Show r THE EDITORIALS PROHIBITION I By fly L. L A. A A t About ft R year ago the writer had bad a n debate bat In a Colorado paper with n a Methodist preacher who was u 8 a dry I p and who denied that and that the our oar jails were WE're filling up prohibitionists promised to empty our oar jails Well Vell reports from eve everywhere u and Ill fill- IllIng show that our oar jails pens arc are f Ing up ap The penitentiary at Columbus I. I Ohio had a capacity of or 2000 prisoners prison priSOn- ers and it actually had bad nearly h. h Jn in prison and at nt a fire tire at the prison last week about of the prisoners t died or were wele killed at the fire Ire A lot lotof lotof of people were in there for violation of prohibition laws and they were i undoubtedly there because of other vii vi- vi violations vi r i induced by prohibition fi The prohibition law is funn funny in tj more ways than one If an offender r be brought before a justice of ot the for petty pett larceny or a breach brench j peace y i i of the peace or battery the fine is iR usually 30 80 or 40 dollars but let him bim 0 come ome before clore the same justice charged i with a a. little offence against the prohibition h law lawand and nd the i penalty is damn ye yc This extreme penalty is iso o j not for tor violating the prohibition law but because the offender violated dry psychology r- r r We prohibit murder larceny or bu r bu-r burglary r glary and like uke crimes Everybody is S agreed that such offenses shall be prohibited and we make laws work But when we try to prohibit anything that is not wrong in itself you cant can't do It The only thing you youcan youcan can prohibit Is what is wrong and und any thing tiling that is not wrong in itself then the excess is the only thing that thatis t is wrong There is no excess i in 1 murder mur- mur murder it der or a arson on it is all nU and entirely wrong we can prohibit it in drinking only the excess is wrong The excess In drinking is s called drunkenness and the excess in eating is called gluttony So you can enn cannot cannot not prohibit e either ther drinking or eating entIng simply because a man Indulges to ex- ex ex- ex cess ess That is punishing the man who Is 25 innocent to get the man who ho Is rs guilty Punishing the wise wiRe man for tor forthe the offenses of the fools and t that at too where the wise are In a tr tremendous tremendous men men- dous majority to get the fools who are area a small minority Excess of ri right ht is not and cannot be punished by pro pro- prohibition The remedy against excess f. f is regulation That teaches the fools tools to do better and d does not hurt th the wise man who does not DOt practice excesses excesses excesses ex ex- and therefore there is harmony harmony harmony har har- mony everywhere But can enn you pound that kind of philosophy into the he head of a fooL No sir for tor t the fool tool or I fanatic will sacrifice his bis name property property prop prop- erty and reputation to substantiate his judgment Say Shy a mans toon's memory is poor and he be will admit it but say his bis judgment Is poor and h he wi will l call cull you a liar Well the people know now DOW from the Literary Digest poll that this country Is 19 overwhelmingly wet and against the drys Let the congressional ional elections tally next fall |