Nebraska Newspapers

    -THE BEE: OMAHA, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1916.
tOl.ITICAL ADVEETIHICMKNT.
POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT
POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT.
POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT.
POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT.
POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT.
POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT.
and Sound
U C
Government
Business
Address delivered y Congressman Jacob E. Meeker, at Boyd Theater,
Mr. Chsirman and Ladies and Gentlemen i
I am glad that the chairman called your
attention to the fact that I had an acci
dent, but that it haa not injured by back
bone That little, debate that wt art to fear
next Tuesday night it a rather peculiarly
rigged-up affair, inasmuch as the negative
has to apeak first, but that ii all tight.
They asked me this afternoon if I would
be satis fled with that arrangement, and I
aaid, arrange it any way you please, just
ao we get at it: that is all I want. The
truth Is the truth whether yon tell it last
r first.
Now in my address tonight, which will
probably run until well toward morning
(laughter), aa it sometimes does, I am go
ins; to aay what I have said from every
platform, as I have gone about the country.
I am aaked to talk with you people to
night; to confer with you. 1 am here to
dtseusi one of the most important and
probably the most important issue that your
state haa confronted since ft was a state.
I want the ladies and gentlemen of thla
audience to feel perfectly free, at any time,
to come in with any question which you
wish to ask, If you are looking for informa
tion. If I can answer your question I will do
It, and be glad to give you the authority
for it If I cannot answer It, I will tell
you so.
I don't pretend to know everything, And
I have little use for man who does.
(Laughter.)
Bat you are not to make ipstehJ under
the pretense of asking a question. .. :!, will
make the speech. ; -
And if there Is somebody who wants to
say something really funny and cute, and
make a monkey of the speaker, you can
wade In, but yon will have to take what
you get
I am going to eall a spade a spade, X
am not going to mince words at all.
When I refer to the business in Peruna
and Hostetter's Bitters and those that con
sume those preparations, I am going to
tell you that the Htm tetter Bitters and
Peruna user is Just as much of an alcoholic
as an Old Crow drinker; and they get more
alcohol with every dollar's worth.
Now I am going to say what I have said
In a great many places throughout the
country.
There Is a Bible: perfectly good Bible
There ia every reference In the Bible to
wine, and strong; drink, and drunkenness.
And there is a perfectly good tea-dollar
Now any time whtle t am speaking or
after X am through, or when I am here on
Sunday again, at the Fontenelle hotel or
when I am back her en Tuesday night,
the man or woman who will some and get
that Bible, and these references, and show
me where, when you take the full passage;
not just a line, but a full passage of Scrip
ture anywhere, and ahow me that the Bible
is for prohibition, yon keep the ten and
just return the Bible. ( Laughter. )
Now, gentlemen, don't all rush down at
once. (Laughter.) '
The Bible Is against intemperance. The
Bible Is against gluttony.
If a man drinks himself to death i If he
Is a rich man, there is nothing said about
It If he is a poor man, the newspapers
all have it, and the preachers all talk about
it (Laughter.)
After his death we say, whereas, an all
wise providence has seen fit to remove from
our midst our beloved brother, therefore,
be It resolved. (Laughter.) That U a cour
tesy which we -show to the glutton. (Laugh
ter.) i
The SIMS' Is against lying, too; although
some of the drys have not yet discovered
it (Laughter.)
' It is opposed to and against bearing
false witness against thy neighbor. It is
against covetousness. It Is against a lot
of other things that we will not have time
to catalogue.
And one of the things that Jesus of
Natareth never overlooked, practically, in
any sermon he preached, was hypocrisy
It Is just as much a sin of society' to
day as when Ha was here.
That is the man who pretends to be good ;
ti be a reformer; to be righteous; but who
actually lives the other way.
Our chairman referred to "wets" and
"drys, using a popular expression; mean
ing that he waa differentiating between
those who are going to vote for license
and regulation and those who are going
to vote for no regulation.
To me, ft wet or a dry, so far as liquor
Is concerned, the line Is drawn to differen
tiate between the way folks live; not the
way they talk. (Applause.)
I think one of the- best things that Emer
son ever said was, "You are talking so loud
I cannot hear what you aay." (Laughter.) I
And what a glorious tlma It would be In I
Omaha tomorrow morning, and how It would
shock and shrivel the world with amase-!
ment, if it were "announced, bona flde, that '
very fellow who was talking or working
for this amendment, had gone on the water
ngm. (Lsughtcs.) -
You say that you are trying to have
Nebraska on the water wagon Well, then,
nynt you get a water-wagon ballot? ,
What la the use of ehanging your sys
tem from retail to wholesale, , In order to
get on the water wagon ? (Laughter.)
when you are now buying it by the
, nickel and dime's worth, why do you ex
change where yon buy It by the tit-worth,
when you are headed for the water jfragonT
(Laughter.)
And the funniest water-wagon man to ma,
when you slse him up, is the fellow who
goes around denouncing tola men who buy
their liquors in the saloon, and he puts in
a constitutional amendment that he can have
his In church. (Laughter.)
Now I am going to call a spade a spade.
(Laughter.) ,
A Voieet Go to it.
The Speaker: Some fellow says, go to it
What do you think of a proposition where
Its advocates have gone over this country
for years, saying that the thing they are
talking about it what kills people, and then
put in a constitutional provision that they
san get it for medicine. (Laughter.) Do you
want to kill all these folks T .
Medicine Is for the purpose of making sick
people well, and weak people strong. But
rou have talked this thing for years and
aid It la going to kill them But when
irou get ready to vote dry, aa you eall it,
rou tari Well, X have got to have my medi
cine, (Laugher.) Yoa hypocritical old scoun
drel. (Laughter.) '
W& JB. miUr wlth ouT Can't
you think In a -straight line for a few mln-
atV. J!1".0 70U iB 9w nmend
. whm ft" heooroe of everything you
said In denouncing liquor by what you wrote
into that amendment yourself?
I see a lot of ladles here tonight I am
glad you are here. I want you to stay in
good humor. Some of you haven't smiled
yet, hut yoa will before we are through.
HhSIr t,r") Voa wlu wrm "P
This t the first time yoa have ever
heard anything said on this side of the
question. You are novices yet
Why is It that you good ladles are mak
ing the manufacturers of some slity-two or
sixty-three varieties of medicine that contain
from 13 per cent to 48 per cent of alcohol;
' ,w yott ar making these men
millionaires, while ou complain of the man
who sella your husband 1 per cent alcohol ?
Why are you denouncing men who are go
ing about this country talking In favor
of beers and light wins, while yon have
in your medicine chest a boose drug which
runs Ave times as? much alcohol as your
husband uses at the bar. (Lsughter.)
I picked up a prohibition paper on the
wn yesterday; ao-ealied prohibition paper.
