The Pioneer Argument Against Prohibition

Mr. Chenoweth moved to strike out all except that portion that provides for taking the sense of the voters on the subject of prohibiting the sale of liquor. He said the object sought by that bill was a good one, as it aims at checking intemperance. While no two men could possibly differ as to the overwhelming desolation following in the footsteps of this giant destroyer, yet men might be permitted to differ as to the best mode for the evil. I have no confidence in these compulsory forms; they but make hypocrites of them. If you convince a man and lead him to act right from high and sacred grounds of duty, you throw around that man stronger than iron, and bolts, or prison bars; you take hold of his conscience, convince his understanding, and transformed him from the manacled position of a slave to the honorable position of an intelligent, moral being, acting from pure, high principles. If you want to witness the terror of the storm, the bursting of volcanic fire, just pass a law to prohibit marriage, and all intercourse of the sexes, and you instantly clothe our Pacific land in one terrible flame.