West Virginia freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1881-1886, 1882-01-18
The Legislature.

Much work seems to have been
already lined out, and lengthy
session is predicted.
The Report of the Revisory Com
mittee has been the point of attrac-
ton and interest, and there seems to
be already indicationstha each in
dividual member of both houses
will be of opinion that he could
have madea better report.
Our next neighbor, Bro. Horner,
of the Sentinel, is right there among
the Solons, and gets at the "true in
wardness' of affairs, and writes
his paper editorially as follows,
touching
THE WHISKY AMENDMENT.
Judge jim Ferguson, who will
have charge of the Prohibition
Amendment, as soon as the petit
tions are received, says he will put
it through the House without any
trouble, and 1 believe he will be
able to do it. A great many since
their return say their constituents
rather favor a vote on the PROPOSE
ton by the people. There are, of
course, a great many members who
will vote against it, but at this
writing l am decidedly of the opin-
ion that the measure will pass the
House, and in the Senate it will
have to be killed if it is killed at
all. When the vote was taken in
the Senate on the subject last win
ter, it was defeated by vote Of Is
to 5, I think. So if it can pass
now there has been Il remarkable
change Of opinion.
1t is said thata new amendment
will be offered, prohibiting only
whisky, and allowing the sale Of
wine and malt liquors under Sc
we're restrictions. | don't think
there would be much opposition to
such a one. Martinsburg has the
only distillery in the State that we
know of, and as that one belongs to
Nadenbousch, everybody would be
glad if it were driven away. Mo-
person can conceive of a severer
blow to some of our larger interests
than the prohibition Of grape cul
ture. Swiss and German settle
ments generally engage in grape
culture, and the interest must not
be legislated beyond the borders of
the State"
Further on our brother gives us
AN ION DIT
"The latest political on dit is that
a project is on foot to Mahonize this
State on the Prohibition question.
1t is rumored that Judge Ferguson,
Judge Brown, George Moffatt, and
some others will head the move
ment. AS the question of Prohibi-
ton in West Virginia is growing to
be very serious one, it looks as if
there might be fire as we'll as smoke
surrounding the rumor. The
scheme as outlined by current talk
is that next summer Prohibition
will be foremost issue, and Leg
islature of Prohibition tendencies
will be elected. Then, as Judge
Ferguson is the most eminent ad-
vocate of the issue in the State,
nothing will be left except for the
Legislature to elect him U. S. Sen
atOr.
So it seems to the editor of the
Sentinel, at least, that our law-mak-
ers and political servants are dis
posed to recognize before it is ever
lastingly too late, the out-crying
and continual coming Of the peo-
pie, praying relief against the wide
spread and destroying evil of the
legalized liquor-traffic.
That divers and sundry diver
sions.will be interposed by way of
compromise measures to turn the
petitioners aside from the main is
sue, there is no doubt, and many
will be the devices and combina-
tions of the apologists of the traffic
to turn away the sting of Constitu-
tional Prohibition, which to the