Tough Tarbell Trivia

[Rob Wick]

In the overall sense, you are correct Steve. The issue that Tarbell was constantly called upon to discuss was whether Lincoln made the following statement:

"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."

Throughout the years someone would draw Tarbell's attention to the quote, and from the time she was working on her original Lincoln book up to the end of her life she never found any evidence that Lincoln said that. She wrote an article for Liberty that appeared July 6, 1929 where she asked "Is Prohibition Causing Civil War" in which she quoted Lincoln's Temperance speech, but noted that there is no evidence as to whether Lincoln would be a "wet" or a "dry" in the current day.

Tarbell, who had been a supporter of prohibition, soon realized that the law was ineffective and became a strong supporter of temperance over banning the sale of liquor. Even her anti-suffrage viewpoint didn't bring in as many letters as did her anti-prohibition stance. Her papers include well over 240 letters on the subject alone.

Good job Steve.

Best
Rob