Smyrna times., 1882-10-25
The Whiskey Tug in Ohio,

The strength of the liquor interest
has been shown i'll Ohio. But the
strength of the opposition to that inter
est has not been shown. In the midst
of the rejoicing with which the liquor
sellers and dealers hail their tremend-
Gus victory, the thought arises, Why
this Joy, if there was no reason to fear
that the opposition, if ever cOncentra-
ted, would prove to be majority?
Why were 100000 spent, more or less;
why were exerti0ns beyond all prece-
dent made, in an election at which
nothing was directly at stake, unless to
frighten the politicians of both parties
into a refusal to permit the people to
vote upon the liquOrquestiOnd directly"
Senator Sherman was right i'll this
nothing could be accomplished directly,
either for or against the liquor interest,
by the election or the defeat of any one
of the candidates this year. The State
officers to be chosen had no power to
| affect the result nor the members of
| Congress; there was no Legislature
elected this year, and the ultimate de
cision of the question could not be
/ affected in any way by any vote cast
this year, except by the moral intlu-
cnce of display of power. Was there
real need, then, to spend so much and
work 50 hard in order to alarm the
politicians? If men know that they
can win when the real struggle comes,
do they ever waste so much force in II
mere noisy demonstration?
There is but one possible conclusion,
if we think of action in the State OF
Ohio only. The conclusion is that the
liquor interest knows it is in Il minority,
and would be out-VOted on Il straight
vote for or against it. Therefore this
readiness to spend heavily in order to
prevent such vote.
The ProhibitiOnistS reason from the
same conviction. They want to force
the Republican party to submit Il pro
hibitory amendment to the people
This they want because they believe
such an amendment would prevail
They refuse to give any aid to the
Republican party until it is ready t(
submit the question to the people
Because it was not united i'll opinion
nor ready for that course, their strength
was not shown.
A shrewd leader is reported as sayin:
that this defeat would put back any re
form ten years. Probably he reasoned
y that politicians would now be afraid G
J. the liquor interest, and that the Repul
lican leaders would be indignan
because the ProhibitiOnists mad refuse
aid But the Republican politicians d
not seem to have anything left to lose
They have aroused all the Oppositio
that they could have aroused by an
course. There is nothing left for thel
except complete surrender to tn
demands of the liquor interest, {
such course as will enlist the heart
\ and united approval of temperate
voters.
! Perhaps they may reach aconclusio
more easily, if they reflect upon two {
three facts After the victory, Il
liquor association of Ohio telegraphC
to New York to do likewise. Why
Have we any immediate cxcitemel
about the temperance question in tn
State? Again, the liquor associate
labored nightly for the election
Democratic Congressman. as we'll
for Democratic State officers. VIII
have Congressman to do with prOhi
a. itory action in the States? But Il
z Democratic gain on members of Co
gress appears to be quite as great
on the State ticket. One more fac
|. the Democrats proposed, at the Ia
m session of Congress, to repeal all tax
: on whiskey and beer. They almC
unitedly supported the mOvcmel
while the Republicans defeated it.
The first step in such scheme wOu
be to secure the election of COngre,
men favorable to repeal of the tax
is on liquors. That done, by delcati
the Republican party in few gre
D. States, everything will be ready for
A. combined movement of the allied fore
in 1884. If that is the plan, the mon
CT and the work of the liquor dealers W
rv not exactly thrown away last Tuesda
y N. y. Tribune