The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1884-09-25
THE JOINT DISCUSSION OF PRO-
HIBITION.
A Waterloo to the AntI's.

consisting of both sexes and all ages t,
the number Of about GOO, who took deeI
interest i'm the result. As already pub
lished, the Anti speakers were Hon. j. j
Williams, of Grenada, and Capt, J. A
Hoskins; whilst the Prohibitionists wer,
represented by Rev. j. H. Gambrcll and
DR.. Chas. b. Galloway, tie after taking
the place of Col. W. l.. Nugent, who was
prevented by conflicting legal engage.
Inents from filling his appointment.
Seats and suitable stand had been
erected, and at 1880 a. IN. Hon. J. j.
Williams was introduced to the audience
in appropriate terms by Judge Hiram
Cassidy, and the speaking began. Each
speaker was allowed one hour, and the
first speaker % minutes in which to
close. Did our space permit we would
like to give full synopsis of the address
of each speaker, for in no other way
could we present q more convincing ar
gument to those who did not hear them,
why prohibition should succeed. How
ever, the entire hours speech of Col. Will
liams and its logic may be briefly summed
up thus: Without denying the misery
and want brought to many women and
children by drink, he stated that these
were the exceptions and not the rule.
That Noah and Lot, of Old Testament
fame, got drunk: therefore God sanction
ed drunkenness. That the Savior himself
sanctioned strong drink by making wine
for the marriage supper and honored the
intOxication and revelry, which the
speaker assumed followed, by his pres
ence and approval. without allowing
anything for the superiority of the eau
cassian race or the benigd influences of
Christianity, he claimed that in no coun-
try where alcohol is not used as bever-
age is there such marked progression,
and nowhere else are the women so high
ly respected and hOnored by man or en-
joy SO many privileges; therefore this
and other similarly progressive countries
owe this distinction to alcoholic stinu-
lants, and woman her improved condi-
ton to its use. Finally, that sober men,
"the fends Of sobriety," as he termed
them, murder men; therefore it isdanger-
GUS to keep sober lest we kill some-
body.
His speech, including his theology,
was quite effectively disposed of by Rev.
j. III. Gambrell, who followed him. The
principal part of the second speakers
time was taken up, however, in reading
documentary evidence to refute the oft
repeated arguments of Anti Prohibition
lists that, "Prohibition doesn't prohibit"
This he did by recent letters from leading
citizens of Shubuta, Lieut.. Gov. Stands,
of Senatobia, the Superintendent of Edu-
cation of Lawrence county and others,
showing the beneficial effects of Prohibi-
ton where it has been tested under their
observation.
Capt Hoskins came third and made an
amusing speech, principally at the ex-
pense of the gentleman who preceded
him. He regarded the testimony as
dispositions taken on short notice" stat
ed that there was not enterprise enough
in Lawrence for any one to point to it, as
an example of the good effects of Prohi-
bition ; read the criminal list of Frank
lin county which was published last
week in 'the Prohibition Bible, some
times called THE BROOKHAvEN LEADER"
to prove that Prohibition in Franklin
which has three retail groceries] is a
failure quoted heavily from Gov. Click
charging that Prohibition is Kansas has
proved failure wanted to know why
Col. Nugent, DR.. Galloway, the State
Lecturer and others who are exercising
themselves about Prohibition in Lincoln
county, don't tackle it in Kinds, where SO
much more whisky is sold claimed that
taking the whisky away from Brookha-
ven would injure the trade; there were
only two saloons here when DR.. Johnson
took hold of the College and now look at
it, and yet the town has three more sa-
looms. Said Prohibition was a Yankee
institution, any how, of Puritan birth
and "came from way up yonder tn hum, u
where the Abolition party and all the
isms start from, and strongly intimated
that it might in the end create as big a
rumpus as the Anti-Slavery party did.
There is National Prohibition ticket in
the field to-day, he said, and wound up
by charging the prohibitionists of this
and other counties as being actuated by
political aspirations, and stating that il
was an attempt to unite Church and
State, etc.
When the Captain had subsidized, DR..
Galloway, who was the real orator of the
day, took the stand and for nearly an
hour held the entire audience by his we'll
known matchless eloquence, and by a
perfect storm of argument, logic and
whitening satire. We will not attempt
to give even short synopsis of his
speech. Suffice it to say that he review
ed every position taken by each of the
Anti speakers, and before his powerful
reasoning and strong array of facts, hac ked
by power of conviction that seemed ut
terly invincible, their speeches and their
effects vanished like mist before a glori-
GUS sun. Time after time there was
hearty applause by his approving audi.
ence, and it was evident to every one
long before he closed that the Prohibi-