The Gavelyte, February 1912

CEDAJ, \ l LLL U)LLI l,l: As we think of the moral condition of our land, we are sometimes prone to think that the force of evil arc' sure to triumph and that this nation will follow in the path of those old e r nation , which becaus e of their moral and social degradation were allowed to go down in ruin and which today are re– membered as a cause of laughter. However, it has been aid, and truly, that if a violator of th@ law i given a chance he will weave the rope with which to hang himseH. For t11e pa t three quarters of a century, the moral force of this land have been striving by every means, to rid this nation of the awful curse of mtemperance. i\len have written anc! poken against it, while that valiant band o( women know asthe "white ribboners" have pleaded and prayed that it might be overthrown, and all the while the saloon intere ts have prospered. But like a pampered child, it has not known what wa be t for its own interest, and thinking that by such action the bu iness could be extended into nominally dry territory, the brewers have a ked and received another "Dred Scott" deci ion and they think they have gained a victory, but, as it was not until our fathers, back in the sixtie , had een the ground which mu t be taken by the courts on the question of la very, that they rose in all their power and dealt it a decisive blow. So r,ow we predict that this decision, which has come at the request of the brewers is only the beginning of the end of this damnable traffic that has brought so much sorrow and misery and crime upun ma11kind.