The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-03-22
who Are the Temperance Men?

70 the Editor of the Indianapolis journal:
1t seems something like infatuation that poll
tieians should esteem temperance people as
enemies. 1t is certainly an undisputed fact that
in all the old free States three-fcurths, if not a
greater proportion, of the temperance men be-
long tot Republican party, and the active work
ers receive more adverse criticism from our party
press and ofiee-seekers than do the drunkard-
making end of the party. This, too, notwith-
standing the temperance voters have always sup
ported the ticket, the whisky and beer fellows
voting the Democratic whenever there was any
desertion. There is no ~pretense on the part of
the liquorites, from the saloen-keeper down to the
brewer and d~istiller, that they intend or desire to
vote with the Republican party, and they have
their national, State and city organizations for
the purpose of corrupting elections, corrupting
State and national legislatures, and are as trea-
sonable as ever was the slave power; and still
Republican politicians hesitate to take grounds
against this corrupt and powerful enemy of free
Institutions and Christian civilization. The
traffic refuses to be governed by
any laws that protect society, and the Demo
cratic party, true to its depPaved instincts, glo-
ries in this lawlessness and seeks an alliance
with the accused traffic and honors the outlaws,
who ought to be in a felon's cell.
Consult the opinion of the educators in our
colleges, hlgn= SCHOOLS. the common schools, the
clergy, the thoughtful educated business men
and farmers, the church membership of our
country, and they will nearly universally agree
that the demand on the Republican party to take
square honest open grounds against the liquor
traffic is the manly and right thing to do. To
my mind it will be ~contemptibly mean and cow
ardly, traitorous to the best interests of the
State and nation, not to denounce this infamous
liquor combination, and to place ourselves so as
to omman the respect of all honorable men.
The Republican politicians. if there be any, who
desire nothing said about the lawless traffic that
is getting this nation by the throat, are incom-
parably more deserving contempt than were the
dough-faces from 1855 to 1860.
/ believe it to be almost the unanimous wish
of temperance Republicans to have our party act
wisely, but We want no alliance directly OF inai-
rectly with the liquor power. II would be Just
as honorable to desire an alliance with the Nor
mons or Southern ku-klux murderers as with
these enemies of morality and good government.
l do hope a due appreciation of American man
hood pervades the Republicans of Indian; that
they will never sell their birthright to the liquor
power, as the leaders of the Democratic party
have done, until now, in the whole North, there
is scarcely a Democratic paper that has manhood
enough to refuse wearing the yoke of subservi-
ency to the rum traffic. AS the sympathy of the
Northern Democrats-1861 to 1664-for the
South undoubtedly protracted the struggle, and
was of itself moral treason, so is the silence or
sympathy of Republicans to-day on this, the
livest and most important question before the
American people.
"a school house ON every hilltop and no sa-
loon in the valley" will soon be the battle-cry of
the free men and women of this country, and if
our party does not want to get hurt, we had bet
ter fall into line and march on.
B. F. SPENCER.
VERSAILLES. Ind, March 20.