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.