It had three advertisements advising women
o use the concoctions that wm iiuttiaui
and any one of three wou'd run from three
to ali times the alcohol that any man can
get in a glasa of beer.
Now I will tell you what Is ths matter with
you good ladles. In the first place, you
Uri t.bon' that before. Many of you
amn t know It .
But you hve heard of Lydia Plnkham'a.
'Laughter.) Well, Lydla teems to be known
"rt- (Liughler.) You hsve heard of Lydia
mkha a Compound and Warner's 8afe
Cure, and Wine of Cardul, and Hostetter's.
wd all of thexe th ngs. You have heard
hem always called medicine. You have not
heard beer er wine referred to m the last
nrteen or twenty years as anything but
boost, boost, bona, boose. (Laughter.) And
It hts simply seared you all to death. That
is nil (Laughter.)
NLTltf thr..K "ythlng on earth that
ought to be aalled boose because there Is
no other name for it it is Lydia Pink
hums end Hostetter's and thst stuff. No
bedy knows what Is in It The govern
ment compels them to tell how much alcohol
there It la it, but aside from that it ia a
set-ret
Do you get sick, my good lady, frequently,
because you like Hostetter's? (Laughter.)
wt.il ?"lJkT ron are sick?
Which Is It? Aad how does it affect you?
Do you feel better after sj glass of Lydia
Pinkham'e. (Laughter) w
..' too would take th alcohol out of these
things, they could not force that stuff down
vour throat wib a erowbar. (Laughter.)
, I don t want to put race against race
jert or nation against nation, let alone
brother against brother; but we will Just
j 1 mor turn of this question,
and then take up another one.
' I Presume it lm k- k w
using beer for the last two or three hun-
tvtw vnt im oermaa ladies are always
such nervous, shriveled-up shrimps. (Laugh
ter.) And as a rule they make tueh poor
wives. (Laughter.) And are also frequently
in the divorce court I guess not (Laugh
ter.) Some time I am going to go and make
an investigation of all the divorce eases
where the women use tea and coffee and
where they usa beer and wins, and It will
mske somebody think.
Did you ever hear of a woman being told
to quit using beer because it made her
nervous? I never did. (Applsuse.)
Did you ever hear of' a lady being ad
vised to cut out tea and coffee because It
made her nervous? I have.
You good mothers who art here tonight,
when the physician came to you, and you
and the little baby were not doing very
well, which did he recommend? Tta or
coffee, or Hostetter's) or malt nutrlne?
Think it over. I am just trying to aTet
you to use horse sense, that Is all.
That Is enough on this question.
Now I want to givs you ladies some
thing else to take home, talk over and
think about
(Disturbance In rear part of tht theater.)
Voices: Keep quiet; keep quiet; put him
out; keep quiet or get out
The Speaker: Let him alone: he will go
fast enough when it gets a little hotter.
(Laughter.) You will see him get a move
after a while. I will tell you, my friends,
here is one thing about It: I have attended
a great many -of these -meetings on both
sides of this question, and heard some of
the great speakers on both sides of the
question, and some way or other It is
harder foe ths fellow on tht other tide
to take hot shot from us than it is for us
fellows to take It from them.
, The difference Is, if we disturb a meeting
we are drunk. (Laughter.) Andh? they
disturb a meeting, it is for the glory of
God. (Laughter.)
(Disturbance continues.)
The Speaker: Let him alone. Ht't all
right
Look here now. X am not talking about the
women of Omaha. I want you to under
stand that from the start I have got too
much good sense to discuss ladies in the
town where I am talking. (Laughter.)
I know the best way to Interest a woman
it to talk to her about her neighbors. So
I am discussing ths women of Council
Bluffs (Laughter), that grsat and prosper
ous city of which Omaha Is about to be
come a competitor. (Laughter.) Where real
estate Is lower and lower, and keeps get
ting lower every day.
You good ladiea who art here tonight,
Ilka many of yir sex, who have permit
ted your self es In these last few years to
be worked up Into a tort of hy.teria, who
have been hypnotised by lurid statements
that have been made to you from the
platform and that have come to you through
the press, have some to believe that the
greatest enemy of your tons is tht saloon;
you bellvee it, and you spend your days and
your nights In fear and in prayer trying
to do something to eliminate that institu
tion. Now I want yon to keep In good hurnor
for ten minutes and I am going to talk
to you right straight from the shoulder as
you have never been talked to before. We
tan all have our good time herb, but wt
might as well begin to look the truth in
the fact. We have been flim-flamming our
her life Is wrecked?
'You good ladies are asked, as It was
ftatod In the letter that was referred to by
our chairman, do .you want your aon to
grow up a drunkard, or your daughter to
marry a drunkard, or go Into a place where
her life is wrelked?
The thing that I am about to tell you
earns to mt a few years ago out of an
audience just about like this. I was mak
ing an addrtss, and I referred to crime
against women, but X did not havt tht
facta. And after it was over, a gentleman
at the hotel aaid to me: Mr. Meeker, do you
know what the percentages of criminal
women art, as related to their occupa
tion ? I said I did not I had nevtr
thought of it In that way before.
I began an Investigation and when I dis
covered what X am going to tell yoa, X was
Just as much shocked as you art going to
be In tht next four minutes.
You have shed many tears over tht girl
that goes on the stage to play. You have
shed many tears over the girl that Is forced
into the factory or the department store;
or out Into the world to associate with us
men. (Laughter.)
v Where are ths criminal women?
I am not asking you, where is your wan
dering boy tonight 1 am talking about the
daughter.
In the year In which this census was
taken it was gathered from every criminal
court in America, of record, of all the women
who cams to that bar for trial and re
ceived sentence. And these women name
from the following places:
Musicians and music teachers furnished
two-tenths of I per sent
The school teachers one-tenth of X per
cent .. m
The stenographers and tht typewriters
one-tenth of 1 per tent
The bookkeepers and tht copyists three
tenths of 1 per cent
The? hotel and boarding house keepers one
tenth of 1 per cent ,
The laundresses. 4 8-10 per cent
The nurses ant) midwives, six-tenths of 1
Ptr ctnt , .
Tht artificial flower and paper box work
ers, one-tenth of I per cent
Tht cigar worker and tht tobacco girls,
two-tenths of 1 per cent
The, mill and factory girls, 4 T-10 per
tent '
The milliners, two-tsnths of 1 per cent
The telegraph and telephone girls, two
tenths of 1 per cent
All other occupations, per cent -
And servant girls, 76. per cent
And you thought ft was the saloon.
To put It in other words, out of every
100 women who went before the7 courts
in this country to accept sentence for some
crime committed, 74.8 per cent of them got
breakfast in some woman's kitchen be
fore they went to Jail.
Think It over. Think It over. And aak
yourselves, if you were a kitchen girl, and
treated like the kitchen girls that yon know
about, would you go to hell or not
Now let us just think for a moment Let
us be rational.
