ABE LINCOLN DID NOT SUPPORT PROHIBITION

I am frequently appalled whenever politicians and activists exploit
the names of our founding fathers and other great historical leaders
to support positions that are completely antithetical to the
positions and philosophy of those they cite. However, this happens
with such regularity that I usually shake my head and move on.

Thus, when I read Robert Keyes' article in the March 13 News-Leader,
"Uncorking at Landers challenged," in which he quoted Allen Kemper,
who opposes serving alcohol at the Landers, as saying, "Abraham
Lincoln was against it, and I believe it's time for another
prohibition," I let it pass. However, when that same quote reappeared
in the March 16 "They Said It" section, for some reason I felt
compelled to respond.

Lincoln could not have been more clear regarding his stand on
prohibition. In a speech to the Illinois House of Representatives on
Dec. 18, 1840, he said:

"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is
a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the
bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by
legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A
Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our
government was founded."

While Lincoln himself may have been a teetotaler, he was appalled at
the notion of using the coercive power of the government to force his
personal views on a free people.

Kemper exemplifies yet another example of what has been the bane of
humanity since time immemorial: There are just too many people in
this world who will not be content with running their own miserable
lives.

Jim Lucas, Carthage