. and not in chewing the string.’’ It has been clearly demonstrated that prohibition is worse than a failure, and it is high time for us to try some other method of regulating the liquor traffic and of pro moting tlu* cause of temperance. Whether this can be done by permitting the manufacture and sale of light beers and wines, we are not prepared to say, but the proposition sounds reasonable, and certainly deserves a test. But. “wisdom is the principal thing: therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting get under standing,”
