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Tim BEE: OMAHA, TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 1920.
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A legislative act passed without an emphatic mandate from the people is a
' subversion of the .theory of popular government.
, And, when a well grounded belief grips the public mind that such legisla
tion is the will of an intolerant minority, the law becomes all the more odious
and oppressive. It makes for turmoil, resentment and discontent. . It opens the
door to the agitator and the radical. It undermines normality arid keeps our
whole social fabric in a state of uncertainty and foreboding. Not only is it an
organic wrong, but in a very definite sense an economic blunder. It makes agi
tators and radicals of men otherwise orderly and submissive.
Millions of dollars must be spent to uphold it and an army of thousands
, maintained to enforce it. Taxes accordingly go up, courts are clogged and re
spect for law and order strained to the breaking point. - ,
The present, prohibition enactment is a case in point. The majority of the
American people stoutly maintain that prohibition, as we have it, is not an ex
pression of their will. They believe its accomplishment was brought about by
artifice and deceit, by intimidation, by a highly organized, highly paid body of
professional lobbyists. '
Prohibition remains, therefore, a;vexed question and looms as the most
crucial issue" before the nation.
In reviewing the methods that brought it about, pertinent questions present
themselves.' The public, we believe, is entitled to an answer.
Was the fight for prohibition fairly won, and the tactics used to encom
pass it honorable or dishonorable?
; Did every man entitled to a vote have a chance to register his conviction
before it became" a law?
Were there, in the stress of national crisis, men so occupied at home that no
opportunity to weigh it was given, and to millions abroad no opportunity to vote
on it? - .
Was the mad haste of the "reformers" to engraft , it on the Constitution a
precautionary food measure or a premeditated conspiracy to disfranchise mil
lions of soldiers serving in France?
Did prudence and fair play dictate that action be postponed till the sol
diers returned?
How many millions were raised and spent to accomplish it, and who got
the money?
Were members of legislatures intimidated by professional lobbyists, and
who are they?
Will the anti-saloon league agree to a Congressional investigation and open
its books to public scrutiny ?
All this the people want to know, for they feel they have been imposed
upon and tricked. They recall that promises made have been shamelessly be
trayed; that their homes are no longer immune from invasion; that search and
seizure tyranny obtains; that if life depends on an ounce or two of liquor, and
you obtain it, you are violating the law, and so is the reputable physician who
prescribed it or suggested it. You must not raise a finger to save the dying. The
prohibition fanatic is judge and executioner. His will be done-o let them die.
N Humanity and tolerance are not mentioned in the prohibition code.
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i IS A NATIONAL WEEKLY, sponsored by many of the most thoughtful, substantial men
in the Middle West men, too, of mixed political beliefs but solidly of one mind that the
paramount issue of the hour is the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment and the protection of
the individual liberty of the citizen. "
I PUBLIC SENTIMENT is a magazine that every red-blooded man and woman will want
on their reading table during the stirring months ahead. ( , .
Thoughts and acts which stir the nation will be chronicled in its pages. For it will carry
to its readers a weekly message of some of America's best mentality, on the problems of the
day.
Gifted writers whose principles accord with the policy of the paper will contribute of their
best to a cause worthy of their brains and labor.
All pubjecis wrhich concern the political, economic and moral welfare of the country will
receive adequate, able review. 1
You are going to hear a lot in the immediate future, not only of this prohibition nightmare,
but of taxation, treaties, the labor situation, railroad administration, profiteering, housing and
other prohjems that perplex the earnest student of gavernment
All these wilL call for serious discussion in their turn.
You will know through our Washington correspondent what Congress is doing. H,e will tell
you of its battles and its worries the men who occupy the public eye in short, all the impor
tant characters in the political drama will pass before you in a weekly review at once timely
and happy. ' ' '
Events and incidents in New York, the world's largest city and the nation's most forceful
fomenter of thought, will also be chronicled weekly.
