The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1882-03-30
Prohibition the Paramount ouOs-
ton Of the Day.
Protectionist

Nashville Protectionist
1t can never be said of the tem-
perance advocates Of the present
day that they are attempting 70
fight under cover or dodge any ques
tion that pertains to their chosen
field of labor. They have always
agreed that alcohol was the great
est curse of the civilized world, al
though they differed, at first, in re-
gard to the means of suppressing
i 8 use, and many of them brought
forward their plans with more or
less misgivings as their to propriety
and feasibility. But we feel that
after much labor and doubt, they
have, at last, reached the founda
ton stone upon which the super
structure of universal temperance
must rest, and that stone is prohi
bition.
We fearlessiy assert that the
question of putting an eLd TO the
ruinous use of intoxicants by law
is TO day the most momentous sub
iect that the American peo lo are
called upon to consider d dispose
of. For instance, let US compare it
with other questions which attract
the attention of the public most
if we select the one which most AZ
itates the public mind in this state
at present, it is the state debt. To
show the importance attached 10 IL,
and the warmth Of the discussion
it has provoked, we quote para
graph from the Memphis Herald
which is only one among thousand
that are now going the rounds OF
the public press. 1t reads as fol
lows:
"Down with the 100 3 fraud that
puts the people in bondage for
ninety nine years. 1t is repudiated
by four ffths OF the people, and
vet the other fifth seek to iasten the
infamy upon them"
Now, putting the public debt ut
$27, ,O00, 900, it can be easily shown
that to pay principal and interest in
ninety-nine years, il would require
the sum ofabout $675,000 per an
mum. This is certainly an enor
nous sum, and to require the peo-
ple to pay it may be ''infamou., but
what shall we say OF the whisky
business, when il can be shown that
1t costs our people between $1,000
600 and $8,000,000 annually, TO
say nothing OF the Generalization,
dishonor and suffering which IL en-
tailsl, being nearly ten timea the
amount required annually TO settle
the state debt7 And so Il can be
shown, at all times, that prohibit
ton Of the liquor traffic rises 'Ar
above all other questions Of the
day. The truth Of the matter is,
the morals of the worlds have al
ways been covered up under a huge
mass ofrubbish, platitudes, and gen.
erAlities, and the most vital and
pressing questions Of public morals
and state craft are postpoDed and
deferred until some people are
ready 20 assert that nothing can be
done 10 remedy even so unnecessa
nv an evil as int@mperanee. But
since IL has now been shown that
aprohibition does prohIbit' IN
Maine and Kansas, and even in our
own state, where the four mile 10
enforced, the argume mt OF ''impossi
ble' is obsolete and untenable
Why can not the sober, Intelligent
law abiding people of our state take
this question IN hand, strip 4 Of All
sophistry and deceptive covering,
and meet the issues which y pre-
sents in a spirit OF danntlesa chris.
tian philanthropy? We feel that
they will do it, but we inslst that
question is paramount TO al others,
and beg them %
O. Act sct in the living pTe.rst--
Heart. within, end God c'rrlseed .''
hear thar MS friat Il Gi b s. 'Iai
is broke Wna held t4s lysf 5, ~
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