A Letter to
, r i '
liear Sir: Two ynn have nearly pataed since the l-ocal Option t.aw has
gone InUi offset In your county. It wti held by thoae rjMnill for ths art
becoming- a law that the sale of liquor would be absolutely prohibited unci that
tha county would be gre-tly benefited thereby. However, what have been the
actual reaulUT
Flrat, tha licensed saloon has been put out of buaineaa, and thil one thing
la all that prohibitum has (one. Tha extremists no doubt will aay that la doing
a great deal, llut la It? In tha place of tha licensed saloon of yesterday you
have easily double tha number of "blind pigs," 'boot-leggera." etc., In IU place.
Second. That drunkenness haa vaatly increaaed ia admitted by all peraona
who have fairly Investlg-led the conditions. Minora who never would have
secured liquor from a well-conducted aaloon are now frequently aeen drunk;
tha whinky bottle or flaak, formerly aeen only on the back bar of the aaloon, ia
How seldom missing from tha pocketa of hundreds of citiaena; from tha secret
cupboarda of moat of tha atorea and offices, and from tha aideboarde of many
homes. Many persons who seldom imbibed liquor befora tha county went dry
re now constant drinkers. It is the old story of tha appla in tha Garden of
Eden over again.
Third. In their attempts to enforca Prohibition a thing never yet ac
complished In any plsca in this country neighborhood strifa and quarrels havt
disturbed communities and engendered feuds and bad blood in general Tha
community has been put to great expense on account of useless litigation.
Taxation has been greutly Increased on account of this litigation, and ths loss
' of revenue formerly paid by the licensed saloon. Tens of thousands of dollars
are sent out of the country, which sums formerly wera paid to local concerns.
Fourth. The moral atmosphere of every community has been lowered.
Prohibition breeds a disrespect for all laws and fosters hypocrisy and insincer
ity. All sumptuary laws are tyrannical, and, being repulaive to all men of well
balanced minds, causes them to rebel and consequently to violate them. Every
sane liberty-loving person believes, and truly so, that he has a perfect right to
eat and drink that which his judgment dictates as long as he does not infringe
upon the rights of others.
Fifth. Inasmuch as the doing away of the saloon doee not stop drinking,
because the people will get liquor in aecret, a vastly Increasing quantity of
impure spirits and drugs is consumed. A class of liquor which no licensed
well-regulated saloon could afford to sell and hold its patrons is now consumed
through the agency of blind pigs, drug stores, boot-leggera, and through the
mall order channels of trade. The sale of milder beverages is practically wiped
out, on account of the bulky make-up of the original package, which draws too
much attention and is easily detected; whisky takes the place of beer, and
because of this, drunkenness and alcoholism naturally increases.
Sixth. The brewing business and hop and barley industries of Oregon pay
annually many millions of dollara fee labor and supplies. Prohibition means
the absolute destruction of these vast industries. It destroys millions of dollars
Invested In the same and robs thousands of industrious men. women and
children of a means of earning a livelihood. And while all this is done in the
name of temperance the actual result is that wherever formerly beer was the
popular beverages, whisky and the more ardent spirits take its place.
Much more could be said showing that your county has not improved con
ditions by adopting Prohibition. In all fairness we put this question up to you:
Would it not be much better for a city or town to adopt a reasonably strict
license law? A law providing that only respectable and responsible men could
engage in the business; for forfeiture of license upon violation of the statute,
and also limitation as to the number of saloons. The disreputable saloon and
ilive only continued to exist because the proper authorities failed to do their
duty in not enforcing the law. Eliminate politics from the saloon business and
protect the business from the unscrupulous politician. A law-abidm saloon
keeper requires no more political protection than a law abiding person in any
other business. , .
The brewers of Oregon will do all in their power to bring about a more
wholesome condition relative to saloons. They have agreed to not sell any
beer to any saloonman who persists in violating the laws or in any wise running
a disreputable place. They have also agreed not to sell beer to any gon
house" or a like place doing business in precincts that are "wet" yet where the
proper officers have refused to "issue a regular saloon license. In this way
they hope to aid every community in- bringing about the elevation of the
legitimate saloon and raising it to a standard where it will become a i benefit
to such a community instead of a menace, which latter we admit has been the
case in many instances in the past. .... .
Believing that you will agree with us that a well regulated saloon, paying
a reasonable revenue towards the support of a community, is far more prefer
able than the present condition of affairs, and in pledging you our hearty sup
port in behalf of the re-establishing of the saloons on a more wholesome and
elevating basis, we ask your aid towards bringing this about by voting against
Prohibition on June 1st. Yours truly,
Pronation SALEM BREWERY ASSOCIATION,
F, G. Deckebach, Vice President.
