The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1884-04-25
COMMUNICATION
An Appeal to the Freeholders of Piles
grove Township.

An Appeal to the Freeholders OF Piles
grove Township.
WooDsTowN, April o. 1854.
Dear Brother FreehOlders.
Bend low your head and listen, for l would
talk to you awhile Turn not away, for it is
the voice of a woman who speaks, Glow and
sweet" short time ago a labor of love,
connected with the temperance cause, called
me to "Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the
plains" Calling first at the residence of the
only clergyman in the village, I journeyed
from house to house, and found the people,
with few exceptions, as thoroughly imbued
with the spirit of temperance as myself. l
also found them exceedingly sociable, and so
they talked and I listened; and as | listened
what do you think 1 heard? Why this: eve
have drunkenness here but they don't get
their liquor here" Where do they get it p
I inquired. why they go to Woodstown or
Swedesboro" Hailing from the former To-
cality, what do you suppose my feelings were
upon hearing these remarks, and what could
l say in defense? Naught. My thoughts
were not idle, however, and I silently resolved,
like Neal Dow, the father of prohibition,
" Heaven helping me, I'll change all that. y
With this purpose in my heart dear brother
freeholders, I come to you, asking for your
cooperation. ASK, and We shall receive, u
is the divine injunction and promise. have
obeyed the former; should the latter be full
filled, how many happy hearts would sing
glad songs of thanksgiving and praise.
First. There is no freebooter who can hon.
estly certify a liquor-licensed hotel to be
necessary" and to conduce to the public
good" as he is required to do by the statute
book. On the contrary, such an arrange.
ment can be proven to be detrimental to the
community, morally, physically, and inan-
cially Second. The will of the people is in
opposition to the granting of license. The
principle then, is undemocratic an infringe
ment of the rights of a people, whose will is
the supreme law of the land.
There are arguments on the other side
Let few of them be considered. Some peo
pie have an insane idea that removing license
from a public house must necessarily close
the establishment, and thus deprive the people
of the accommodations hitherto afforded
them. That some hotels, at least, are self
sustaining, independent of such license, car
be proven by the following colloquy related
to me by venerable gentleman of the highest
responsibility and of unquestionable veracity,
] g. r IL
taken place between himself and a landlord
Mr.. Citizen" Well, Mr. Landlord, pre-.
sumo that now since you are getting along Sc
well, and have your property SO nearly paid
for, you could dispense with license"
Mr.. Landlord" Yes 1 could, but l
won't"
Ruin the hotel-keepers business, as we'll as
incommode the public. Suppose it does ruin
the hotel-keepers business and save the peo-
pie. If any mans family is dependent
upon the destruction of other mems families
for support, such a business had best be
ruined-ought to have been ruined long ago.
and would have been, if the people had done
their duty.
Let US be understood upon this momentous
question. We have no desire to be warning
against the hotel-keeper or his business inter
ests. If, however, in this great battle for hui
mainly, we come in contact with any mans
business, the fault is not ours-the business
must get out of the way or we will remove it,
if possible. Individual enterprise must sue
cumb to public welfare. We wish success to
hotel-keepers. To prove the truth of my as
sertion, let them engage all the women and
all the men of the land to assist them in pour
ing their vile liquors into the streets. Let
them lay in another stock not of beer, ale or
porter, wine or whiskey, but of useful arti-
ces or let them dispense biscuit and coffee,
sandwiches or soda water, any of which they
can have without license, and we shall then
see who can, or who will wish to interfere
with the business of bookkeeping.
Very truly yours, GEORGE GREY
COMMUNICATED.
EoP Ga "a first class nd fra apor;,,o -,