OCTOBKR 15, 1914 



823 



sistent, they would have to rule out these 

 obnoxious advertisements, and they certain- 

 ly must be obnoxious to all good people 

 who read the Plain Dealer. Not very long 

 ago one full page of that great daily was 

 given to advertising intoxicating liquors. 

 Another sad fact comes out right here. 

 There is no other daily paper published in 

 the city of Cleveland — at least no promi- 

 nent daily paper — tliat is any better in this 

 respect than the Plain Dealer. 



An agent for one of the dailies assured 

 me some time ago that their paper would 

 rule out all liquor advertisem^jnts. I gave 

 him my subscription ; but the first issue 

 received proved his mistake. 



I believe it was the present Governor of 

 Ohio who inaugurated the license scheme. 

 In fact, this is his pet hobby ; and as a loyal 

 citizen I try to treat with reverence and 

 respect the office of the Governor of our 

 great State. When I saw thai it seemed 

 to be his peculiar hobby I tried to give him 

 credit for being honest in it ; yet I think 

 he will soon see his mistake if he has not 

 done so already. 



On page 787 of our last issue, already 

 referred to, I asked if the different States 

 that have been dry for years w^^re suffering 

 for lack of revenue ; and I think almost 

 every -wideawake citizen knows wiithout 

 telling that there is no such lack. The 

 beautiful texts I have given you at the head 

 of this talk have been corroborated, and 

 are being corroborated again and again. 

 The dry States have towns and cleaner 

 towns, surely better roads, better schools 

 and churches, and they are fast getting 

 better and cleaner factories. As most of 

 them are new States the factories have not, 

 at least to a great extent, got well started 

 as yet. But the agricultural communities 

 are certainly away ahead in every thing 

 pertaining to scientific and successful agri- 

 culture. 



Not very long ago there was an item in 

 the Plain Dealer to the effect 'hat a certain 

 town (I think it was in Ohio) was in "total 

 darkness" because they had banished sa- 

 loons. You see the revenue from the sa- 

 loon-keepers had helped them to run their 

 electric-light plant ; and this plant was shut 

 down on account of a lack of funds. There 

 was neither comment nor suggestion that 

 the town that had nerve enough to rule 

 out saloons would very soon scrape up 

 revenue enough to run the electic-light 

 plant if nothing more. But even if tliey 

 did not, the darkest midnight is a thousand 

 times better than the glaring .'ights of the 

 saloon and brothel. On page 779 of our last 

 issue I spoke of an intemperate neighbor 



who turned his v/ife and family out of 

 dooi's during a winter night. As we had 

 open saloons in our town at that time, I 

 soon found this poor man in the jail with 

 lialf a dozen others of like habits. I in- 

 duced them to sign the pledge except my 

 neighbor Mr. Hammer. After they all got 

 out, through the inducement of the saloon- 

 keepers all or nearly all broke their pledges 

 almost immediately. About this time I met 

 my neighbor on the street, and he called 

 my attention to the fact that those who had 

 .signed the pledge had already broken it. 

 Then he said something like this : " Mr. 

 Root, under the circumstances don't you 

 think it was better for me to refuse to sign 

 that pledge? These men have broken their 

 promise already. I have not broken mine, 

 because I did not 7naJie any promise." 



I mentioned this matter to the Rev. C J. 

 Ryder, who was then pastor of our Medina 

 church. He said something like this: 



" As you state it, Mr. Root, your neigh- 

 bor, Mr. Hammer, wanted the privilege of 

 (jetting drunk mth a clear conscience." 

 And it strikes me, dear friends, that the 

 people who vote wet have got the mistaken 

 idea in their heads that, by so doing, they 

 can, in the future, " get drunk as often as 

 they please, with a clear conscience." God 

 forbid ! 



One more argument has been brought u]). 

 A well-to-do business man of our town said 

 he could not vote for State-wide prohibi- 

 tion because he did not believe it was right 

 to allow one town or one locality to lay 

 down a rule of conduct for another town 

 or another locality. Now, th'.i looks very 

 plausible ; and if the tax-payers of the 

 whole State of Ohio were not obliged to 

 support our jails, penitentiaries, asylums, 

 and infirmaries, there might be some con- 

 sistency in it. 



Once more, I told you on page 787, last 

 issue, how our county of Medina, that has 

 been dry for over twenty years, is cursed 

 by a saloon only seven miles away from 

 where I sit writing, just over the line in 

 the adjoining county of Lora'n. Have we 

 here in Medina Co. no right to protest 

 against this saloon, so near, that is doing 

 a land-office business day and night, Sun- 

 days included? A big fight is going on, 1 

 think, all over our State ; but I am glad to 

 say it is a good-natured and friendly fight. 

 I wish I could say it is a fair and honest 

 fight on all sides. 



Over in Summit Co., that adjoins us on 

 the east, there is a bright little woman 

 whose name has been getting into the 

 lia])ers of late. Some time ago a brewery 

 in that county painted an advertisement of 



