Show ki V id F I 1 09 UN BY ARTHUR KOENIG PERSONAL representative OF ADOLPHUS OF ST T LOUIS pasadena cal fifth feb 11 since it was my ink good fortune to spend a limited vacation from the lee ice embraced fields of 0 my native state wisconsin as a guest of my dear friend adolphus busch in beautiful pasadena I 1 became somewhat interested in the of recent date between the los angeles prohibition and the millionaire brewer of st louis who came to his gorg gorgeous eods southern home for his health and for much needed rest I 1 must confess that I 1 was baffled by the appearance of a letter in the los angeles express written by the reverend charles J hall field secretary of the prohibition union I 1 inviting mr busch to appear before a sunday me etting of this organization and to tell its members therea the reason or reasons why an ordinance prohibiting the legalized manufacture and sale of all alcoholic liquors for beverage pur po poses F jes s should hould not he be passed gassed and en forced in los angeles at the time of the publication of this letter mr busch had received no communication from the reverend charles J hall I 1 ln vacating cating di beyond a reasonable doubt that the same was above all things constructed and born tor for the cause of dear prohibition and when the letter finally reached the homo home of amri busch it bore no signature and was found ato to vary dinits phraseology froma from the letter published in ther the press rj but aside from fronta the old and golden rule that anonymous communications belong to the waste basket and that that mr busch buech therefore was P perfectly jus j tilled in ignoring the same it was mos cheerfully scrutinized and found to contain some very interesting aa and essential features which filled m my heart with unbounded merriment in the first place there is a very happy gem sentence lence in print crowning the head of the reverend genUe gent manal lemand letter paper to wit no compromise we conquer or die quite original and indeed but what would be ba the result of a controversy between debaters when one side isido declares in advance and in such categorical form m to adhere to the he above motto it looks to me like the invitation of an angel by the master of hell to spear pear him with his pitchfork and then the letter says we belleve believe the legalized liquor traffic is alt bad and no good that it should be annihilated root and branch but we desire to be absolutely FAIR in this matter the obvious Incon inconsistency contained in this sentence is surely affecting but what kind of fairness does mr hall hold in stock for his adversary under the motto of his bis so clety or should we poor sinners and children of ono one great and charl charitable table god be subjected to the gruesome spectacle of seeing the conquering reverend and his stalwart associates die at our feet no no away with this terrible phantom and back to reality again an example of the quality of mr halls fairness scents from tho the following lines if the reports lit in the dally daily papers can 0 an be relied on you aro are deeply interested in the prohibition movement oh for tho sanity innocence of this pious child did goetges Go ethes immortal faust ever in lighten the brains of our illustrious friend hall did he so go successfully study the part of me it if so I 1 am sorry for goethe he would have enjoyed an acquaintance of that sort immensely perhaps would have written a third part of his grand philosophy with a new and more modern mephistopheles as an interesting appendix thereto it tho the prohibitionists forbid the pleasure of taking a drink then they prove that they deem rhems themselves alves wiser and better than god almighty himself blin self who created the vine and taught nolab tho the making of 0 wino wine they prove that they imagine themselves to be greater and higher than christ who turned water into wine and celebrated the lords supper with bread and wino wine they forgot that paulus raad said t to 0 timothy drink wino wine for the sake of your stomach any e encroachment on tho the divine gervice and its various institutions is a violation otwe ot me religious liberty of our country the catholic priest uses wine at the altar the protestant celebrates his functions with wine and bread and tho the most orthodox jew enters upon tho the religious duties of vie the sabbath with prayers and wine it the prohibitionists prefer to exclude alcoholic drinks from the functions of their divine services well and good and no objection on our part to that on tho the other side it jeens to rap not more than right t to pro against any ally interference with our customs on the alie part of others f I 1 what are these diese mon men who send out such invitations after do they want to irritate and poison the public mind by stuffing ng the columns lunIng cO of our press with their venomous and silly III misrepresentations rep eions do they want to tc tra trample mrle the sacred and constitutional rights of personal perso aal liberty freedom and manhood tinder