PROHIBITION A FAILURE.
Eugene, Or., May 12, 1908.
Editor Albany Herald: Your paper
is read in Lane county by quite a num
ber of people. We are always glad
to get it. It has tne rigm rin
This is a fine county but it is hav
ing a set-back that may prove serious.
We have been on the boom ud here
nd could speak of the morals of the
county while telling of its fertility, but
for the past two years we cannot boast
juite so much. Blind pigs, t is Baid,
are all over the county and it has
proven useless to try to stop them.
Close one out and two comes in its
place. Mr. McFadden, of Corvallis,
Is said to be a terror on blind pigs,:
but he does not seem able to stop them
in Lane county. You know his dis
trict includes Lane as well as Benton.
To hear him talk you would suppose
he has killed every blind pig m forty
miles 6f Corvallis, but when I was in
hi. town a few weeks ago I saw men
itaireering on the streets and was told
drSnnfss was more frequent, now
than when Corvallis was wet.
There are eleven federal licenses
given to druggists in Lane OTJty j
the government reports f if tv-three
license given in the county. That
makes forty-two blind pig licenses in
Se county: What .do. you think .of
that' Some prosecuting officers are
riven to Wowing about what they can
and are doing toward shutting up
, blind pies but they are talking througfi
their 'hats. It is worse than it J
SnZ'alNow
boy? 'if?.'?!
wlsn mere w "' . j
, i ii j. , imii nreaented.
' traffic DUt vnere 10 ..j r-
,1 was f told by a neighbor who came
from Kansas "that there is more
SS in that sute now t an when
tt was wet. i waa i. j
ioiTnty until my neighbor, whom I had
confidence in, told me about . Kansas
a i fiTn T resolved to pass the local
option numbon6 the Jallot by and
Sot vote either way, for I was so
violently opposed to Intemperance and
iffiSPl wSuld not chance i voting for
UyeaTgor"l made a
water since r " i for
S3 S believed to b' right at the
lime. "Since seeing what I have , of the
; 5tT he Reddy band for a re-
The Voters
QiliU Omrnn Mmv 22. lUOH.
ask, with this record on the liquor
question how I can vote for an open
saloon. I will tell you how. I have a
family of boys who were raised up to
respect religion and follow in the path
of temperance and honesty. To vote
l i U n r T naval AlA nn
ior a saioon is .""&
and it wounds me to do so now, but or
the two great evils I must choose the
lesser. I find secret drinking is worse
than open drinking ana i win vow ior
ii 1 tha LnrA will for-
IfltJ UMCU iuv. . - -
give me for not taking the advice of
my Kansas friend who had experience
. l r l . ! 1.1, ...1
in a state wnere pronioiuou wu umm
purs were the written and, unwritten
l".- t .:il mlut T nnw believe 18
laws i win u - - " -
my Christian duty on the first day of
next June ana voie - v-
tion and bling pig aeaaiaus. '.
THE MASICTORN OFF.
Salaried "Officials" of the Anti-Saloon
League iet me iM
' the Bag.
n l-i ITL. XT U . TllO Poif -T. R .
Knodell, of Portland, one of the many
1.-: I KninnnnlanitOTlls" OI the
Anti-Saloon League, stated the other
day that tne local opuun bkm;
Ki .niimimirv Rkirmisnes.
year weiu umj pv-.".;--j
He said that the real idea was to ob
tain prohibition lor tne enure ww
Oregon in 1910, two years from now.
That lets tne cat uui m "'""-
The people were assurea ioui
airo that tne local option w
merely lnieiiueu w jv - - -districts
against the encroachment of
the saioon. ' . . j
Wo on not nrohibitionists, cried
the supporters of the bill. "We are
,-;,t. " Tn those who
claimed that the local option law was
merely prohibition in disguise, its
supporters presented an unbroken
front When taxed with the fact that
tneir ia a --y 7'
oo in lonoh the nub he
law was .o h ,
would not bother itself by making a
more careiui iiraw6; ,
When they were confronted with tne
fact that states and communities
which adopted prohibition pew poor
tney weic onv" r L i , i
States census proved that only three
states in the Union had ever decreased
in population, and that two of them
,1 whihiHnn states, they said "Do
not worry. This is only a local ootion
law. We are not in iavor oi promm.
' When this same crowd of salaried
aeitators was asked if taxes were not
11.. l:.u.. ;n nrnViihition com-
munit.es thai in cummutilUta whirh
iianii.fd the lujuwr buinr o'ulcr l)
lireiiMi vlem, lhy sr quick to an
awer, "it ia not n, but even If It
were, it does not mutter, for this i
local option, nt pfuliiliitiuft."
