The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1881-08-11

40 tliC Hull OlCCo pdDC1o ftlC CCll-
tinually throwing out mean filings al
the Methodist preachers, we give the
following letter, written by one Of the
preachers. Elder Dillon is well known
to most of the people of this county
THE LOVELAND CONVENTION.
To the Editor ofthc Cincinnati Gazette.
| was not at the Temperance Con-
/, vention which met in Loveland last
week, was not spoken to in regard to
the propriety of such a proceeding
nor have | ever voted the Prohibition
ticket, yet | am not surprised at the
movement, and feel that it is not to be
sneered at, and that it cannot be
frowned down. jH fact, the sneering.
and the calling upon churches to
withhold their support from the min
listers who have gone into the move
ment, is just the way to drive all into
it and make it a success, especially so
far as the defeat of the Republican
party is concerned.
All, except those blinded by desire
for office, have felt for some time
that the dilatoriness of the party lead
ers would, sooner or later, result in
something like the present movement
The majority of the men who vote the
Republican ticket-the men who have
given the party character and success
in the past-are temperance men.
They have in the past fought inside
rather than outside the party. The
feeling is, whether we'll founded or
not, | will not now say, that the lead
ers-those who set up things-have
taken special pains to conciliate the
few and spit in the faces Of the many.
If the Republican party is defeated
this fall, it can be charged to the
account Of the politicians of the party.
The people are tired of seeing their
candidates for Office bowling to the
whisky power, visiting saloons, and
bidding for their support. The solid,
reliable men of the party have not
sought the emoluments Of office.
They have been far less anxious for
the success Of a party than for the
welfare and glory Of the Common
wealth. Such men are unwilling to
stultify themselves. 1t is a manly
principle for every citizen to use the
elective franchise according to the
dictates of his own Judgment, to be no
mans slave, to wear no ones livery.
In republic there will always be par
ties, and there will always be those
who wi | follow the leaders and stick
to the party, right or wrong.
1t requires a little courage, even
when man is convinced that his par
ty is in the wrong, to come out and
forsake it, and yet when his Judgment
is convinced he ought to do it. The
man who, unawed by frowns and un-
seduced by hattery, carries his integ-
rity to the polls, will have the peace
of good conscience and the approba-
ton of all whose appreciation is worth
having. 1t was a noble sentiment,
uttered by one whose name is familiar
to all, Il had rather be right than be
President" The talk about the i'm
propriety of ministers engaging in
such a movement has nothing in it.
1t is true that the appropriate work of
the Christian minister is evidently
first, and chiefly, to preach the Gospel,
but in assuming the ministerial Office,
and in consenting to be set apart for
that duty, he relinquishes none of his
rights and forfeits none Of his privi-
l-ges as a man or as a. citizen. He is
still fellow citizen with those among
whom he ministers, and has with them
duties to perform, rights to guard, and
a country to cherish and love. There
is nothing that forbids him from en-
gaging in temperance reform move
ment. The liquor traffic is the enemy
of the State, and foe to all the
objects for which the State exists. 1t
requires the intervention of law.
Moral suasion, educational and re-
ligious instrumentalities are all made
quate without the aid of legislation.
1t is within the legitimate province of
law and the rightful prerogative of
government to interfere with it to
whatever extent the public good de-
mands. No man can tell the evils
resulting from the liquor traffic. 1t
is destroying our homes, is the parent
of pauperism, the chief occasion of
crime, the universal ally of evil, the
universal antagonist of good, and with
no setoff of benefits, no wonder the
ministers are leading off in this mat
ter.
Since the organization of the Re-
publican party, and especially since
the breaking out of the rebellion, the
ministers and members of the Meth
odist Episcopal Church have stood
almost to man by the Union and by
the party, and I presume that no class
of men regret more than they the
necessity, as they view it, Of breaking
away. The argument that this move
ment will insure the election of the
Democratic State ticket is an old one,
and has, in part at least, lost it's force.
You suggested in last Fridays Gazette
that it would have been wiser for the
temperance people to have made a
strike in the counties and districts. |
have no authority for speaking, but |
suppose that will be the next move
ment.
There is no Disgusting the fact of
the existence Of deep feeling of dis
satisfaction among the very best men
in the State; and so far as [ know it is
! not simply because certain men were
nominated for the State offices, but
because they have lost hope Of accom-
plishing anything in the party, that
they see nothing ahead, that the party
is largely under the control of politi-
cians-those who are governed by pol
icy, by expediency, rather than by
principle.
J. w. DILLON.