St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-15
HIGH LICENSE MEETING.
Stirring Address by John W. Willis,
Esq, and Bishop Ireland.
Enjoyable Characterization to st, Mich
aePs League of the Gross.

Notwithstanding the wetness and frequency Of
April showers last evening, the Church Of st.
Michael in West st. Paul, thoroughly filed
with a large and appreciative audience. The ex-
ercises were opened by an able address by John
w. Willis, Esq, which he prefaced with
thorough explanation of the government of the
United States, of states, cities, towns
and villages, showing that all their
machinery were within the governing power
of the people who had thus exhibited to the
world their capability of being their masters
by building up "a great and grand republic 1t
was necessary that morality be the keynote of
this governing body that the American system of
government be perp etuated. Accent Rome had
wealth, power and greatness, but her people and
her politics became corrupted, they gave them
selves up to corruption and debauchery and
Rome fell. This condition Of things would
crush any nation. This republic must be pre-
served by the morality of It's workingmen, each
of whom was a sovereign with no one standing
above him in his enjoyment of civil rights. In
these latter days the liquor traffic had decided
not to do business legally, had allied itself to all
that was foul and corrupt, and through the
moral voter it must give way to the
dominancy of morality and religion.
Some persons timidly said the liquor interest
could not be conquered but this nation had cut
tougher meat and conquered greater foes than
this evil, and it finally would this Every Ameri-
can citizen in the guardianship Of the grandest
governments on the earth will obey the growing
moral sentiment which is rising up in the land
against the power of this traffic and will do his
duty at the ballot box, and under God the right
will prevail. Applause.
Mr. J. j. Hayes, who was in fine voice, charm
ngly sang ''Norah the Pride of Kildare, and
was followed by the very rccm c.l.y REM or
song '.What Is IT." by Mr.. l.. T. Uasserly ana the
duet 'Larboard Watch by Messrs. E. W. White
,;1I,
GUS applause,
Bishop Ireland opened with a happy talk, in
which he expressed his surprise at the size of the
audience, and stated that, although he had always
had high opinion of West st. Paul, this tenn
perance turn out showed him it was not high
enough. Added to this, the league on this side
of the river had eaten out completely that
on the East side, which was another
feather in the cap of the good peo-
PIE Of St. NIichaels parish. He then
gave short history of st. Michels church, com
mencing when he was its pastor and the block
was bought on which the fine church and parson-
age now stands for so little money that he sighed
in the great advance of value of property in the
Fifth ward, and its cheapness at that time that
he had not purchased half dozen more blocks.
The first church built had four pews, which it
was hard work to fill with renters, but which
afterwards increased to six, eight and twelve
when Father Gallagher took the parish.
But in this fifteen years n with
the progress the church had made there had
been moral prayers and he always wanted st.
Michaefs Parish to take the lead in West st.
Paul in every good and moral work
Coming to the Temperance branch of his adj
dress the good Bishop dwelt with fervid eo-
quence upon the power of woman in the hercu-
lean task of curbing and redeeming even the ap-
petites and habits of men, fathers, brothers,
husbands and sons.
In no ST ba odv Tod +ho Il ;rrI,
license proposition now before the people of st.
Paul, and urged support for the high license
ticket which resulted from the Market hall meet
ing.
He cited the numerical march of the dram shop
under low license, as in Minneapolis, where the
increase in two years had been from $50 to 567,
and st. Paul was making similar progress. In
contrast was the instance of Joliet ILL.,. where,
under q 81 600 license, from $50 saloons the
number had run down to a.
This whine about impoverishing the poor man
by high license was all hypocrisy. Why, he
had inquired into this subject, and the poor man
who would be injured was a brewer who was
worth S150000, who had chattel mortgages on
twenty five or thirty saloons he had started to
sell his products, owned corner lots on the best
possible sites for future saloons, and who would
have to pay $500 for each license to keep
all his ranches open. This
low license and free whisky bushes deserves to
be wiped out. If any poor saloon keeper was
impoverished and starving in consequence he
would himself head subscription for him and
family and the Irish charitable societies would
also see they did not suffer. This ''poor man.
argument was all bosh. He was going to vote on
Tuesday, May 6, 1884 for the first time. He
should vote high license ticket WITH no free
whisky on either corner of it, Tremendous
applause.
Mr. T. G. Hanley then treated the audience to
the song Sailing Messrs. II. NJ. Mclaughlin
and j. j. Hayes to the duet ''Rataplan,'' and
Mr.. E. W. White to the song 81 fear no foe'' The
exercises closed with an appeal by Father Gal
lagher and Bishop Ireland for young and old men
to come forward and take the pledge and join
the league, to which full half dozen responded,
Bishop Ireland administering the oath.