I am not going to say where Ii your wan-
wring uuw lomgnt.
Where is vour hired elrl riht m '
; You don't know and you don't earfc Un
less you want to get her to march inthe
dry parade.
Now think a minute. -The girls that havt
been . mentioned in these trade or profes
sions can dress when their work Is done, go
out on the street turn in at the front gate,
go up to the front door and go In at the
front door; sit In ths parlor, play on the pi
ano, dine with the family and, If she Is pretty
enough, marry one of the boya: except the
78, and when they come down the street
and turn Into tht front walk and go aa far
as the front atepa, the boss In the house
saya, you some in through the kitchen door
with the ice man and the coal man, and you
go up the back stairs to the poorest room
in the bouse, and you will keep your place.
That explains it
Those eirla are human
How do thsy find their gentlemen com
panions 7 Through the motherly Interest of
tn woman mat employs tnem r
Did you ever hear of - servant girls'
shirt social?
Did you ever hear of a Young Women's
Christian association recaption to kitchen
mechanics? , ,
That girl loves eomnanlonahln lust m)1
aa you, and she loves men just as well aa
you do. ft
ii she chances to find tome man on the
street she may strike it ali right but tht
ia taking every chance In the world. ,
When he comes to call bmh k- ka an
entertain him in the kitchen and if he don't
want to sit on the table he can ait In tht
tink. (Laugher.)
nut tie must not tome Into a room with
? ,p-rp? .on " nd fc planot and
bright light and home things. , x
He Is only the guy that comet to set tht
kitchen mechanic.
Where is the 'lady that Is running the
house? She has gone to the reform meeting.
(Laughter.)
They ore going to havt an election to
see who will be secretary of ths Blue Seven
society, and she must be there
If that girl and that young fellow don't
enjoy the odor of the kitchen and its charm
ing surroundings, they csn go out tht back
door and around the back way and walk
UD and down the aidewsJk. nA it h
like that they can go to the dance helL.1
They havt got those three places. 1
That Is the way you protect your hired
girt.
1 am not talking to the ladles of Omaha.
(Laughter.)
That girl Is tht first one up In the morn
ing. She must get breakfast for dad and
keep on getting breakfast until finally they
are all down.
She Is the laat one to finish work at night
She has one Thursday afternoon a week
make her social calls. But she must not
come Into the front part of my house and
read my books, or look at my pictures. I
might have Mrs. Diamond Dust this awfter
noon. And although Mrs. Diamond Dust
waa a counter Jumper just before she was
married she is up In eassiety now and we
eawnt have Mary in there reading. (Laugh
ter. I
And you don't know and don't care where
that girl goes, or what she does, just so she
is there In time to vet breakfast, and don't
steal the silverware. (Laughter.)
Now, mygood lady friends, I want to tay
something to you, in all seriousness.
You good women, yes, you admit the
truth of what I have just said, but you
didn't know It
Did you ever see a woman working her
fingernails off to train her daughter to go
into some other woman's kitchen? (Laugh
ter.) I never did.
I know of plenty of mothers who are go
ing without the clothes that they should
have to put their daughters through school,
to study bookkeeping or stenography, to
put her In some man's office at 14 a week,
when as a girl in a kitchen she could get
$6 and room and board.
And why is that?
Because you don't want your daughter
treated as you treat the qther woman't
daughter. ( Applause. )
And until you reduce that percentage,
until you bring that percentage down to at
least a par with the factory girls, don't go
around any more looking for the wandering
boy. (Laughter and applause.)
Just through the kitchen door; just ex
actly 8tt Inehes, between the dining room
and the kitchen, is tht tociaj lint drawn be
tween women.
They send 76 per cent of them Into jail
and Into prison, and you think you would
save her by marching in a dry parade.
(Laughter. )
Now, any time It gets too hot you are
at perfect liberty to go. (Laughter.) I
know this talk makes you fldgetty. (Laugh
ter.) I am not concerned In what you think of
me. I am concerned in telling you the plain,
blunt truth, and aee If I can't get you to
recover from this fit you have been having.
You go home tonight
However, I am not talking, to tht women
of Omaha, but Council Bluffs.
Let the American housewife go home to
night and apologise to her hired girl be
cause she has treated her like a dog, and
open to her the hand of womanly comrade
ship and companionship, and ths heart of
that poor girl will buret with Joy that
she has found a friend of her sex, under the
roof where she is.
SOUND GOVERNMENT AND BOUND
BUSINESS
Ladles and gentlemen, I nave been making
In your state and in the state of Michigan
a study of the popular mind, so far as gov
ernment Is concerned.
A few years ago there came a great try
ing demand that wt should havt govtrnmcnt
by the people.
Certain individuals, who are well known
In this state, were leaders In that movement
Whst was called the Initiative and referen
dum began to be written into tht laws of
the different states.
The people said to themselves that the
legislators were either too laty or too Ig
norant, or too crooked, to pass laws that
were right; so they said, we will takt it
and do It ourselves.
They got the Initiative and referendum.
As I have gone about this state and in
Michigan I have carried with me this pro
posed amendment and the amendment which
they had in Michigan, and I have aaked that
those present who have read it would hold
up their hands.
II have not found an audience yet where
per cent had read it.
How many have read it here?
And yet you say you know something
about government
X want to say to you that, to my mind,
one of tht serious things in this so-called
popular government Is the Indifference of
people to their government (Applause.)
Why, you are tonight, some of you, say
ing you would like to takt hold of thit
speaker and choke him, because ht la talk
ing against your -family, and you don't
know yourself what you are excited about
Think of It Less than 6 per cent of
the men and women of this state have read
that amendment: and still they, some of
them, have gone into a hysterical fit in
favor of It
Now I am for anything that Is genuine. X
believe in honest money aa against coun
terfeit I believe in honest men as againat
counterfeits. And I believe in honest oro-
hibition instead of counterfeit
If you are going to have Prohibition, have
prohibition.
How dots an honest prohibitionist ex
pect to advance his causa by voting for a
fraud?
That It tht thing that sticks mt and
absolutely makes ma wonder when I And
that ths preacher axe for this thing. .(Ap
plause.) , . .... ...
And that Is Just exactly why X sent the
Invitation to Dr. Lowe to come on the
platform and tell It to ths people, -
Thsre Is no reason why thinking men, who
art equally Interested in tht moral welfare of
the community and tht state, should be
divided on that thing.
xi you want real prohibition, why did
you adopt a fraud?
And if you-4on't want prohibition, why
don't you keep regulation? Why do you
try to excuse yourselves by hiding behind
a word and talking about the semblance
rather than the substance? -
You are getting ready to past a law
which, when It goes Into the courts of
Nebraska, if It becomes a part of the or
ganic law of this state, will absolutely
tie tht handt of every honest proh ibl
tlonist who ever would hope to set day
light In Nebraska. (Applause.)
