t'i
JULY, 1917
The Commoner
TRAITORS TO THEIR COUNTRY
From The Lexington, Ky., Herald, June 27.J
Men who are more Interested in the continua
tion of profits earned by tho sale of alcoholic li
quors than in the welfare of the soldiers of the
nation were declared the most sordid of traitors
by William Jennings Bryan in his speech last
night at Woodland auditorium.
Fully 3,000 persons attended the meeting,
which was held under the auspices of the Demo
cratic Forward League. The stage was reserved
for the members of the reception committee and
the guests who accompanied the speaker. Mr.
Bryan was secured recently by the league to
make a number of addresses in the state to urge
the nomination and election of democratic can
didates pledged to the enactment in the next
legislature of a statewide prohibition measure.
The night was warm, and the speaker re
freshed himself with the breeze from a palm leaf
fan. The audience, among whom were a large
percentage of women, listened without impa
tience to the argument of the former secretary
of state. Practicaly all the seats in the build
ing were occupied and a number stood in the
rear of the hall. Seats for 100 members of the
W. C. T. U. were reserved. Decorations of
American flags and pictures had been placed
around the balconies and over the stage by the
women of this organization.
The speaker and his party arrived shortly
after 8 o'clock, the time announced, and took
their places on the stage of the auditorium amid
the strains of "The Star Spangled Banner." At
the close of the musical selection the "peerless
leader" was given' an ovation. Throughout his
speech he was interrupted by frequent bursts of
applause. Apparently Colonel Bryan has lost
none of his popularity, and the man who set the
nation afire with his new ideas in 1896 still
maintains the hold he had then on the people of
the country.
Unreservedly the former secretary denounced
the use of alcohol and the sale and manufacture
of all forms of liquor. The south, he said, had
seen the folly of retaining the evil and at present
only four southern states are wet. If a vote
were taken today in Kentucky on a statewide
law, he declared, its passage with a majority of
100,000 votes would be certain.
"The brewers and distillers of this country
would rob this nation and make a drunkard of
every soldier if the government would let them,"
he said. "And I include in this the subsidized
newspapers who for pecuniary interests are fight
ing this thing for the brewers and distillers.
The liquor, interests are the most unpatriotic and
conscienceless group the democratic party ever
Knew, and they shall not ruin the party to which
I owe so much, they shall not carry it down to a
drunkard's grave, while I can prevent it,"
Referring to the recent prohibition laws by
congress, Colonel Bryan said that as nature often
Planted the antidote nearest the poison, so in
representative Barkley, who was responsible for
the clause in the food control bill making the use
or grain in alcohol making illegal, Kentucky had
m i i her own anti(ote to the whisky poison
wntcn she had poured out into the world.
ah S ryan was introduced by Col. John R.
Alien, Commonwealth's attorney, who referred to
inm as a distinguished democrat, a splendid
orator, a statesman and a Christian gentleman.
FOODSTUFFS USED IN MANUFACTURE OF
LIQUOR
UQ?HeW.!s a statenaent concerning the foodstuffs
thp w iie manacture of liquor, issued from
?;,;;?' Prohibition committee of Boston. These
econnnfw avf been compiled by well known
economists and food experts as the names attest.
out t?n emnt is snecia"y important as setting
stuff ? ,? concerninS the amount of food.
cernL w1!1 the manufacture of liquor, con
been 7h Ch alteether false statements have
fcent follow" manufacturers. The state-
Wf USE FOP RESOURCES FOR LIQUOR?
used tAGr:J'e,aftroe,ndine June 30' 191G. brewers
tiller ,7i a L596 Pounds of foodstuffs; dis-
But n n 3'777'609.748 Pounds of foodstuffs,
equivalent tn T distilled spirits, a" quantity
output i.t0 a?out 50 Per cmt of the year's
and 8oiPt?flused for denaturation, government,
Thh rS purPses, or export as alcohol.
foodstuff , -7 , C0 1888.804,874 pounds the
ages ? ld by distillers for alcoholic bever-
Thuqfif i wers used 3,556,103,596 pounds.
uie brewers used, in making alcoholic
ANOTHER KING UKVlUIOXfiD
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Copyright: 1917: By -John T. McCutcheon.
Chicago Tribune
beverages nearly twice as much foodstuff as tho
distillers.
Besides, the brewers used 37,451,610 pounds
of hops. These are not food, but on the basis
of the last census acreage, the laud used for hops
if planted to potatoes would produce over
4,000,000 bushels of potatoes.
