College of Diplomacy

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Of Freedom. "In its attempted forcible interference with the food and drink and, medicine of the people, it is a form of oppression to which a free people will never submit in silence. No liberal can possibly defend it. . . ."

Of Insincerity. "A voluble and sarcastic advocate of strict enforcement of the Prohibitory law himself joins in a toast, drunk with intoxicating liquor, which he, offers with these words: 'Prohibition: It is good for the other,bellow!' Whenever you hear a publics officer or a candidate for elective office cry out with particular unction for law enforcement tap him on the hip. . . "

Of Clergymen. "What can one say of those so-called ministers of the Gospel of Christ God save the mark! who pass resolutions of confidence in a convicted criminal, tender him a substantial gift of money wrung from their deluded dupes, and roll their eyes to Heaven giving thanks that they are not as other men. In what respect do they differ from those hysterical and unbalanced women who shower convicted murderers with flowers and sweetmeats? How dare they stand in a pulpit called Christian and preach the gospel of Christ himself?"

Of Morality. "Now, however a distinct and burning moral issue has been raised by the results of the prohibition policy. That issue is whether the American people will have the intelligence, the courage and the persistent strength to strike from their Constitution and their statute book the hateful cause of all this demoralization, and, following the well-tested experience of their neighbors in Canada, to adopt a rational, a moral and a practical method of abolishing the saloon, of regulating and restricting the liquor traffic, of removing the chief cause of lawlessness among us, and of greatly promoting the cause of temperance and good morals both public and private."

Of Himself. '"My own feeling toward Prohibition is exactly the feeling which my parents and my grandparents had toward Slavery. I look upon the Volstead Act precisely as they looked upon the Fugitive Slave Law. Like Abraham Lincoln I shall obey these laws so long as they remain upon the statute book; but, like Abraham Lincoln, I shall not rest until they are repealed. The issue is one of 'plain simple unadorned morality."

The speech was made at a dinner of, the Missouri Society of New York. The President of Columbia was followed by the, 'President of the University of Missouri (located at Columbia, Mo.) who said: "I disagree with nearly every single sentence!"

Next day, the Anti-Saloon League issued Quotations from many other Presidents favoring Prohibition. The words of Dr. Eliot, dearly beloved, were thrown into the breach.

^{* President of Columbia University, New York City known , by
his disparagers as " Nicholas Miraculous Butler."}