The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1859-04-07
Fer the Courier.
A Question Solved.

the lact tnaC very large portlOn Oh our coiii'
munity are, by profession, temperance peo.
pie. There are few among us, either of Tho
older Settlers, or of the more recent imi
grants, who have not at sometime been ad
vocates of temperance, il not members o
some temperance organization. Under;thest
circumstances it seems very mysterious tc
many that an unbrbken succession Of liquor
dealers have always been able to drive a
brisk and prosperous business in our midst
in defiance of the law of the land, although
the great mass of our people boast of being
law abiding and law upholding citizens.
We think single sentence in the last
Courier gives us glimpse Of the philosophy
of the whole matter. This may he found in
note address to Hon. II. B. Hendershott
signed by G.. d. r. Boyd, VIM. j. Ross,
G. G. Cloutman, A. w. Castor and f. L.
Joy, and reads thus, owe understood your
position to be the same in this case as would
have been that of any other professional man
in any case" The italics are ours, and be-
ing also present, when the position, alluded
to above, was taken, we are not prepared to
question the correctness of the understand
ing of these "hi Oh minded, honorable men,"
Here, then, is the whole thing in nut
shell. A temperance man makes temper
ence speech, in temperance meeting, called
by temperance men, for the express purpose
of promoting the cause of temperance, and
these temperance men laarn no more from it,
than they might learn from an ordinary bust
ness card in newspaper, or a single nail
ed up at an office door. Now temperance
demonstrations Of this kind may be made or
let alone, without checking or even casting
a damper on the progress Contemporaries
To save time and talk, it may be well to let
such movements alone, and fall back on the
reserved rights and potent influence of a
good example, which all of us should feel it
privilege Ito tender as gratuity to COM
munity."
Indeed it seems quite evident that this has
been the prompt and almost unanimous po-
sition taken by the great body of temperance
men in this community, and taken possibly
in consequence of what is stated in passage
also quoted in the last Courier from another
correspondent of II. B. Hendershott, whose
name he does not choose to give. This
friend writes to him as follows: II said to
several prominent temperance men that you
had consented, along with Mr. Williams, to
prosecute, and mentioned it for the purpose
of enlisting them in an effort to raise the
necessary funds to secure the services of
yourself and Mr. Williams" 1t seems that
this cogent appeal did not raise the necessary
| funds. ... ..'t .- .N .-t
/ Perhaps prominent temperance men re-
membered having been bled in this way, a
few years ago, only to see their suit culmin.
ate in a most glorious failure.
The question, then, of prosecuting viola
tons of the law, by liquor selling in this com
munity, may perhaps be considered as al
rest, until we have an avalanch of temper
auce capitalists who may wish to find amuse
nlent in Ottbidding violators Of the law fol
the use of those temperance attornies who al
ready favor our city by consenting to remain
with u.s. ......
1t is well, perhaps, to be brought into
position where we are compelled to look thu
thing directly in the face without hope o.
shadow or subterfuge And yet it is sad t.
think that high-minded and chivalrous men
who are most sensitively nervous at tn
thought of anything like "mob law shoul,
: be compelled to witness day after day, montl
after month and year after year, continu
5 Gus traffic in our midst, which has no othe
apology or support than the veriest and mos
unmitigated "mob law" We are alarmed
: for fear that this high minded, chivalrous Law
abiding spirit may be somewhat chilled ant
deadened by daily contact with that which i
must intensely loathe, till ultimately it may
e learn ''first to endure and then embrace"
9 Alas Alas! for ,hivalry its days are gon
"and cold calculating economy has succeed
, ed" ....... ....-.. t.. ~sr ..
Economy All! Economy! Let's see.-
| There lies stalwart laborer asleep on tn
$ sidewalk in the midst of bright summe
4 day. The grog chandler has made two bit
by putting him in that condition. Himsel
and family have lost hard dollar by thi
days drunken idleness, to say nothing @
his example. This dollar would have beel
paid to some of our tradesmen for comfort
for himself and family, and also that quarter
which has been swallowed by the worse thar
useless Golfers of the drunkery. Economy
, All! Economy! Well, we rather guess i
has not succeeded after all. Chivalry ant
economy have tumbled together into pro
miscuous pile of rags and ruin! There he
roes of the gin cup stand and look at it til
you get your fill ...... .......
But God still lives, and the great law Q
temperance which he has made the necessar,
condition of our moral, intellectual and ply
steal well being is not thing to be the mer
football Of spectators and adventures
whether political or professional.
You may swallow few spoonfuls of bran