If war prohibition is to save foodstuffs it must
prohibit beer and other malt liquors as well as
the distilled liquors,
PROHIBITION AND THE FOOD BILL
From The Cincinnati Post, June 2G.
Emphatic indorsement of the prohibition
clause in the Lever food control bill was given
by William Jennings Bryan in a statement to
The Post, sent, by telegraph Tuesday from
Frankfort, Ky., where Bryan, on a lecture tour,
spoke to a large audience Monday night. Tho
statement follows:
"I am very much gratified at the action taken
by the house of representatives at Washington
in adopting the Barkley amendment, forbidding
conversion of food products into alcoholic li
quors. "It is a splendid response to the patriotic de
mand of the nation. I hope the senate will
promptly accept the house amendment, that the
President will be authorized to commandeer all
the alcoholic liquor in the country and redistill
it so that the alcohol can ho used for military
purposes.
"Kentucky is to be congratulated on the fact
that one of her congressmen proposed this
amendment. It verfies the old proverb that the
poison finds its antidote near at home.
NATION-WIDE PROHIBITION ESSENTIAL
State of Utah, Executive Ofllce, Salt Lake
City, June 1, 1917. Mr. James K. Risk, Leb
anon, Ind. My Dear Mr. Risk: I wish to apol- .
ogize for not answering your kind letter sooner.
The unusual press of business in this office in
cident to the war has put nie behind with my
correspondence.
I have watched with a great deal of interest
the splendid progress of Indiana toward prohi
bition. I trust that the democratic party of
your great state will go on record in favor of
nation-wide prohibtion, which to my mind is es
sential to the adequate defense of the nation.
In Utah the democratic party is the prohibi
tion party of the state. The democratic party
gave the state a "bone-dry" prohibition law
which goes into effect August 1st, and which
will be strictly enforced by a democratic ad-
I feel a special interest in Indiana for that
state was at one time my home.
Respectfully,
SIMON BAMBERGER, Governor.
"HAPPY AND HEARTV, 8AMB OLD W. J."
From tho Louisville, Ky., Herald, Juno 23.
A happy, hearty personality; an outstanding
big-souled man whoso influence is still at tho
flood mark; whose power has never demlnishcd;
whose vigor stands at 100 per cent; wIiobo oyo
is clear; whoso voice holds its magic; whose com
radeship Ib jolly and contagious; whoso heart
is in the right place that is William JcnnlijB
Bryan.
Nothing simpler; nothing less hide-bound or
stiff. "It's warm," he suggested, and fiddled
about with his collar. We agreed and would
gladly have enjoyed a corresponding privilege.
"It's hot," he protested, and tho vest followed
the collar. And, when we suggested that there
were troubles among his newspaper friends that
were sulphurous, if he didn't say "It's h 1,"
it's because he can not.
A very fine and urbane eentloman Ib William
Jennings Bryan. A man of tho world, a man of
this world. There are people who think he flirts
with rainbows. A sad mistake. A grievous
blunder. His eye is keen and his mind clear and
his heart and that is the greatest thing about
him in the right place. Wo repeat I', because
. we believe it.
And make up your mind about another mat
ter. We have never given It any space or sanc
tion that is, its contrary and opposite Wil
liam Jennings Bryan is a great big American, a
tremendous asset of Americanism; a noble voice
of the broadest patriotism; a fine asset in the
national gallery of patriots and public men
whose soul, whose every breath, strains toward
the country which, by Its blessed graclousness,
they are a speaking part.
The "Commoner" is less volcanic and more
lovable than hack In the days of Golden Crosses
and other burdens. Ho has lived and ho has
learned. He used to be intolerant red hot,
perspiring, palpitating. He is becomo a sign
post of the days that aro past and the memories
that are sad. Even the mask Is harder and less
florid. Even the smile has angles to It. Even
the diction is more direct and less tortuous and
unctuous, and solar.
But it is still Bryan a great American cit
izen; a inarvelous American orator; a noble
American educator. It is, perhaps, not quite
his day, this day of anger and upset. But how
buoyantly he meets it.
fomehow, as we leave William Jennings the
words impose themselves
"My Country, Tls of Thee."
-E. A J,
Drunkenness in the city of Lincoln, Nebraska,
decreased 90 per cent in the first two months of
prohibition in Nebraska. Two months of ex
perience is better testimony than a ream of cam
paign claims-
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