The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1883-01-31
The Prohibition Side Of the ques-
zion. Published by Request.
Continued from last reek)

Nor. than fiftv thousand free men
cast their vote for prohibition wnen .na'
Question was to be voted upon. With
~, Roasting we uay say that intellectu
allv and morally they were the equals oil
apy other iftv thousand men 10 the
state They were as intelligent, as hon
cst and as upright as any equal number
in North Carolina The ID, mocrats OF
,ba, number we're not behind their breth-
rer ia fidelity to their party and their
country. They have no apology 10 maze
for what they did They do not propose
10 crouch. ike whipped spanieis, at the
feet of the anti prohibition element
whining and inviting a kick. 1t behooyes
us, therefore, TO assert our II
| bebooyes US to maintain our proper self
| ~respect. Ii behooves US to teach those
who would insult and prescribe US les
| son they will not soon forget Sucn men
| respect US only as they are made to ieei
| our power. And the spirit OF proscrip-
! ton and ostracism will depart from them
| only as it is exercised by b power thar
is in us. The prohibitionists or, II you
please, the Democratic portion Thereon
hold, if united among themselves, the
balance of power between the two great
parties of North Carolina. II ice can
not elect zoe hare the po,cei to defeat.
We have no present disposition to opea
anew the prohibition agitation. The
times are not suspicious. the people are
not prepared for it. When more women
are made widows through the curse OF
rum: when more children are made or
| phans; when more homes are made desc
| late; when the bright intellects Of more
of our young men go out III uarAness
and they sink into dishonored graves;
when intemperance takes the bit III It's
mouth as it has felt warranted IN dong
since the last election, and runs rampant
over the best interests of society, then
NAV arise a virtuous public sentiment
among all the masses of the people that
shall cry aloud tot better thILgs; that
shall demand with the Stern voice bot
| supreme authority: Let there be no
more of this!' We can only hope aud
pray for the speedy coming OF that bet
ter day. Nor have we any desire to or
ganize a new party. We would depre.
cate the disruption of the party to which
we be.ong. Its history. It's principles,
| its traditions, aud, looking forward with
the eye OF faith, its glorious destiny, are
| dear to us. Its faults We regard a, ike
a stain upon the ~vestal's robe, the worse
for what it soils. Aud we would cor
rect those faults; vt would eiuove those
stains. There Is a point at which Tor
be .ral.ce ceases to be "a virtue, and that
point has been reached We have the
opportunity of teaching "a lesson which,
instead Of dlsrupting, may prove tn,
very salvation of the Democratic party.
For we say, frankly ana openly, thai II
The question OF prohibition and anti
prohibition Is Kept "A, an open issue IN
side the Democratic party, and Is 10 e
made the basis OF prescription OF Oae
element of that party by another elemelt
when we would have 1t otherwise, 1t will
not be very long before the death knell
of Democracy in this State will bt
sounded.
Therefore, in order to teach a lesson
needed at this hour, we submit to the
| prohibition Democrats of this State,
whether it be not a duty we ours
selves in the approaching election to re
buke the spirit displayed toward us by
Withholding our votes from the anti pro
hibition candidates throughout the
State. Our representatives in the last
Legislature could not be returned could
not be so much as observation-disclosures
of their votes on the question of prohi
bition Shall Their representatives go bat k
to the Legislature by or votes to mis-
represent US? Erase their names from
your tacketsi ERASE THEIR NAMES FROM
YOUR T%ICKETsl"
[NOTE.-It will be remembered that
the foregoing was prepared before the re-
cent election but not published.