And now the cat It out of the bur.
TSuy ara r.:.t tscil rpt:Tr:rt. Thry
me prthiliiU'iiita afier all. Ths op
ponenta of the hcl option law were
right. It really was prohibition in dis
guise. And the aihrme of th amart
attorney , lerturers and oratora, who
make a fat living out of this nruhlbi
tion agitation l unite plain. Ihe
scheme is to start in nuietlyi to hold
elmrtiims in preclncU in which there
ar no aaloons, never were any alKna,
and prlably never would b anv sa
Uona. Buch orecinrts being frisrhlened
with ths absurd question, "Ixi you
want a aaloon next your home?" were
easily put in ths dry column. Then by
adding each year to the dry territory
acquired in thla way, they have finally
reached that state of arroganrt in
which they have thrown aside tne
maxk and boldly duels red for state
prohibition two years f nm now. Vot
ers have been fooled with this kind of
fraudulent election long enough.
Prohibition aceompliahe nothing for
real temperance or for morality, llank
nmirv !. fulluw Drohitiition and the
United States census report prove this
beyond a doubt. Here anil there a
nmliihitinn orator mav find a prohibi
tion town or small community which
haa been fairlv nroapcrous even in
spite of prohibition, there are excep
tions to all rules, but government fig-
urea, which do not lie, prove that pro
hibition is not only a mark of a stsg
nant community, but is a blight to a
prosperous one.
I'n.hihitinn in Ore ton would cause
25(H) buildings to become vacant and
would throw out or employment wow
men and deprive 40'K) fumilies of their
livelihood. Where is the prosperitv in
thst?
Remember, a vote for local option
now is a vote for prohibition in 1910.
NONSENSICAL PREACHING.
The following dispatch is taken
from the daily press:
"Oregon City, April 28.-Rev. John
M I in. Ion nailnr nf the First Baptist
church, has instituted a vigorous cru
sade against the members of his
church picking hops, stating that it is
- . I t: - I . I m In
encouraging me mjuor imicicti ,
u.rmnn Sumlav niirht. before a crowd-
.k,..n k. .ui.l- 'It renuires a
quickened conscience to crysUllire ac
tion against hop picmng, wnicn is pan
of the process of beer-making. No
follower of Christ, whose body is the
imnia nf h livinc Cml. oUL'ht to be
engiiued in helping along the brewery
business, especially wnen ne is urKeu
bv Scrinture to avoid even the appear
ance of evil.' "
The above represents what appears
rt na an pvtrpmA OI fanatic seal that
;a i.nwnwhv nf i-niintpnanre. Anv arg
ument that can be brought against the
raising or the harvesting or tne noo
crop from a temperance standpoint is
doubly applicable to corn, wheat, rye,
potatoes, and fruit of all kinds, from
which is drawn in large quantities the
active principle of all intoxicating bev
erages aiconoi, -.
The hop contains no aiconoi, nur
r -.r,ul,lo nf nmHnrinir anv. It is only
an ingredient in the fermentation pro
cess by which the malt formed from
Train is set to work and transformed
, 1 TL ltat hAQtfll thp
inCO Utri . 1 II C WWW ..ww
.at, in th hrewerv or distillery is as
m,.nk tn Klnma fnr the intoxicatine
character of the product as the hop is
and the mechanic who makes the ket
tles is as much subject to criticism as
the man or woman who picks the hops
from the vines. '
It is such preaching as tne aooye
that brings temperance work into dis
ant iimt a it is the selfish, un-
icopw J " " - " -- - - - ,
reasoning action of the saloon men that
jroes far to manufacture promoiuon
sentiment, ine preacner wnu
: k allnw a srrpnt agricultural
HQ ivu'u " o .
product to remain unharvested and
wno wouiu oeny tne men, wmini
children of a hop raising district the
fw ffollara for their
wi'iter necessities is unworthy to be
clsssed as a sale, reasonaoie cinzeo.
Harney County News.
A WORD WITH THE DEMOCRAT
MAN.
The Albany Democrat man shows
A- intnlnranfc enirit in Tfif ftFrinfif
to this paper as a whisky paper.
He is a Prohibitionist, and the ed
itor of this paper believes in real local
option and license regulation of the
liquor traffic. . .
We Delieve wun Vyaruinw yiuuvuo,
4-l. 1s 1 f IMl an A nrnhihitinn maV
tiiaw wjwvh f - '
be a success for the smaller towns and
country neighborhoods, dui tnat tne
problem in the cities is one of regula
tor believing that we are classed
by the Albany Democrat man as a
whisky booster; because we will not
masquerade as a Prohibitionist by
supporting a miscnievoua iot m
law, we are all bad.
