DEMOCRATIC SLANDERS OF HONORABLE MEN.
I want to add, too, that in my judgment, the assertions sometimes made, that the drug stores of Kansas have all been transformed into saloons, are absolutely false. I am acquainted with many of the druggists of this State, and know them to be honorable, law-respecting, conscientious citizens, who would not only scorn to do an illegal act for pecuniary profit, but who are far above and beyond the meanness of selling liquors as a beverage. There is no class of business men in the State who stand higher in the esteem and respect of all good citizens than do our druggists, and the attempt on the part of the Democratic party and its allies to degrade their business to the low level of the saloons, and to blacken and stain their reputation as honorable and law-respecting citizens, is unspeakably outrageous. It is true, no doubt, that there are men engaged in the drug business who disgrace it by violating the Constitution and laws, and who, for pecuniary profit, sell liquors for other than the excepted purposes of the Constitution. But these men are the exception, and not the rule, among the druggists of Kansas, and sooner or later the law will reach and punish them, and drive them out of the business they degrade. Those, however, who place druggists generally in this class, are either stupid or malicious slanderers of men who, as a class, are honorable citizens, engaged in a reputable and legitimate business. The sale of liquor for certain purposes is expressly authorized by the Constitution and the laws, and sales for these purposes are far larger than most people suppose. Alcohol is sold for hundreds of mechanical and scientific uses, strictly within the permission of the Constitution, and all varieties of intoxicating liquors are prescribed by learned and reputable physicians, for medical use. The sales for these legitimate and lawful uses constitute, I have no doubt, a very large proportion of the sales made by the druggists of Kansas; so that the quantity of intoxicating liquors sold as a beverage is reduced to a very small amount, and this amount will grow smaller year after year.