Our correspondent there is perhaps one of the shrewdest, cleverest political writers in the
field. His stories will arrest attention, for he knows his town, the big men in it its high ways
and byways. He is intimately familiar with all its pulsating problems and he tells of them m
a way that fascinates and holds that makes you feel you are an interested onlooker.
Fur is going to fly in the coming campaign of that you may be certain and PUBLIC
SENTIMENT will be round well abreast of the times in reporting its progress and battling for
the principles here announced. (
Independent in politics, PUBLIC SENTIMENT will support in state and nation the manv
or woman, republican or democrat, who courageously stands up for a return of the individual
prerogatives which the Eighteenth Amendment now denies us.
In the Eastern states the dry enthusiasts are now at work tabulating candidates for office,
circularizing voters, employing the same tricks and threats which have always hiarked their
dubious campaigns. . '
PUBLIC SENTIMENT will watch their antics closely for the next eight months. The
plague may spread the treatment may be drastic.
You will want to read about it from week to week, for every line on every page will be
engaging.
PUBLIC SENTIMENT knows the ways and plays of present-day reform quacks and is
convinced that only rugged blows backed by proof and sound conviction can bring them to
their knees. It is going to strike hard and strike often. There will be no play of nicely rounded
phrases in its attack. It will hit from the shoulder, but will never hit low
But beyond all else, PUBLIC SENTIMENT will dedicate its efforts to arousing the people
from the indifference and supi,neness which enabled a noisy minority to embody in the consti
tution an amendment they did not want and that many did not understand.
To show them by honest presentation of the facts that "Reformers" are encroaching more
and more on their constitutional rights And to stimulate them to action in combatting that
danger is our purpose our mission.
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Support This Fight for Individual Liberty
'
A newspaper to be ajreal effective power in championing a cause must
have circulation. '
It must go into many hands and many homes to tell the story of its mission
to tell it fearlessly,) convincingly, truthfully. ' ;
You who believe the time bas come to call a halt to stop this wave 'of
blind' fanaticism must come forward with every ounce of help that you can
lend. Your individual subscription will help and will be appreciated, but don't
stop there. Go out and get others to do likewise, for every man in sympathy
with the cause we plead knows others of the same shade of opinion, and to get
these others on the subscription list is, after all, the kind of support that encour
ages and approves. , ,
Opposed to us is a pitiless political organization of professional "reform
ers" with funds unlimited, and willing to stoop to any device, to any strategy, to
any cunning to keep in the saddle. That we have them headed for a fall is our
confident belief, but we must pull long, pull strong and pull together, for this is
presidential year and the stealthy prohib ition bully is already in the open bran
dishing his club over the heads of spineless politicians; threatening destruction
to all who refuse his bidding. V 1
, Here and there able and fearless public men are demanding that this ter
rorism stop; voicing indignant protest at the spectacle of a free people recently
invited $o become a nation of sneak informers. A year or so ago when stam
. peded legislatures surrendered to their thunder, do you remember with what fe
rocity the "Reformers" next attacked the theater, other amusements as well, and
tobacco most of all? They sulked away from this for the time being when they
sensed a surging resentment at this new attempt to prescribe rules of daily con
duct for the people as ruthless and as brutal as the old Connecticut Blue Laws.
BUT
Make no mistake about it, they have tobacco slated for banishment and a
monstrous amusement censorship under way just as soon as they see we sheep
ishly submit to what they have already handed us.
Prohibition js now the law of the land and as good Americans we must and
will obey it, but this fight for the individual liberty of the citizen must continue
night and day continue with gathering courage and grim resolve if this na
tion is to escape the horrors of a "reform" inquisition.
Favor Us With Your Subscription Today!
'
PUBLIC SENTIMENT PUBLISHING CO, INC, PUBLISHERS.
Patterson Block - - - Omaha, Nebraska
Subscription Rates One year, $5.00; six months, $3,00.
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