Only a man of intellectual calibre
so small that he would pass through
the eye of a needle without touching
the sides of the hole can take such an
attitude. ,
Has the Democrat man any p
that Albany is any better morally as
a nrv town than it was when it had
saloons? ' , ,
Will he join us in saying that alco
hol has no merit whatever for medi-
i Nn hwause the local
irinufc iy t. i ('"uvi - -
iAnr , a Kfii rrcnrA TYinnnnnlV for
UUL1UM tck " I v
1 i : i t va.nor
proiessionai nypocnien w w..
. i x I, .nl.iM.a man
but has he enough faith in God to cut
...i. .i.:Mi-.1nf0 whan Via TAtR stick ?
OUt BUlUUioima w e . " .
Does he nave enough xaiui ui
Bible to rely on us promises or
he rely on drugs and patent medicines?
we nave lar mun icopovv
man who drinks or smokes and is not
i .knni it tnnn w0 Vidva for
the Pharisaical holier-than-thou mdi-
i-fi L . nl.,ii4 rnllin n hut
viouai, wnv Ms wr a
neighbor down.
This world is big enough for people
to live in if they do not all agree as to
ways and means of reforming men.
Salem Capital Journal. ;
For the year 1907 the poultry prod
ucts of the country exceeded in value
the whole of the hay crop.
It Is the Mr ft bat. hd chi k that
nuke tl N.feiiitr layers, which are
the n,o ( run Is to ueuilr ut tit
UoU Cnk.
A liautb ak4a fanner rceatly
liit Is siipituMHl ! t we of lb
larst !""- in iti world. The an
imal in question a inn da elgtity-oue
luthea hlxli and wtiM -early J,HW
pi mi ml ,
For the ouug lf who not
know bow to cook, but s willing to
team. Ibere la iod trouud for boj
;uat b will Uo better, but for the one
a ho neither knows uur rarea and. add-
mt to this, la tllly alllnliol and In-
dlfft-reut the buabaiul Baa Juat &oaaA
for com pi a I tit.
According to receutly puUUtmi Br
urea. lard Is the most valuable alnifle
parkins Iiouimi produi-t erted from
the I'nltrd Htatea. It Is rveu n"r vsl
uahla thao the cattle t porta and goes
to a arrester numler of markets In lar
ger quauUtlea than doottWr uwat pctMi
ucts. vmm iin.tiiiiliiMitlr haa a nlaco as a
subdurr of newly broken Bolls, but tai
a rnr when uwnI anywhere eliw. In i
European coiintrlea, where this plant la
ralaed year after year ami primarily
fr Its nher an Intensive srsteiu vt ir
rlcultore Is followed. toKether silk a
beary fertilising of the boh.
It Is a fair prtaltloii tbat If Jeha
nxjrta Mary to be Juat sa u-at. tidy
and wUiaonie after marrlsKe as le-
for he himself should llkewlso ue as
attentive, courteous sud generous a
hualiand as be waa a lover. Tbrr are
mnnv hiMhanda and wives who full '
down In the particulars. Where these
directions sre followed ty docb iian-
ners there Is quite likely to- oe a a-ppy
home.
A simple system of crop' rotation that
Is generally recommended sna mar
not onlv tends to conMrve th fertili
ty of the soli, but result In roaxf-
mum destruction of weeds, consists or
coru two years, oals one- and r lover
one. Coupled witn me ihiuhh men-
tloned. the clover. In ad.tUion to being
a aoll renovator. IniimrCs a pftyslcsl
texture that makes It possible to put It
In the beat possible condJDoa lar
reeding crops of whatever slim
Crockery, Flour, Feed and Hay.
Hop Supplies of All Kinds.
Gloves, Hats, Crates and Tinware
Cash Paid for Eggs.
See or phone me before you sell your
Mohair or Wool.
Everything that I have is the best and
the best is the cheapest.
MONMOUTH
A GOOD WEIiii OF WATER
la Indlapeiiaable tn every farm. We have hat
splendid u.- in ublaltiing atr la all uur
Ur lug u(Hraoiua.
We are prrtarel U do water and oil well drill
lug and all kind of proapectiog.
ShOPER BROTHERS
Telephone 4Ws2
Dealers in
Hardware, Stoves and Ranges
Harness, Implements, Vehicles,
John Deere Buggies, Moline Wag
ons, Deering and Champion Bind
ers, Morwers and Rakes, Paints,
Oils and Varnish, Iowa Cream Sep
arators. Ifienmo'A, Oregon
I!
- - - f
GROCERIES
AND
PROVISIONS
f 1 ,i
INDEPENDKKCE, Oil.
OREGON
generauy r-