The Brookhaven leader., 1884-11-27
st. John Ham o and Burned.

bringing us, amidst lot Of uncom-
monty worthless reportoriai alter
nath from. the election fields, ac-
counts of the baoging of Gov st.
John in Vermont and Michigan and
in Kansas, not satisfied with the
pole and rope. they afterwarl barn
ed him-in efligy The Republican
spitfires are not so far out of their
reckoning a. they might be: for the
Prohihitioni-ts have actually carri-s
ed out their threats aud defeated the
Republicans. 1t is not yet known
how much the Prohibition vote is
in two thirds of the States; but it is
certain that if the Prohibilionists Of
New York and Connecticut had
voted for Blaine 1t would have
given him the for,y-two electoral
votes Of those States, and it is not
very doubtful that the fifteen votes
of Indiana were also kept from him
By the same agencies. The latest
reports from New jersey leave
scarcely any difference between
C1eveland's plurality and ST. Johns
vote there so that it is not certain
that Cleveland could have carried .
single Northern State had st. John
not declared war on the Republicans,
while it is quite certain that Blaine
would have been triumphantly elect
ed.
This Prohibition influence in the
South was on the other side. In
North Carolina, for example, the
Republicans party is distinctly COM
mitted to liquor and the Democracy
to temperance. In Maryland, where
the Prohibition nominee for Vice
President, a strong and good man
lives, the Prohibition vote was only
1850 in a total pol! of 1S5, ,839, the
heaviest ever cast in the State. In
Mossouri the Prohibition electoral
ticket received only 1441 votes out
OF 412,7T6. With the Democracy
prohibition is local issue, and is
not allowed to interrupt national
canvass. The PIohibitionists as
political party, as national in con-
tradistinction to local option, are
Northern and Republican. They
have for many years been struggling
to carry their States for constitu-
tional amendments prohibiting the
manufacture and sale of in .oxicants.
They have carried Maine aad Kan
sas and Iowa, and have come within
q small margin of success in Ohio;
and now, because the Republicans
will not move fast enough for them,
because leaders Of the party cultivate
the liquor vote by promises and
and prevarlcations, the Prohibition.
lists have deliberately set out to
destroy the Republican psrty's su-
premacy bv running independents
tickets at both State and national
elections, knowing that their vote
will come from the Republican
ranks, knowing that the result will
be Democratic victory, but openly
pledging themselves to attack
and destroy the Democrats after
they have finished the Republicans.
Their programme is bold one,
and there are no couaealments about
IL. They make no compromises or
alliances. Iu very few districts
their men have been elected to Con-
gress or Legislatures by one or
other of the great parties; but in
such cases the Prohibitionists are
snre Of their men, who will vote
for the desired amendment or iegis-
lation. The results show that they
have contributed materially to the
Dzm"cratic success, for which we
owe them no thanks, aud tor which
they expect no rewards. They have
fully attained their purposes, in
humilating the Republicans, and ex-
pect to be rewarded in one Of two
ways: Either the Republicans will
make resubmission To them in State
conventions, by nominating Prohi-
bitionists and adopting Prohibition
resolutions, or they will disintegratc
The Republican party and. grow by
assimilatiug its membership int0
a powerful organization. They ex-
pect nothlrg from the Democracy,
which is pledged against them by its
national platform.
For the Democracy, therefore, as
we said repeatedly during the COM
paign, the Prohibition movement is
all gain and No less. We can all
mire the bravery and sclf-devotion
with which the Prohibitionists
stand against popular disapproval
which takes the tempestuous form Of
hanging and burning effigies, with
out feeling that we are particularly
interested in the matter. Which
ever side wins, we lose nothing. The
, Prohibition assault on the Dem0-
! crscy is too far away 10 the future
!, to require any consideration, and
perhaps local option win have adj
!, vanced so rapidly in the South with
!. in the next quadrenium as to make
political issue on the subject
forever impossible. For the present,
the fact that they have carried the
country for US is merely curiosity
of politics.-N. o. Picasuas
Over the portal of every State
office shonld ha- written. NJ