Why should not a man be honest enough,
as a friend to his own cause, to down a
fraud when hs sees It? , -
But instead of that a lot of these gentle
menand I am not unwilling to suggest
that thst language was written that way
for a purpose. I think any man who has
got sense enough to read English would
know that that language would not pro
hibit anybody from getting liquor.
But here you are, swept away with a
hysteria about a word; two words; one Is
prohibition and the other Is dry.
I do not differentiate between tht men
who think In straight lines and those who
never think. You make your differentiation
as to whether the fellow stood for that
language or not, and you have not read It
I defy any man in thla audience or in thla
state of Nebraska to read thst proposed
constitutional amendment as published and
say that he believes, as God la his judge,
that there will be one pint leas of liquor
used in Nebraska when that becomes a law
than there la now. v
I demand that ht shall state why ha be
Haves it t
This thing of limply cavorting around
somewhere, in a sequestered spot and throw
ing brickbats and mud at men who do not
agree with you, when you have no reason
to bark it up, is a thing of the past with
me. It don't matter if the man has a REV.
In front of his name or two D's back of it
It does not make any difference when it
comes to a question of the sound sense of
the proposed law.
This is not a matter of waving tht Amer
ican eagle in your facta and working up a
cry over something that yoa never taw
in your life. That Is past'
Never you let any other man, be you
tr or woman: never let him put it across
on you again that the saloon la to blame
for the the wreck of most of our girls.
You tot It Btraieht tinlvht. Nm
Uhat out ;
How does it come that W. C T. U. folks
never quote Frances W I Hard any more? She
was their president for forty years. Or
ganised, started the movement But you
never see Frances Wlllard In the literature,
you never set her picturt In tht prohibition
I win tell you why:
Beesuse Francis Wlllard, at the end of
that forty years, stood up before tht world,
and shs said, I was mistaken. I am now
an old woman, aaid she, but If I had my
lift to llvt over, I would not gtvt H to fight
liquor, for I have discovered that men are
not poor because they drink, but THAT
THEY DRINK BECAUSE tWEY ARE
POOR. (Applause.)
That declaration of Frances E. Wlllard at
tht close of her great career shut her
out of tht dry literature.
But she stands in tht Hall of Fame at
Washington, the only American woman who
Is there.
Why? Because she spent forty yean in
that work ?
No. But because, at the end of It, she
was big enough to stand up and admit she
was wrong. (Apptauae.)
SOUND GOVERNMENT. What It It?
It la that system of government whclh
leaves those who must live under It the
happiest, the best contented, the least re
bellious and the most prosperous.
That la all the function government haa.
And It appllea to the home, to the com
munity, to the state and to the nation.
Ladies and gentlemen, the peril of this
country today Is ever-lawmaking. ,
8inee U10, thrttatt legislatures of the
United States have enacted sixty thousand
new laws; the federal government has enact
ed over three thousand, and the state of
Kansas, since H wrote prohibition In Its con
stitution, has enacted Ms separata law to
enforce prohibition.
When Jesus of Naaareth earns to 'this
earth he found religio moral legalism broken
down. It was a failure. He so declared tt.
And Ht was against It then and He is
againat it now.
And any man who undertakes to aavt
society by the policeman's billy hat left
the method that Jesus adopted.
He said, change the man's heart and
you havt solved your reform.
Tht legal reformer tars boat tt Into
him, If you havt to kill him to do It Put
him in, jsil to make him good. Send him to
ine penitentiary to convert rum into a aainu
That is your theory. I salt tt applies
at home. I am not talking about Omaha.
But did you ever go into a home any
where, where everything that occurred was
now, did you do that; sit down; go up and
wash your face; shut up; if I catch you do
ing that again I will break your back; don't
stay out after 7 o'clock, I will be hunting
you.
Every second of every child's lift In 4Jiat
home was government
What happened? One of two things! The
boys in that home either grew up up be
milksops or anarchists. One of the two.
The surest way to get a boy to learn to
be an expert at cards ia to tell him If you
catch him at it you will break his back.
(Laughter.) And the surest way to get a
girl to marry the fellow you hate is to
tell her if you ever catch her out with
him, ahe can't eome home again.
Why ia It that In the prisons and the
penitentiaries, when you take a religious
census, you And that a large per cent of
the inmates were Sunday school boys? And
some of them are sons that were raised
in these blue law homes.
Isn't thst a delightful home In which to
visit? Don't you always love to go where
somebody is swinging the big stick every
minute? (Laughter.)
Everything is perfectly correct and In Its
filace; not a thing out of order; and if any
ittle urchin should chsnee to be found
looking crosswise at a book he knows he
would be skinned In a minute.
Oh, the painfulness of sueb a life I Tht un
happtntss In such a home)
And you have gone into other homes
where they did not seem to have any par
ticular rules.
Children sat down and talked It over with
the father; they sat up to the table and
ate; they had fun while they were doing
It; they would play pranks on one another;
sometimes tear out the whole side of a shirt;
the father and mother might laugh at that;
and, oh, what a home It was; and some way
or other those boys grew up to be good,
stalwart fellows, who could go out and take
care of themselves anywhere In the game,
and the girls were jolly and attractive; they
were social favorites, and 'everybody was
happy.
Now what was the difference?
It was the difference In tht amount of
government they had. One home was gov
erned to death, and tht other horns was
controlled by reason and affection.
You good folks here tonight go around
ehurch once in a while and sing thst old
song, "Where is my wandering boy to
night?" and how you sob it out, and how
your heart strings are pulled as you wonder
where he Is. But when you have finished
the song you go on home and never take
time to look him up. You just put your
wondering in the tune and the boy can
wander.
Now you wonder why you cannot keep
your boy at home. Did you ever go and
look at the place where you try to keep
him?
You know a boy Is just an animal. He
likes to fight and scuffle and run. He
detests soap and water; they are against his
nature.
Did you ever look around the boy's rom;
oh, you good mother; God bless yov. You
want to fix up everyhting jnst nice for that
boy. And what do xou do. You fix it
up to suit your feminine mind. You turn
that animal in thcrt and expect him to stay.
(Laughter.)
Lace curtains on the windows, pretty lit
tle white bed, a little spindle legged stand,
a chiffonier and a doily on the table, a lit
tle pink cherry blossom wall paper.
A dolly In a boy's room.
And you dress him up in white and curl
his hair and say, "Now, Honey, don't you
go out and play with those boya next door,"
and when ha does, you say, "Oh, Willie, oh,
Willie," and Willie comes back again. And
you wonder why thit boy goes away from
you and your heart breaks, and you sob out,
"Oh, why Is it that I could not keep him " -
You eduld If you had stopped to under
stand him.
You say, ut loved him to death." Yqs.
but you did not understand him. I would
rather have a boy understand five minutes
than to have him loved all day.
