Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1873-03-19

en- or more such tyrant ridden men, wh'
wish to reform, and willvote "agains
license" to break, if possible. the spell
that binds them to living death. Shall WI
then have true liberty, fall aud pure a
Goo designed just as well cry ou
against our fornication, adultery, thief
and murder laws, as against Loca! Op
ton, as far as liberty is concerned. Tru'
liberty is practical surrender of person
al liberty for the general good. All els'
is RIGHTEOUSNESS and unworthy of goot
citizen.
3rd. Local Option is not demoraliz:ns
in its tendencies, but is promotive of goot
order and morality. That the license
system has been demoralizing scarcely
needs proof 4 Abral,am Lincoln. Gov
Hartranft and many others may have beer
in bar.rooms and remained eober and be
came grea. and good, but this was So il
spite of the bad influence of bar.rooms
That some have remained sober whel
tempted does not prove that thousands
and tens of thousands have not become
drunkards and utterly worthless wher
similarly tempted. Who does not know
that often the dram seller becomes hi:
own best customer Who does no
know that often the dram seller makes
drunkards of his own sons, sons-in-iaw
and even his grandsons I? Who evel
knew bar-room tend to make a man q
christian, or even moral The fabled
Upas tree could not send forth deadliel
poison. On tho other hand, there have
been for twenty years Local Option towns
and counties in Great Britain and Amer
lea. and also prohibition States. Gov.
Pelham and Speaker Blain, and many
other eyewitnesses testify that great moral
good and order have resulted from strict
TEN perance laws. Local Option will ut
terly disgrace the liquor business. Then
truly respectable people will just as little
think of violating the prohibitory liquor
laws as to be guilty Of violating the laws
against dishonesty, or uncleanness. No
doubt there are hypocrites enough among
tipples and topers, who will get dram by
evading the law, but they have been
made what they are by the license sys-
tenn, and not by Local Option. Perhaps
little rigid enforcement of law would
straigbten ont their crooked consciences
and amend their drunken ways What
we wish is a chance under Local Option
to try to reform them by law and kind
ness.
4,h. Local Option will not injure the
country's prosperity, but promote it. 1t
has been said that Local Option will in
jure the farmer. Even granting that his
corn might bring few cents less per
bushel, he would still make money by
having less tax to pay. Lawsuits thrust
upon the farmer by liquor, penitentiaries,
insane asylums, poor houses, which are
filled in great part by liquor, eat up the
earnings of the farmer, as we'll as the
earnings of all classes. Breweries, dis
ti,leries, LIQUOR sellers, and owners Of
rented hotels and taverns would be bcne
fited even if Local Option would make
their money less, it would make their
real happiness more. Even ifsuch would
be compelled to go into other business,
they would be delivered from the ever
present. ever gazing fact, that they are
Swing off the vices of their fellowmen
If Local Option Injuries any of our citi-
zens in their business it will be the ply
sician and lawyer, Even here, while it
may lessen the amount Of business, yet
it will render their professions more. plea
SAINT, surer payment Of fees, and less
temptations, to some at least, TO extrav
agant expenditures. Local prohibition
will eventually improve the actual enter
tainments in our hotels. Under the IL
cense system often very little attention
has been paid to anything in our hotels
apart from the bar-room Often as every
traveller knows to his sorrow, the beds
tables and stables are in state of utter
neglect. Why is this ? Because liquor
selling is The great business. and not the
keeping of house of public entertain
ment. The bar is run SO as to make it
pay, and the rest of the establishment is
a mere sham, a very unimportaint ap-
pendix. nuisance tolerated by the dram
seller only to keep up the appearance of
giving entertainment. Local Option
will in all such cases change mere liquor
shops into real hotels. In our towns and
cities there will of course be fewer hotels.
but these will be better equipped, better
beds, better tables, better stables, better
attendance and at no greater price, as
Potter county and the State of Maine
clearly proves. Thus every occupation
will be advanced and every real interest
promoted by liquor prohibition. Fami-
lies, schools, churches, courts of justice
and our legislature will be purer and m,re
efficient. The $4,000 900 we yearly
worse than waste to support the liquor
traffic in cur State will in the future go
to enrich, to beautify and make truly
grand our great old Keystone.
We say then, down with the unmitiga-
ted curse, the liquor traffic. Thrust it to
the we'll on next Friday.
"Licensed-to do thy neighbor harm,
Licensed-to kindle hate and strife,
Llcensed-to nerve the robbers arm.
Licensed-tO whet the murderer's knife,