Charles Stelzle

Charles Stelzle was a journalist, an advocate for the Presbyterian Church, and a prohibitionist. In his book Why Prohibition! Stelzle writes that alcohol must be banished or civilization cannot grow. In the following excerpt from a chapter of his book, he provides a counterargument to antiprohibitionists who argue Prohibition infringes on the rights of the individual. Stelzle held that every individual in a modern society sacrifices liberties for the good of the people as a whole. The health of society outweighs the individual's right to indulge in alcoholic beverages. Many prominent leaders of industry, such as Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller Jr., supported Stelzle's view.

The doctrine of "personal liberty" as applied to the use of liquor has been over-worked by the liquor men. As a matter of fact, there is no such thing as an absolute individual right...