Now why didn't you let the boy fix It
and let him havt It on hla own plan and
aay, "Now, my son, how would you like to
havt this room." And tht first thing that
would eomt down would be tht curtains
and the next thing that would eomt up
would-be the doily. Give that to sister. He
takes that little spindle legged chair and ht
shoots it off as far as ht can.
Cleans everything out of there; rips off
the wall paper with the pink violets and ex
changes it for some with hunting scenes,
hills and mountains; puts a leather curtain
up; takes that carpet off the floor; throw
out the chiffonier, nad put in an old bu
reau that makes a good fort, and he gets
some good, square, stout-legged tables and
ehaire that can be used for sliding down
bill, a pitched battle or anything else, and
he paints the floor and puts In a rug. just
big enough to keep his feet warm while he
dresseT In the morning, and he has some
bows and arrows and some wild west pic
tures and some country magatine and some
war story books and a ball bat and a catch
er's mitt and eome boxing gloves and dumb
bells and three or four rusty old guns and a
leather spread for the bed and If you will
let him alone he will take care of It and
everything will be always right In Its place,
right smsck down in the center of the floor.
Oh. God bless vou: vnu eniM nnt rirlv
that boy away from there with a club.
That la his den: that U th nl.. h..
the animal likes to live, and every other
kid In the neighborhod will be In there with
him, unless you lock the front door. And
every boy that has not that kind of (lace
says, "Oh, how I wish I had a real mother."
It will spoil the furniture a little. It
will spoil some of your feminine tastes; but
It will save your boy.
He will not grow up to be any Willie.
He will be Bill. And when you come to that
place In your life where husband is gone and
you must lean on tome strong support, where
you would have a Willie boy, with weakly
lungs, Bill will take care of mother, and the
only one that will ever take him away from
you it will not be any dance hall, nor any
pool hall, nor any club, not ana. saloon, nor
any card garne.i nor anything else of that
nature the only power that will ever take
Bill out from there will he aome bright-eyed,
rosy-cheeked, brown-haired loving girl, that
has got a head full of sense. When he takes
her along he says, "All right, mother; I am
going to start a little nest of my own. but
there will always be a corner for you.
Say I If we could only beat that doe
trine Into the head of the average hysteri
cal woman In America, the boy problem
would be solved.
God bless you; you havt got yourselves
all excited and worked up that something
outside haa got your boy and you had fif
teen years' start of everybody.
Now it is just as true in community life
as In home life. Exactly the same
I want to ask you tonight the strange
boy who comes Into the city, of Omaha, the
strange young man who comes into the
eity of Omaha, how many of you . people
ever open, the door of your homo to that
boy ?
Where would he go tonight tf he 'were
a stranger in this city to have eompan
lonshlp? .
Think It over. '
Tht churches are all closed. Somebody
has talked about starting a pool hall or a
club hall there, and they say, "Oh, this is
for tht worship of God; you open up about
three hours a week, and what do you do
then? Stick him down In a pew and a
fellow goes up In the pulpit and makes him
a prohibition speech.
If ht can eome into Omaha and find him
self a room and submerge himself socially
and struggle through for a while, some
body will begin to think there Is something
In him.
You didn't think of that, did you?
Where does that boy go when he Is hun
gry? To the parsonage or to the back end
of a bar? Who feeds him? Tht church or
the saloon?
What right have you got to renounce a
man who is doing every day what you won't
do at all?
X aay to you that when you people will
put up a better institution, that will give
a warmer welcome and more genuine fellow
ship, a higher ideal of life and companion
ship than the saloon does, you won't have
to vote on the saloon. It will die.
You are trying to areata a social vacuum
In society. And you think that when you
destroy the only social center that tht av
erage young man has that he la just going
to hang by his tumb-nsils. on moral plati
tudes and dry speeches.
Now you go away from here and talk that
What are you proposing tonight to put
In place of tht saloon? You never thought
of that You just thought you were going
to kick a hole into space and that it would
remain a hole.
1 will tell you what yoa art gettiktg ready
to do.
You art going to destroy tht open, public
places, where men gather together, and, in
stead. Omaha will have, in thirty days after
the saloons close, Omaha will have tnough
clubs, that are barricaded by locked doors,
with a bigger membership than the salooa
customers are now.
What are you going to do about It than?
The .saloon is the only club that haa a
Eublle charter. Into which officers of the
iw aad the public generally can go
But the private club, that lives behind
Omaha, Neb., Friday Evening, October
a private charter, says to the officer, "You
stay out, and everybody else.
In the eity of- St Louis, in the year 1909,
I made a canvass of the city. I did not
take a horn with mc and blow It every time
I was going down the street That is- the
way most of those fellows work. I had
the assistance of the plainclothes men on
the police force for two years.
We found 87 clubs, Sunday clubs, that had
a membership of 26,000.
Now, God bless your good people; you
don't think sixteenth Inches ahead-of your
nose. You got mad at that saloon and you
don't know why. But those fellows have
told you that ia where all the hell cornea
from. And you never asked yourself the
question, "Well, after the saloon, what?"
That never struck you. After the saloon,
what?
After the saloon, tht open, public, regu
lated place, eomea the secret drinking place.
And everything that goes behind a barred
door generally gets worse than better.
If I had my way about it, not a saloon
in America would have a screen in the
front or on tht door any more than a res
taurant If it- is right to take drink of beer or
wine in church at the Lord's table, it is
not wrong to take it right on top . of that
table right there.
To allow people to get themselves so
worked up about a man taking a drink of
wine In a saloon or at home and go to the
Lord's table and take it, I cannot figure
it out; that Is just honest; I can't under
stand It
But you do.
The way to reduce drunkenness Is to have
more public drinking. OUCH 111
Dia you ever attend a German picnic? I
have. Where the beer Is free? Did you
ever see anyont intoxicated there? I never
did.
But when you put the lid on, and there is
a barrel of it down behind the sign-board, at
2& cents a bottle, the first bellows to it will
never give up, until they have got every
drop that la there.
I am apeaking only as a student of con
ditions; I don't want any offense taken at
anything I am saying. Why do you find
so few drunkards amongst ttre Jewish peo
ple? They have carried their wine from
the time you meet them in history. And
there is a lower percentage of drunkenness
amongst the Hebrews than any of the older
races.
What has happened to the Mohammedan
in the same period of time; the Turk, who
is a prohibitionist, by religion? Where is
his race as compared with the chosen of
God?
Why don't you use your common sense.
Is there anything particularly defective,
morally, with the German nation ? (Ap
plause.) I got you back there.
And yet you poor, misguided people have
worked yourself into such a f rensy when
some blatherskite would get up and say that
drinking reduced the morality of the people
you believe it
I defy any man In this audience, or any
man that may come to this platform, to
stand up and say that because he don't
drink' anything stronger than grape juice,
he is morally better than millions of men
who use wine and beer and whisky every
day.
