Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1882-03-28
PROHIBITION.

A contributor under the above caption
signed b. and dated Kabletown. under
takes to sanction the Legislature in voting
down the proposed amendment to Me Con-
%sfttntion prohibiting the manufacture and
sale Of alcoholic liquors.
The writer may have some personal
reason for his qualification, hut when he SAYS
"the Legislature acted in good faith toward
its constituents, and carried out the priuci>
pies OF the great Democratic Party" he pros
poses a guardianship for which the Dem
oeratic party never granted him a commits.
sion What! Are we to be told that the
Democratic party is the patron saint of
Bachus Perhaps that is what b. means
That its sacred principles are to be consigned
te the degradation to all that il vile 10 pel>
itics. No, Mr. B, sel6shnesa and narrow
mindedness belangs to that class of undem.
coratic sentiment which takes shape from
pandering to the depraved a~ppetites of pur>
chasable voters. who have ever been the prev
of the unscrupulnus demognyne, and which
was the curse of parties in 1910. and at sew
eral depraved periods since then Bnt in
this year Of grace. 1882. when prohibition is
a crescent fsctor in politics everywhere in
the United States. to uphold the distinctive
pre]udices ofapuetite as a cardinal of DEM
ocracy. is travelling in the direction that nn>
o'Ny 10 S''hS IL ul0DGeu, DeSnCr6u
slaves of intoxication. 1t is surprising that
B. should lose sight of the tendencies of
moral reform. b.. will soon find himself on
the briery side of the fence 1t is houed that
some one will hint to B that the charm has
crossed to the other side of the question. and
is now Advertising Office on the Temperance
side OF the question and all the sharp
scented office seekers are in full cry on the
track ; it is only a few whose noses are cons
structed for a cold trail that are bsying the
whisky scent. No patriot, and I GO farther.
no lawyer who keeps pace with the great
Democratic virtue of the greatest eood to the
greatest number, will deny the sovereignty
Of the State to prohibit the manufacture or
sale of that which destroys, corrupts and i'm
poveri>hes her citizens. In fact. No Legis-
tor unless he be a still house nimp. will
withhold his vote when tho moral and yir.
tuors good OF the people demand it.
Yes. Is , the Democratic party was created
by our fathers for the protection Of tho rights
OF men but TO class as one of thase. the liz
censing of whisky dens to predispose the
young and slaughter the aged slaves of dis
s%ipatior. for public revenue. is one of the
cursed wrongs which can never he mnralizad
into a right. of any sort, by my democratic b..
Why, mnnstrous ! to sell for money the le-
galized ~ right to make and vend drunk
enness, with all its ubiquitous consequeuces-
murder, suicide. rape. theft. arson and hnrrid
implication and blasphemy-and no remedy.
Tell it not in Gath; publish it not in AS
kelon, Mr.. b.
B IS argument needs nourishment when he
laya down the limits to which he graciously
permits the Temperance Order and Y. NJ
9 A. to lead a life of total abstinence but
he shakes his burthened head when he for
bids their interfarapce with ooo,lo,, s;-bt,
and privileges Indeed. religion and sobri.
ety. according to the counsels of B love to
put their light under a bushel aud hypocri>
c'zc all their professions, and not "force
MS to abstain /" All, there we have the whole
0n'mHs. We'll. if b.. aims as. must have
toddy, why it is undemocratic to submit to
the voters of the State salutarv democratic
constitutional amendments. Is B. and his
anti-di!uvinn-r rights Democrats Imperialists.
that they forbid the people of tho State the
right to alter or amend their organic law ?
Some peoples Democracy teach the thing as
an lnalicDable right to do so but the throat
argument is the seat of judgment, wherein
wisdom br0odeth. MIR b. informs Mr.. Ed
itnr that the measure was not intended for
the good of the people. but a plot of the man
ayers of the Republicans That remark is
intensely uHe,. and aIpinely towering. after
which Malone, Tammany, Greenbsckers,
Changers and Solons generally. are mado to
jump to $ massive tonch. Why. bless your
heart. citizen b.. or ex>Solon, az the case NAV
be, the divide-and~conquor Radicals would
stride the whisky wing of our party. if. as
you say, it is the bulk of Democracy. for
whisky votes as whisky runs. Don't fear B.,
you won't be gobbIed up by the Mahonites
so long as there is a still left
ANTI WHISKY DEMOCRAT.