Sword and shield. (Clinton, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1885-02-21
Columbus and MammOn!

Columbus and MammOn!
And Columbus has had the tussle
with Mammon, and they do say that
the umpires, the Board Of Trade,
gave the purse to Mammon. In
short, the temperance people, the
church people, the crusaders for the
right, the lovers of good morals, the
lovers Of law and order, those who
care for the interest of the young
man and the young women of their
village, have, all, thrown up the
sponge, by Withdrawing their ma
jority petition to prevent the sale OF
whisky in Columbus. This was done
upon the advice of Mammon through
his representatives, the Board Of
Trade of Columbus, because the pro-
hibition business "would injure the
traffic of the place." These good
Columbus crusaders for the right,
with about the fifteenth part of the
zeal and courage of those indomita-
BILE spirits who planted the standard
Of the Cross upon the walls of the
Saracen stronghold, in respect to the
worshippers Of filthy lucre-of some
of the bankers, the cotton dealers,
the shop owners, those who sit at the
seat of stom-the Saracens of evil
and of decentralization, have quietly
sent iii their flag oftruce, and invited
the enemy to rivet the shackles Of
He'll upon them.
How about West Point -? They
say in Columbus, and in Aberdeen,
and other towns, that ours is a fast
place-very disorderly-more whis-
Ky drank here to the square inch than
elsewhere in the Union, except
Starkville. But they do give us the
credit of being a progressive, high
spirited, brave people. Now, to ap-
ply the term bravery to a locality is
rather mover, but it is a noticeable
fact that there is congregated in this
town community ofmen possessing,
as class, as high order of nerve, or
physical courage, as any in the
world.
The question now presents itself
squarely to us-have we the courage
to crush out the Saladin, whisky, in
West Point, in spite of the cry
of interest aid trade Z hope
every Christian, at least, will
have the nerve to do right
The line is being drawn-on which
side you will step, that Of immortality,
or of right? | pity that Christian
who can not lose sight of money
when he has such a positive issue as
prohibition presented squarely to
him.
But the whole argument, that the
interests of trade are involved in
this whisky prohibition business, is
based upon an erroneous cOrollary.
Country people cast the imputa-
ton back into the teeth ofsuch points
as Columbus when they accuse them
Of being drawn by whisky to town
flies to carrion. They ask why they
do not establish convenient whisky
deadfalls in the country, if they ia
vor it. The people in the country
take it as an insult to be told that
liquor attracts them to trade in your
towns and they would be justified in
resenting the conduct of Columbus
business men by taking their trade
elsewhere. For the sake of a few
misled people Of social turn, whose
opinion is heralded as the sentiment
| Of the sober, honest, thrifty major
ity of our country population, all
this helabaloo about ''injury to trade"
is raised. There is only one trade
that would be injured by prohibition,
that is the whisky trade, and the thou
sands Of dollars that now go into the
pockets of whisky distillers in Ken
lucky and elsewhere, would other
wise remain here to buy bread and
meat for the topers' children and
help pay honest debts.
Accomdations, cheap goods and
fair prices for products, are the prime
attractions to trade. Build opera
houses, build ware houses, have yards
for the accommodation Of campers.
fair grounds and the like-such as
these draw trade. | should prefer
| that other towns get the topper traffic
A sober and thrifty population viii
prove an incentive to immigration to
a country which has a too extensive.
| " advertised reputation for whisky
and shot gun morality. With this
! increase of a better population there
will be no vacant store houses, and
the farmer will pay as he goes
CLAY County Leader.