The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1875-11-19
TRUE REFORMERS.

IOTHieios GUN pOoSu VI w.
temperance people, is doing good
work. Their ritual work is well
carried and we must say that we
have heard such singing nowhere
else. We give below part of a short
talk made in this lodge room a few
evenings ago;
1--WE who are temperance men
and women have three reasons,
which occur to me now, for working
prohibition. 1t is public, an indl'
vidual and a lodge necessity 1t is
a public necessity because every
body is injured by the traffic. 1t is
the principle cause of nearly all the
crime ofour country and consequent"
ly of large share of taxation. 1t
brings more men to poverty than
any other cause. 1t makes more
widows and orphans than either war,
pestilence or famine, not to speak OF
the unwidowed widows and worse
than orphan children who toll and
suffer through this, to them, cold and
cherries world without one ray OF
hope to cheer its gloom accustomed
only to the brutality Of husband,
and father who, but for rum, might
have been the kind husband Of
happy wife. the induIgent loving
father Of a Joyous group of light
hearted children. And worse than
all, my friends, it sends more souls
to perdition than any other cause on
earth. Men think too lightly Of this
but | tell you tonight that God will
not hold that christian voter guiltIess
who goes to the polls and casts his
vote for measures which endanger
mems souls. Too many men carry
their hearts in their pockets, and its
a disgrace to our christianity that
the words ever became current
"The nearest way to mans heart
is through his pocket" say we
must carry our religion to the polls
and vote for honest men and honest
measures We are freemen and not
slaves and it becomes us when duty !
points out that course to throw of !
the shacklcs of party and vote to up /
hold honesty and virtue. ! ask yo@
as thinking men and christians if
you do not forfeit the right to be
named follower of the Master when
you give your vote to sustain traf-
fc which robs heaven of sixty thou
sand souls yearly, and which takeo
from the church, the State and So
ciety some of their brightest orna-
ments. But fear | am saying too
much.
Prohibition is an individual neces-
sity, because ali evil which is disas>
trous to the people at large, is disas
trous to you as one Of the people,
If your tax under prohibition is ten
dollars and license increases the pub
lie expense three times, you will ne
cessariIy bear your proportion of the
increase and instead of ten dollars
you will pay thirty. And does this
increase Of taxation give you a bet
ter government Is the public or
der better preserved Does peace .
and quiet now reign supreme where
before disorder and violence ruled 7
Do you feel that you walk the streets 1
more securely and that your wife
and children are less apt to meet
with danger than when liquor was g
prohibited Nay, just the opposite :
is true. With the increase of taxa
ton comes a looseness of govern
ment. Poor men are punished and 9
the rich 60 unpublished. Riot and
bIoodshed are common. You feel
yourself insecure while walking the
streets with drunken men around
you. Ii your wife and children are
out, do you feel that they are per
fectly secure from harm Your I
every interest is imperiIlsd. Your
pocket, your person and your happi>
ness are in jeopardy. And will you /
sit down quietly and thus allow your
rights to be overlooked that a few
men may reap gain from an unholy
traffic, while the ballot is yours p
VIII you vote to aid in Ignoring your
rights or will you with the conscience
OF an honest man and the determin
alton Of a brave man 20 to the polls
and vote mo license" tell you /
Prohibition is a lodge necessity. al
because while you 'trying to lift 81
men up. the dramships are pulling
them down. How often have we
known men TO come into the Lodge
room and take our pledge fully de-
termined to keep it and fall and fall
again because they We're too weak
to pass an open barroom without go 5
ing in. Put the dram shop out Of
the way and We can save the drunk
ards. One OF the great arguments
Of the bar-keeper is that we pledge
men and fail to keep all true. They \
pull a man down and then blame Us il
or it.
All hands to the rescue. The
.ause of temperance is the cause Of
Tod d,