That Is tht doctrine of the Pharisee, and
nothing else; and simply because you call
It Dry, Instesd of Pharisseeism, as Jesus
Christ did, does not change the fact of the
thing.
The bigotry of religious fanaticism would
make the devil laugh.
Sane government
Why Is it that theae men who come here
from Kansas have to twist their state
ments to make them seem plausible.
Don't you worry; that Governor Capper
lad will be taken care of before this cam
paign cloaes. If Capper told the truth that
time, it Is the first time since he has been :
governor that he ever did tell the truth, i
when he was talking outside of Kansas And
you can send bim a telegram tonight that
Meeker said so and invite him over here, and
I will stand pat
Now why Is it that these people, coming
from these places, are compelled absolutely
to apologise, aa the man who spoke from
this platform laat night aaid, right within ,
fifteen feet of where I am, "I have not got
any facts with me; I have not got my stuff
slong, and the man who presided said,
"What the hell Is ths differences; tell them
anything."
Too much government breaks down of Its
own weight
Now then suppose that wt were going to
propose a law here for this state that we
would do away with all regulations in re
gard to the selling of all kinds of liquor t
would you stand for It? Why, you would
think It was idiotic. .
Suppose we were going to pass a law
here to destroy all regulations In regard to
the selling of any commodity in this state
except liquor, you would think It was idiotic.
And yet you say that liquor Is the most :
dangerous of all things that men use, and
you still provide that they can have all they
want You don't want te control in any !
way the dispensing of it; Just let it take its j
own chances.
Now, my friends, this Is only the begin
ning of your legislation. You will have
to pass a law for the purpose of enforcing, It
And you will havt to direct yourselves to
this question:
Why Is it that with 25 years of re
form, so-called reform, when we have been
passing reform laws by the thousands, and
we get more peoole In iatl than we eve!
Hhad in the reform territory; we have got
more penitentiaries filled than we ever nad,
and we have more law violation than we
ever had, in the fact of 26 years of re
form Did you ever think of that?
Did you ever see one of those cadaver
faced chaps come around and tell you how
the world is going to hell, to the demni
tion bow wows ? And what does he do ? Ht
refers you to the criminal record of the
country. He says, "There she goes."
Now at the same time that our jails are
filling up and our penitentiaries, there was
never a time In the history of the world
When there had been as many great move
ments, nationally apeaking, for the ameliora
tion of the sufferings of the unfortunate as
now. Never. -
Now I am talking of the currents of ac
tivity ; not the thermometer.
Why?
The great things that are before our na
tional legislature; before our state legisla
tures; looking for shorter hours for women;
looking for the saving of children from be
ing ground up in factories, industries; look
ing for pensions and compensations to those
who are injured in the train service; all of
these things.
Dou you find the drys boosting these
movements ?
t I defy you to show where the Anti-Saloon
League of America yet ever, in one state
In this nation, or at the -national capital,
has gone to the front for a single law for
shorter hours or child labor or for any of
those things that make the conditions of
man better.
Now let us consider this for a moment
Here wt are tonight, a society, a gov
ernment a community. Now we are just
as good as we are or we are just as bad as
we are, individually, regardless of anything
that the government might say to us at this
moment i
We pass a dosen ordinances; now these
twelve rules are to regulate this society,
and we go about our business. Every
time we violate one of these twelve ordi
nances they grab us add fine us or put us
In jail and turn us loose again. Well, we
go along with these twelve for a while
and wt havt another meeting, and we enact
twelve more; we have another meeting and
wt tnact twelve more; and at the end of
ten years, where we started with twelve
we now have one hundred. That means
there are one hundrd chances to grab every
man in the crowd where there were twelve
in the beginning; he has one hundred rules
to keep where he had only twelve. The
chances are that no man can obey all of
theae rules : he breaks one of them; he Is
grabbed and taken into court ground
through the mill and marked a criminal.
You remember what Jesus Chriat said
when he was here that whoever violates
the least of these is guilty of all.
What does that mean? It means that
If you fail in society to do what? To take
cart of that fellow that has been yitnked
into court for a violation of any city ordi
nance when he comes out again and wants
to start in the fight for life. You say, have
you been in jail ? He says, yes. You
never asked him why. You say, I don't want
you.' He had just aa well he guilty -of
robbery aa exceeding the speed limit. In the
eyes of society he is a criminal when he had
ao criminal instincts whatever. - -
And I want to say to you tonight, the
difference between the doctrine of the man
who would save, society by law and the
doctrine of Jesus Christ who would aavt
man by love, Is just this:
On the Sabbath day, when the Master
went through the fields, his disciples gath
ered the grain, rubbing It out, and eating It
A lot of these snoop committees, the drysttf
that day; were looking after It, and they
said, this la a violation of the law, ah, ah I
Shant labor on the Sabbath, no, sir; that is
against the law; that man talks about being
the Son of God. and look what he did. And
then He said to them, don't you know that
theNSlabbath waa mad for man; not man
for th Sabbath.
Did you aver get that straight through
your hsad?
They figure that the law ' waa made and
then God made man to keep It
Men talk about the dignity of tht law.
If there is to e any dignity to tht law.
it must be a dignified law. '
If you want men to respect law, pats
tocctable laws, and they will.
Now thftc fellows on the other side ' ant
a maximum of law with a minimum of free
dom. Ths side wants a maximum of lib
erty and a minimum law. .
Do. yoa get me? (Long continued ap
plause.) -
SANE GOVERNMENT means to takt rea
sonable control In the directing of all social
activities. T .
Now as long as you art going to permit
mt to bring it in by tht jugful), or by the
Darrej, or oy tnt automobile, or the carload,
or the tralnload. aa vour nronond law will
permit them to do, and you are going to
permit tnem to seep it anywnere tney
choose, and to use all their hides will hold,
does it not seem to you, using just ordi
nary horse sense, that you should keep
control of the distribution of it?
If I was going to monkey with a rattle
snake. I would rather have it in a glass
box where I eould see it than havt it in
a hole or running around in the grass where
I never know where it was going to strike
me or when it was was going to strike me.
And everything you say against liquor,
as long as you say that men can have
it to use; the very argument you put up as
to the danger of it, ia just that much
stronger argument for keeping control of
the distribution of it
Why, I can't see how a msn who uses
his head for anything, or keeps his back
bone behind from unraveling, can't see that
Now, some of these good dry fellows are
afraid that they will be accused of standing
up for the saloon if they stand for govern
ment Well, after the saloon, what?
The next thing that comes . You have
got about how many voters here in this
town? About 20,000 men. If you have
80.000 men in this tnan k.u. 9k aad
drinkers. That is the lowest You won't
u v.vuv teetotauers in tne town.
Now, then, that being true, suppose that
tht state of Nebraska out-votes the people
of these cities; while this city will vote
rrom two to three to fivt to ont against this
law. (Applause.)
