The Somerset reporter., 1885-01-07
The Prohibition Purty yDefended.


ianed pbriy at least one hearing. We will
try aud tie r. asoDsbIe aod not inirude too
largely on your columns The fact Is YOU
are having 1t al your own way. You are
strIklng bard at Us and w have ~ chance
to DEF, nd ourselves You publish Nj.
liamilipn's article, Il justly arraigning the
Pr bibitory party, aud We have no chance
for reply unless you kindly open your col
uDns tor that purpose. Now be fair and
all Nv your readers - hear both sides the
story.
We believe that there Is demand for a
nation i tempefa &c party in this country
that dare speak plainly against the furD
| traffic. The late election has abundanlly
| proven the fac, that there are tens Of thou :
SANDS Of voters whose devotion to the tenn
| pcrsnce cause is greater than heir deyc ton
| to party. They cannot iud a coUgeuial
| home III either OF the great parties OF the
| past. II Is their absoiu'e right 10 orgauize
apariy that harmoDizes u principle with
| their ideas of government. IL IL admitted
that there ts not even q ray y: hope from
the Democratic party. 1t Is usei.ss then
" argue 10 that direction. l. there any
hope from the Republican, as great na-
| tioDal party. Let US see. 1t has been the
dominant party for tweDty-four years. II
has had ample opportunity TO suppress the
laws wherever the national goyeInmest as
| jurisdcticn Bu, it hasn't done It, nor
even attempted 10 40 it, Over eleven hnn-
| dred liquor Saloons ia the District of Co.
! lumbla. The Territories over run with
| rum DRUNKENNESS more or less on all the
army posts OF the West and nothing done
| to prevent it, and when this great Dational
| party goes into a convention to nominate a
candidate for the Presidency, 1t enunciales 5
its principles upon the great questions that
agitate the public mind, save the temper
ance question, the most Important of them
all, aud on that question 1t is as silent as
the grave. Not d word il uttered. Even
Wien great temperance organization,
comprising portion of the best aud pur-
est aud most d voted women of our land
pleaus aud petitions that convention to
take some action on the Temperance ques-
lion in otder that the importance elements
OF the entire country may have the sails
faction Of rallyiug round its standard, and
aid III its victory, IL absolutely relu>es to
do this and Uner, uO pledges that rs a party
1t will lift ii hand In behalf Of great
cause. The cony. ution numuates candi-
date; he writes bis letter OF acceptance /;
has something tn say ab u the tariff, for
eign affairs, fl ance- and kindred subjects,
but in regard 10 his greatest of all qu s.
| lions, he is as silent as the grave. Not a
word is uttered.
Time wears on and eventually we find out
| that by no act Of the X publican cand date
| shall this question of temperance be admi' =
| ted into the political campaign. And BE-
| cause the party and the candidate catered
| to the rum interests of the iceLsrd States
| for the sake of votes, defeat came. Dis
| appointed and angered BY defeat, the party
ito hatfari..s ibnso "a
faithful prohibitionists who Conscientious
! ly voted for the candidate of their choice,
| and assumed the right OF free citz Dship
| in this Republic. But il is the Prohibition
| party's fault, say our Republican frien is
| that Blaine was defeated and Cleveland
| elected We are to look at results in that
| light. We have nothing to do with any
| other party's success or defeat, but our own.
1t was our business to give our candidate
aud our worthy cause jus, as large vot4
as possible. We knew that all the other
parties would do the same thing, let vcto-
| ry or defeat come where it would, and If
We gained IF ten fold over former elections
more than they, We ought not to be blamed
! for 1t. And here We call attention to the
important fact that the Prohibition party
| made II most wonderful and rapid advance
| from 1880 and 1884 Here are some of the
| statistics: Maine from &c in 1880 to 9 l33
| in 1884; Michigan from 942 to Is, ,403; Mir
nesota from 2S6 to 4,G9l; Connecticut from
4Oo to 2,205; kentucky from 251 to 5, log
New Jersey from 1875 to &, l55; Ohio from
2,61S 20 IL 259; New York from l5l7 to
20 l74 Rhode Island from 20 92s. and 9TH
er States in proportion. This is certainly
encouraging aud indicates success in fu-
ture.
II is positive fact that every Repubi.
can who out of revenge are favorng IL
cense are simply injurlDg themselves that
they may ipjure others. They throw of
the masque and prove that they are not re-
liable temperance men. Party with them
Is far above principle. That is all there is
10 it. Mr.. Hamilton in the article referred
to, does not take t,nable ground. We pre-
sume that if the w. T. L had made de-
claration in behalf of the Re publican party
thing that it could Lot consistently do, il
would have been considered all right by
Bro. Hamilton and not in the least parii-
san. The facts are trat th Union appealed
by direct authority 10 the Greenback Re
publican and Democrai Convention, re-
Sptctiu " to make some declaration IN bt =
half of the hons of this country. Each
one in turn gave deaf ear TO this Respect
tul aud consistent appeal. Our mothers
and sisters md daughters could get no
hearing there, and what else could il do
tiut turn to Il party that embodied in its
platform the very principles for which that
grand AMI noble organization contends: ::
The Republican parry NUT he careful how
it autasonizes the W. c. T. L. of this land
or it never can come Into power again.
Bro. Hamilton goes in for retiring the
reformed leaders who are doing so much
for the elevation of the masses. We have
bat hu r,,t,lA NOT
well be spar, just now, especially when
disloyalty SO deep and ma ktd is mapites.
ed 10y those who have made some pretenSe
for the temperance cause. But it Seems he
must step down and out. We have though
that John b. Cough was mighty power
and in the right place, but it seems We
have been mistaken all these years. MI
Cough has "assumed leadership" that did
not belong to him. In regard to these
statements of Bro. Hamilton We have only
to say that it ia surprisingly strange what
ideas will sometimes crowd into the brain
of intelligent aud noted mem.
Bro. Hamilton mildly asserts that there
is Suffering because the Prohibition party
has been allowed to exist. We should be
pleased to know who is going to lake the
responsibility to strike it out of existence,
and would enquire if it did not have the
right to send five hundred delegates from,
| th'r,y-One different states TO IA convention
and nominate a candidate for the Presiden-
| cye And did not the one hundred and fifty
| thousand of American freemen have the
| right to vote for that candidate if they sc
| desired? This party that consistent,
maintains and openly declares the grandesl
| and purest and highest principles that evel
as Yet have entered into the young life o
any party, is not to be easily crushed to
d. ath. Abuse and slang and prosecutor
will no, do it. 1t will grow and thrive un
der such treatment. II has come to stay
because the times demand it.
| Everybody will not agree with Bro. Ham
| ilton's way of bringing forward nationa