their uncompromising i walking sticks did the reverend mr hall or any of his associates ever stop step down from theli their intolerant attitude to pause for a sober and unbiased reflection did they study the history of the world the life and the doctrines of christ and have they ever been trying in word and in deed to deserve the name of his fits followers and disciples did they ever look deep into the masses of our people their sorrows and joys their needs deeds and their ideals without considering first the greedy appetites of their diminutive souls deluded by a mockery does the los angeles prohibition union IN FACT believe that prohibition prohibits do these reverend gentlemen know that there is more whisky sold and more drunkenness found in the commonwealth of the prohibition state of maine than in any other r tate state of the union that the traffic in illicit alcohol in all and every prohibition state county or community creates hypocrisy falsehood civic imbecility and an ail endless chain of secret crimes and infamies amies have they like I 1 did since I 1 am here in this blessed land of sunshine and flowers noted the fact that los angeles with its well regulated saloons is one of the loveliest and most orderly cities in the united states do they really want to sow the seed of discordant discord discor dand and deceit into a community of happ happiness inas an and d prosperity shall a brewery a distillery a saloon created conducted and add regulated under the laws of the land be confiscated arbitrarily by the voice of a few fanatical hypocrites or shall my undeniable and unalienable right as a citizen of a free country to enjoy life to eat and drink when where and what I 1 will be infringed upon because some dam phool over stepped the lines of propriety and made a supercilious ass of himself aimse lf I 1 say no most emphatically no mr hall and by saying no I 1 beg be to consider myself jan an infinitely better and more patriotic citizen of my country than those that knocked at the door of my friend busch in order to lot let the light of their wisdom shine before the watching eye of the ahe dear and innocent public let me cite right here an extract from an address abraham lincoln made in april 1864 the world has never had a good definition of the word liberty and the american people just now aro are much lit in want of one we all declare tor for liberty but in using the same word we do not t all mean the same thing with some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself and the product of his labor while with others the samo same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men and abo product pro delict of other mens labor here are two not only different but incompatible things called by the same name liberty and it follows that each of the things is by the respective parties called by two different and incompatible names liberty and tyranny how beautifully loes this language R alt t the conditions of our life today have our learned friends on the other side aay real and correct conception I 1 of the word liberty is their doctrine their creed and christianity based upon the fundamental mental laws of our con 1 freedom and individual happiness or is the suppression of tho the prohibitionists a tyrannical measure incompatible with the decency of an intelligent and self verning governing peoples people what a frivolous blasphemy is it when onemia one iester of the gospel in los angeles preaches from the that im an mhd ope operation radon of his bustness business mr busch has wrecked thousands an of american Ame homes and Is unable to show what good he has done to offset such a crime can any fair minded person comprehend the monstrosity of this sophistry Is it blo that an apostle of 0 christ a man i who imbibed his teachings a gentleman can descend so low as to besmear his lofty and holy vocation by such miserable ex postulations and from such a man I 1 or any good people should accept the dictations for leading a respectable life if tho the saviour would reappear in our world I 1 believe he would resort resart again to the drastic measures which lie he so wholesomely administered to the pharisees Pharis ees of tho the temple and how quick would then irant van ishall shall tory ron nonsense sense and hypocrisy it lb not nat the saloon its sunny or dr shady side bide its right of existence its regulation or regulation non of some that inspires one to the words worda aforesaid we have bave plenty or laws jaws to make the sale of alcoholic liquors a respectable business in every state stae of 0 our alln unon on and I 1 am most emphatically in favor of having such laws rigidly enforced everywhere itis it Is not tho the crazy cray thirst for drink that urges urge one to to stop step forward in the defense of the saloon baloon as a ledith legitimate nate and for tho the welfare of our pe people oplie rich or poor necessary institution it is tho plo of person personal al liberty the freedom of my american citizenship tho the unalienable right ofay in manhood