How, in the name of common sense, do
you expect to enforce that law when the
n"" here re five to one against It?
What are you putting up to the police
force of this town? What are you putting
up to the whole governmental system of
this town?
I will tell you what wilt happen: Just
exactly what has occurred In Maine, and
in every other state where they have had
this for any length of time.
In the state of Maine, the sheriffs of
counties are elected. on a platform of en
forcement or nonenforeement of the law. Yet
there are people who believe they can get a
law and ram ft down the throats of men
nd make them stand for It
What next fellows?
The organisation of your whole pody
politic to create a system of corruption
and for the defeat of your law.
That Is what you get.
You don't need to tell me that the ex
governors and the governors of Kansas have
not had their frame-ups with the boot
leggers of Kansas. You don't need to tell
rne If they never wanted to enforce that
law over there the governor of the state
would not know about It.
Look at the record of Oklahoma! The
most shameful and disgraceful of any new
state tn America. Corruption without men
tion and without shame.
The bootleggers of Oklahoma are the most
powerful political organisation in Oklahoma.
what is the result?
Nebraska has sent twenty men to the
asylums with alcoholic psychosis; Kansas
139 0t ITnty' nd Oklahoma has sent
Why?
Because the people of Nebraska got their
liquor anywhere; getting away from the
harder drinks, they turned to beers and
wines, to the lighter drinks. But when It
haa to be sneaked In, In Bibles, and m
ault cases and hearses and caskets and "oil
tanks and box car and twine packages and
canes and everything else, they will always
get the stuff that has the most kick In
It for the least amount of space. (Laughter )
Bootleeggers' paradise! Kansas and Okla
homa. That Is what you will get In your govern
ment system.
Now. why can't you enforce the law?
Oh. somebody says, of course we have a
law against killing, but then men go and
kill each other, and we do not change the
law.
You do not change the law; you do not
put in a constitutional amendment that ft
can be used for medicinal purposes or sac
ramental; you do not aay that It can be
used for mechanical or industrial purposes
Now, what Is the trouble with that law?
After all, It is public sentiment that po
lices a community, and the police with a
club In hla hand only reflects public sen
timent Some men around here tay. Wall, look at
the saloon conditions In Omabat
Well, they are just what you want them
to be. They ars Just what Omaha Is sat
isfied with. .
I want to tell you that three nights' In
vestigation by certain beloved gentlemen, In
the right spot; with a good sCiff spine, will
do more to shut off the Omaha saloons than
seventy-five sermons when there Is nobody
there. And the cancellation of bout three
saloon licenses will make the rest of these
fellows see daylight quicker than all the
elections than you .can hold.
You do not want to enforce the law. It
might get you In bad. You Just want to
vote. Nothing more, fust vote.
This law la different from the other laws
In regard to theft and murder and crimes
of that kind, in that its jurisdiction Is
limited to the community that passes on It
A man, in this state, could steal an au
tomobile and go to New York and you
could bring the man and the oar and the
fellow that bought It all back together, If
he knew It was a stolen car, and send them
ail to prison and return the car to the
owner.
And the fellow in tht bootleg business,
when you start after him he hears you com
ing and he just steps over the lint into
Iowa and he says good night and the Iowa
aherfff can't send htm back, nor you can't
".. " "i imb tne zenow
that bought his goods don't have to give
mem up. in n tne aiirercnce between
him and the automobile fellow. - He keeps
the goods and don't havt to appear agalnsl
him either.
Now let me tell you, if you would put t
law on the statute books that If a man
would purchase an automobile and didn't
know tt waa a stolen car, If you put It on
the books that he could keep It In case he
bought It without knowing that It was
stolen, everybody In Nebraska would have
a car inside of thirty days. Well, of course,
everybody but the preachers. (Laughter.)
The fault of this law Is this, you are
endeavoring to make one tide of a trans
action .right and the other wrong and you
cannot do It.
This ts what this law proposes to do, and
I will use this just at an Illustration:
On this side of the bar you have 20,000
men; 35,000 In Omaha, In this city on this side
of the bar; and they are not all drunken
bums; you have merchants and bankers and
lawyers, all coming up to this side of the
bar, and drys; the dry walka up and lays
down his dollar, and the man on this side
of the bar puts down a quart of the goods
that the dry wishes. You say by your amend
ment that the dry can do that and keep It
up and he Is violating no law; but the man
who puts down the quart and takes up the
dollar, you are going to make a criminal
out of htm. Buying liquor will continue to
be fashionable and ,preper, but selling It
under regulations will be a crime. You have
got 2M00 on that side of the bar and 160
on this side. You are- voting on tht ISO;
why don't you tackle the 25,000?
It Is Just as much a violation of law
to purchase a stolen automobile aa it it to
steal It or sell tt, but It la no violation of
low to .buy of a bootlegger all the stuff you
can ship In here.
Now, why can't you reduce that to com
man sense.
Sound business. What la It that makes a
city? How does this city come to be aa
big at It la with all theae saloons here?
And look at Topekal Look at Kansas City
Kan.!
Pld you ever notice what a peculiar thing
has occurred to the development of the
west ?
- Along the Missouri river; coming up, you
strike Kansas City. Kaneaa City, Mo., some
way or ether, has sort of made a back door
out of Kansas City, Kan.
When you get to Omaha, the big dlty Is
on the other side of the river. Wonder why
tt Is that you can buy property so cheaply
In Council Bluffs? '
Did you ever see th drys go to a town
thai had adopted prohibition and leave the
eno that had not? Did you ever see them
do the other thing?
How I.-.r It tt from Omaha to Council
Bluffs? What Is the fare? Ten cents from
hell to heaven. Not a soul going. Nobody
goes. Ton centa from Council Bluffs to
hell and everybody going. (Laughter.) .
That ought to be enough to glv you a
hunch? ( Laughter. )
Why don't you good people who don't
Ilk licensed town mora to Council Bluffs'
27th, 1916
Think of how they long for you over,thw
Now. here in Omaha, ever since iowi
adopted prohibition, are there any Omatu.
rrople going over ' there to attend thai
r heaters and stop at their hotels and buy
shoes?
Well; not sos you could notice It.
Hbithe Council Bluffs people, and all
that part of Iowa, are coming here; and
you are getting ready to give them a kick
right square in the face.
Isn't the money of the man who cornea
to get a stein of beer, too, generally as good
and as ready for shoes as the fellow that
don't?
Name one hundred teetotallers that are;
rich and you can find that many beer
users that will cap them one better.
You atand up here and say that the peo
ple who use beer and wine don't pay their
bills aa good as the. fellows who don't
You stand up here and say that you know
any of these dry fellows whose notes you
would rather have then men who drink.
Whose credit la better? Who are any great
er business asset to the town?
Ah; get right down to brass tacks; get
over your fit.
Now; look here, $362,000 tn the treasury.
