News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-04-17
remperanoe and Prohibition


The present is a time when tn
friends of temperance should grid o.
anew their armor and enter~the feel
of conflict to put down the liquor trai
: fic. 1t is momentous period in th
) history of this nation, and in the his
: tory of the world on this importan
: subject. The liquor manufacturer
: and vendors with all their allied force
e are uniting their strength to put tn
< friends of temperance and prohibition
i beneath their iron heels, to crush th
) temperance army out Of existence
| But they will find that in attempting
| it they are fighting against God, tn
Holy; against his truth, against tn
r purity of His people, against thei
prayers, their covenant VOWS, thel
: consciences, and their united and de
termined efforts. They make wa
against the intelligence and virtue o
the nation. The battle may be Ions
one, and bloody one, the same as i
was when a slave oligarchy had the
nation by the throat, both church ant
State, rich and poor, north and south,
east and west, when only a few feeble
voices were raised against slavery, sc
feeble that they were heard only with
contempt, not only by slave holders
but by all of their allies. But as time
rolled on, these voices became more
numerous and loud toned, till in due
time slave holders began to tremble
in their shoes and threaten, and they
did ask for and got more stringent
laws to protect slave property, till
there was no political freedom in the
whole nation on the slave question.
All persons must turn kidnappers OF
their slave property if it came north,
for be subject to imprisonment. Sla-
VERY must be extended over new ter
ritory; old compromises on this sub
lject must be broken up to do it.
Great statesmen We'd with each other
north and south to first bow the knee
before the slave oligarchy. The two
great political parties were welded to
slavery, to make slavery a national
institution, and these parties thought
the work was done for all time. But
they soon learned that they must heed
that scripture which says ''First pure
then peaceable," that there was no
peace for the wicked, and that they
are like the troubled sea which cannot
rest, which is continually casting up
mire and dirt. John Brown did that
daring act which startled the whole ma
ton. The south was alarmed, they
must secede, and they set up a gov
eminent for themselves which gave the
nation four years of bloody war, cost
it ten billions of dollars and million
live of its noble sons, but it killed
sla cry. So in this liquor rebellion,
we may have many fierce and long
battle to fight, but victory is certain
for the temperance cause, as true as
that God has ever been with the right
eous in the past history of the world,
anil He will be with His people in
their clusa6e against one of the vilest
crimes against humanity which has
ever cursed this world, the sale of
ardent spirits.
The people every year are waking
up to see their danger all over this
nation; men and women, rich and
poor, legislators, judges, voters, and
even children, and they mean bust
ness. 1t is a subject which takes hold
of persons intelligence, his con-
science, his home, his liberty, social,
civil and religious, his safety, his hap
piness in this world and the world to
come. 1t is a part of his religion.
He must pray about it, talk about it,
preach about it, read about it, vote
about it, weep over it, and night and
day study and labor to put down this
liquor power which has become so
bold and brazen faced as to ask Con-
gress to alter the, constitution of the |
United States so as to prohibit the |
different States enacting prohibition
laws against the manufacture aud sale
of alcoholic liquors. Goliath is chal-
longing the temperance army to
deadly combat with his coat of mail
ne is defying the army of the living
Sod let not youthful David quail
n his presence with his shepherds
bag, sling, and his four smooth stones
while he goes forth in the name of the
Sod of Israel he will lay this modern
which comes to us in the form
Of liqhor oligarcby defiant, with his
millions of dollars pledged to defend
md keep alive the liquor traffic, dead
1t his feet.
1t seeks to corrupt judges, lawyers,
physicians, justices of the peace,
Jurors, witnesses, voters, Congress
men, State Legisla .ors, merchants,
editors, ministers, churches, politi-
clans, and last, though not least,
Presidents of the nation. Let the
friends of temperance make no
with this deceptive and
iendish agent of the prince Of dark
ness, in voting for high license laws to
please unprincipled politicians or to
hold any corrupt political party in
power. Let political leaders begin to
learn that the bone and sinews of this
nation, morally, religiously and intel
lectually, are decidedly in favor of
temperance and prohibition. Let them
take due notice that this temperance
element in nation image, and will not
bow down to the golden image that
time serving politicians have set up,
though it may be dedicated with en-
music and many of the lead
ing men of the nation fall down and
this image while they hear
their political trumpet. Let the Shad-
rachs, Meshachs and Abednegoes
stand erect and say to King Alcohol,
1--WE are not careful to answer thee in
this matter. The God whom we serve
will deliver US if not we will not
the images which their host
set up :; and let all the people say
amen.
Now many, Of the politicians pro-
pose as peace measure the giving of
nigh licenses. This measure originat-
ID in Ohio and it was popular law
With time serving men, because it
brought revenue of two millions of
dollars to the tax payers. Those tenn
,erance men who would not vote for
uch law are called fanatics, and by
heir fanaticism they say the Republi-
AN party has lost control of the State
politically, and many epithets are
,eaned unOn these tpmparance x-otarc