The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1872-1881, 1873-08-01
Rate. given ON application.
GOOD T[MPLAR'S COLUMN.
To shc Voters OF Lincoln Comfy!

---" W shsA'0sa hoestsN
We have shown the whisky trade to
be detrimental to every interest Of our
pcople-finanancial, social, political and
moral. Il is presumed there is not one
voWr within the county who does not be
heve il to be such. Why then will any
one cast his vote 10 perpetuate the retail
Of whisky, knowing ut the same time, il
is TO he the greatest evil under which bis
country groansf Why will men vote
for that which they know to be wrong
We propose, in this paper, to furnish
some answers 10 this question but be
fore doing so, it is proper to make some
general statements on the science Of gov
ernment
Civil government, in our sense, is Of
divine origin. and carries with it divine
obligations. "The powers that be, are
ordained Of Cod The civil officer OF
"ruler" is the minister Of God to thee for
good--he beareth not the sword in vain,
"for he il the minister of God, a re.
venger TO execute wrath upon him that
doeth evil" The fac, Of the Divine ori.
gin and obligations of civil government,
is beyond question. But what is the
best form Of that government depends
upon the intellectual and moral status of
the people n be governed. This propo-
sition none will deny.
The same form Of government would
not be best for every people. Modocs
are hardly prepared for a republican
government Spain. France aud Mexico
are experimenting and subjecting their
people to the ordeal which will demon
strate their ability or inability for self
government. What is it, then, that is
to determine the best form of govern.
ment for given people' What is that
political solvent that will certainly indi-
cate the best form Of government for
which a people is preparedi 1t is the
intelligence and virtue Of the pooplei II
these are in the ascendant, n republic may
live; if not, il viii certainly die.
Now, then, no one could well deny
that the whisky trade obstruets iptelli-
gence, and destroys virtue in the ratio of
its extent. Therefore, it is the duty of
every philanthropist and patriot to seek
the legal prohibition of that which, is de-
trimental to the public good, and de-
structive of republican government.
II, then, prohibition is not obtained by
law, the reason for such failure will not
be that the people, in the main, were not
apprised Of the evil fruits of the whisky
trade. The people do know these evil
results. Why, then, will some oppose
prohibition, and Others refuse TO vote ON
the question: We write for candid ear
nest men, ,and only ask the impartial read
ing of our answers to the above ques-
ton. The prohibition of the retail of
whisky will be opposed for msnyreasons.
The ability to discern all these reasons
is not claimed by us nor do we pre-
sumo to be able, by our answers, to
cover all the reasons.men may have for
opposing prohibition. We can only do
our best; very different reasons will in
fuence different men to oppose the pro
hibitory law. Let no one accept one
sentence we write that is not true to
facts. Let truth only prevail.
Since, then, different men will vote
against a prohibitory whisky law, for
different reasons the oppOsers of such a
law are naturally divided into different
classes, and We are guided into the ar
rangement Of these classes only by what
little knowledge We possess of the laws
governing mans moral nature and our
limited observation.
lst 1t is reasonable to suppose that
most persons, who have been distillers,
will vote against the prohibitory law
and whyS For the reason that every
man wants 10 appear TO be consistent III
it is not wrong to make ii, il is not
wrong TO sell it They feel that to vote
against whisky-selling would condemn
their own former business Of whisky-ma-
kingl And hence, not having lost their
first love, it is reasonable to expect some
of this class to oppose change in the
whisky law. on the ground Of eOnsisten-