If it was going to make your town better
off, socially or morally, you could do with
out that money. But you are making con
ditions worse, socially and morally; Just like
every other prohibition city on earth has
done and always will. Because you are try
ing to enforce a law that you don't want to
on force.
Now then, you wipe that out of your
treasury: $360,000 ts 6 percent of 17,000,000.
And suppose that you have to Increase the
"valuation of your property enough to make
up the 1360,000. where is it going to carry
you ?
Or let us take it another way.
Suppose that the merchants of this town;
and let the drys lead off with this, and I
would like to see the Hat in the paper before.
I leave; the merchants of this town would
agree to give fi per cent of the gross re
ceipts from their sales to make up that
deficit? That would take $7,000,000 worth
of business.
Where are you golag to get It? Where
Is It coming from?
Suppose that thla city, or this state rather
adopts the Idiotic Idea that Kansas haa and
that Iowa has. do you suppose that these
men who now come here with their' cattle
and their shipments and bring their families
to spend- a. vacation time; do you tuppost
they will stop here?
That beautiful new hotel that yotf have
got standing over yonder; a credit to any
city In America, anywhere, that new hotel
would not be worth 40 cents on the dollar.
You say you don't want saloons. Don't
you? '
Well, when you take your wtfe and start
from here to New York to do your buying,
and take her along for a little vacation trip,
where do you and ahe fignre on going? To
the ten cent stores and the cafeterias? Do
you take her around and show her the feed
yourself restaurants; nickel in the slot?
Oh, no.
You say, "Honey I have got $600 In my
hip pocket and we are going to have a good
time tn New York. We are going to Rector's,
and we are going to Cavanaugh's, and we
will go from there up to the Astoria, and we
will g0( down to the theater'; but you don't
say anything about going over to hear a
prohibition sermon .(Laughter.)
And the people of the United States carry
$2,600,000 a day Into New York City, just to
have a good time. ,.,
Now, what do you do from Omaha to New
York when you take $500 or $1,000 when
you go theejto do your purchaslng;'thous
ands of men all over this section of the
west do when they come to Omaha.
And they bring their families.
But do you suppose a man who can af
ford that will come here, when he comes Into
the Fontenelle, or any of these other hotels,
and finds out that If he wants a stein of
beer, or a glass of beer for his wife or .
himself, he has got to get from the bellhop
and sneak It up the back way?
Do you know that more than 60 per cent
of the money that goes over the bars In '
your town cornea from the outside? It la
velvet.
And the fellow who comes to buy beer Is
generally a pretty good spender at the store.
The liberal-minded man Is a liberal -handed
man. And no ctty has been built up yet
that had contraction of ths heart and
palms. (Laughter and applause.)
Suppose you should hear that Kansas
City, Mo., was going to close down and no
longer sell beers and-wtnes, wouldn't you'
business men In this town whistle? I
should say you would.
Des Moines and Council Bluffs and these
other places over here have got behind
commercially and it has meant hundreds of
thousands dollars a month to you in trade.
Why. a Ford automobile can be run out
into the road half way between a prohibi
tion town and a licensed town, and even If
It has got a dry deacon at the wheel. It
knows which way to go. ("Applause and
laughter.) And all that your prohibition
town gets from that little Ford Is the odor
of the departing gasoline. (Laughter.)
Now, here you are, a great, big, splendid
city of the west You have some saloon
keepers who should be In the penitentiary
Instead of In Omaha. You may have aome
bankers In the same-class. -will not go
any further In citing other groups. But
there are others. -
Now, why don't you use the law that you
have Instead of destroying all the law?
Now, here Is the other points Is this that
you fellows have not thought about.
You would have to have $7,000 000 Increase
to just balance the books at '6 per cent
and on top of that do you suppose that If
you were to adopt prohibition that these
25,000 men and their families would quit
using these wet goods.
Why, not at ail.
I see these ladles here tonight. Suppose
we were going to prohibit the sale of cor
sets tn this state, would you quit wearing
corsets? Not so aa you could notice it.
(Laughter.) What would you do? Ood
bless your hearts, you would do the sensible
think. You would get your mall order
catalogue, or your Modern PrtsclUa, or your
Ladles' Home Journal nd find the style
and shape you wanted, and send a $10 bill
in an envelope and buy two and wear them
both at the same time. You would defy
that prohibition and you "would say "You
attend to your own business, will "you?"
You would be right. And It would be th
same "thing with beer.
That is where you ' art misled In this
thing.
Now, then, the things that would occur
would be three:
One would be your druggist trade; under
this medicinal the Peruna drinkers, and the
Hostetter drinkers and the Lydla Plnkham's,
and the group, would get their's just the
same. (Laughter.)
' There would be a great many alcoholics
added to that class.
But keep ' tn good humor. If you sre
drinking Peruna and your husband Is drink
ing beer, you have got him skinned to
death. (Laughter.)
You don't like that Nobody itket Peruna.
But you ust H and get the habit.
Now then, you will have the men storing
It here for medicinal, mechanical, scientific
and sacramental purposes; and under the
constitution they can keep It for these four
purposes.
There Is not one word there which says
you cannot give tt away. That Is not pro
hlbited. Not a thing about It
I don't know what that waa unless some
of the drys were afraid they could not get
a free drink. (Laughter.)
Now, then; that money which Is now
spent In Omaha, by the people who eome
here from the outside, would not come here
that Is lost on your outside business. In the
second place, the money that is spent here
by these people would be sent away
You spend $1 In Omaha, and whatever Is
left after you pay the wholesale price of th
goods, the remainder of it goes to others;
as soon as the saloonkeeper geta It he gives
it to the grocer and the baker and the
butcher and th candlestick maker; and so
It goes.
Some of these dry people would make you
think that when a saloonkeeper got a ntcksl
he swallowed It (Laughter.) The saloon,
keepers are the best spenders in your tlty
according to their Income.
And the brewers of Omaha, and ths liquor
men of Omaha, put up mora money for pub
lic charity than any other group of men in
Omaha.
I want to say,1 Mr. Churchman, before vnn
say one more word in deunclatlon t these
men and call their money blood money, you
give back what they gave to youf
Now, then; this money goes out of the
city and goes away. You spend a dollar In
wmiai ana you win see it in a few daye
coming around again; but you send Inoo
Chicago! and wait till you see It and you
will make Methuselah look like h aa
young. ( Laughter.
You are preparing to send stream of
trade out from your city; a stream of
pleasure-seekera. a stream, of money, and
to fnvlte in their place secret drlnklnsr nlapM
and centers where men and women may
liimr imunu mv ai iu n iam law.
You are preparing. In th second place,
te pauperise your treasury; to force an in.
crease In the officers of th law and to
oring aoout a moral oreaadowa In vour
eommunlty and your state.
Think It over, book tt en u are in th
eye. Use your sober, best judgment. And if
you do we have no fear on the results. I
thank you. -
X