that makes my hoart heart revolt against the danger of 0 sumptuary laws and tho the of intolerance and anspro P ro hib lUon because a banker becomes dishonest shall we abolish the banking system or because a judge renders a partial verdict are all the judges scoundrels if one fellow fills up on bad whisky should 99 respectable citizens bo be compelled to abstain for their lifetime from the moderate use of a healthful beverage shall we close clos 0 all the churches because one minister of the gospel ran away with the young wife of the president of his hig congregation i but with me thank god thero there are arc thousands and millions who think and feet fed as I 1 do men of character of courage and of standing citizens freeholders and voters in ohp the land lana of a washington hamilton lincoln schurz sigel grant cleveland CleveL imil roosevelt and others the mention of either one of them inspires me more than all the reverends in ia north and south america who are tumbling over each other in order to save our people from inebriety and hell boll nor am I 1 ut standing anding alone in these my honest convictions mr air busch has received innumerable communications from persons entirely unknown to him or to any ono one of his friends offering assistance of all kinds in the present cont controversy rovers y deven anderen an personal i substitution if so desired at a proposed sunday meeting all of which were of course most highly appreciated but declined I 1 may be permitted however to cito cite from a letter of one of los angeles most distinguished citizens the following lines addressed to mr busch a few days since with the lines of our family circle drawn closer we can in a more ra aar dional manner mannar appeal to the manhood of the country to be temperate in all things and not in an arrogant mauner manner attempt to dictate to the people man has always been expected to willingly face a foe whether before his bis own castle or when hla his count rys life is endangered and as through the four years of our civil war where every hardship had to be encountered exposure to most inclement weather working in rifle pits and s standing guard during the long hours of the night when even the great and good abraham lincoln and every intelligent general or private recognized the absolute need tor for pure stimulants to protect the systems of these brave men from the ravages of the deadly marsh fever and rations of whisky pure from the corn and rye of the farms left behind us were issued regularly and yet when some of our timid stay at homes became frantic toward the close of the war and asked president lincoln what was to become of the home ille hie when those terrible zold soldiery ler were discharged from the service the simple answer of this aws great man among men was that they need have no fear from the men who went out from their homes wives and s sweet hearts to protect teatta the e integrity of our country that they wohld return with the sword laid aside and occupy positions of trust throughout the land and his prediction has proved true in every sense as the record in every state will show and this great army has also proven that the whisky it had when formed and on n the battlefield old was never injurious to its soldiers in after years and there are few of those remaining alive today who would not combat this ARBITRARY IDEA of the party of advanced ideas to prohibit the manufacture and sale of 0 the products of the soil made puro pure and unadulterated tern te ted or the right of manhood to use it like a man and as an american gentle gentleman man and if such fanatical laws are allowed placed on our books tho the next volun volunteer tr army will be drafted from this advanced idea ea element entirely I 1 dont discourage american manhood chood but elevate it by encouraging self respect among all restrict license licens 0 to those who can b bo depended upon to transact their business on as iclean clean and respectable lines as a bank i or public library and then we can hope to become a happy and content ed family with manhood unimpaired and happy womanhood woman hod its bright and faithful auxiliary much more mode could bo be said in m tho the defense of my position and in the pointing out of facts concerning the fallacy of prohibition and its destructive moral features but the valuable space of your esteemed paper la Is limited andi therefore close with the words of our illustrious martyred marty red president abraham lincoln with good will to all and malice to none I 1 respect most sincerely the opinion of others but reserve tor for myself tho the right to live and die ale as a citizen of the united states under its laws given and inaugurated by the common sense of a tolerant unbiased and liberty loving people A special delivery letter from prohibition hibi tion headquarters addressed to arthur koenig reached resi ched nio mo last night like the communication sent to mr dusch busch some time ago it bears no signature and d is therefore there toro not worthy of recognition |