Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1873-06-25
Communicated

lCommunlcate0.
OPEN AIR TEMPeRANCR MERrlNa,-
Last Saturday evening a public tenn
perance and prohibition meeting was held
at the Court House grounds. at o'clock.
E w. H. Kreider, Esq, called the meet
ing to order. and introduced Mr. James
Alexander Mowatt, of Brooklyn, New
York, to address the audience
Mr.. Mowa.t proceeded to direct atten.
tion to the questions cf temperance and
prohibition. He exhibited a map Of
Pennsylvania, with the licensing coun-
ties colored red and the g local option"
counties white. "Licenee" covered l3,.
900, and odd. square miles "no hcense"
embraced 10000, and odd, sqare miles.
In AZ counties and 6 cities against
license there were 5O.O3S more of pop
ulaiion than in the go counties and l6
cities that voted for license. As to ex-
tent of territory and population local
option" had. therefore. triumphed.
But, he had been told that in Mif1in.
town there we're men selling liquor clan
destinely and making drunkards still.
The men who did 60 were rebels against
the laws of the State and the vote of the
majority. jeff. Davis and the would-be
Southern Confederacy did no more than
object to be bound by a majority vote,
and if let alone would never have fired a
shot But the Northern States said "the
vote and decision of the majority must
be respected aid obeyed over the entire
tnion;' and ii took four years war to
enforce it. The rebellious liquor dealers
ought to be taught in the courts. by fines
and imprisonment, to obey the law and
the votes Of the people. Every thor
ough American ought to insist on the
law and the votes of the majority being
obeyed. On that depended the safety Of
Democratic government. IF hotel
owners in Mifflintown would attend to
their bedrooms instead of the '.bar :" il
they would look after the bugs instead Of
the beer and brandy. they could improve
their hotels very much. Laughter. y
They had depended on the "bar," and
neglected the boarders. Local option
would give them three years vacation
from the ''bar" to let them have time te
sweep down the bedrooms and to get the
sheets and blankets washed. daughter
and applause.)
The man who sold liquor ION the sly
and seduced his neighbor's son into in
temperance for the sake of paltry dollar.
and cents were just possessed of tht
same foul spirit as he who seduced hi.
neighbor's daughter to her ruin. They
were both procuresse. for evil and equal
ly guilty in the sight Of High Heaven
Young men, and old ones, too. ought tc
be ashamed to be found patronizing these
places, where tue laws of the State wer,
broken and deied, and drunkenness fos
tered and promoted. Did they eve
pause to consider the extreme folly O
paying man at the street corner fo
making them drunk : Why if they go
drunkenness as they might fever or small
pox, they ought to be ready to pay thei
last cent to be made sober. But it wa.
madness for sober man to pay another
for making him drunk. And yet thou
sands of "smart" Americans did thi
daily
The lecturer then urged on all presen
the duty of personal abstinence and til,
wisdom aud justice of State prohibition
and hoped they would all be found prac
ticing the one aud. as law abiding ant
orderly citizens, enforcing the other ii
their county and county town. He jus
saw that day, in the SENTINEL, tina
Cumberland county would now be glat
if they had voted for prohibition. LIE
Juniata county. that had wisely SO voted
see that the vote is obeyed by lawles
liquor dealers and drunkard manufac
turers
The address occupied over an hour
and was listened to with marked atten
tion and received with repeated laughte
and applause.