West Virginia freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1881-1886, 1885-11-11
BAPTISTS AND TEMPERANCE.
General Association Mass Meet
ing. Temperance Report and
Stirring Speeches on the Cause,
Curse and Cure of the Liquor
Traffic.

Curse and Cure of the Liquor
Traffic.
Grafton Baptist Church, Sat. Foe.
Nou. Z.
By order of the Association the
Temperance Report was made the
special order for Saturday evenings
session, to be considered in gene
raj Mass meeting on the subject
of Temperance.
The house was crowded at an
early hour, the Temperance songs
by the excellent choir were in
spring, and everything seemed to
conspire to make the meeting a
grand success.
Prof. D. B. Purinton, presiding,
called on Rev. S. B. D. Prickett of
the M. E. Church, who made an
earnest opening prayer for the
cause of Temperance and Prohi-
bition.
The Committee submitted the
following
REPORT ON TEMPERANCE.
Your Committee on Temperance
beg leave TO submit the following
report:
The whisky traffic is the bane of
the Home, of the State and of the
country, and of all the evils which
curse the American people, this is
the greatest. 1t is worse than war,
worse than famine, worse than the
pestilence that walketh at noon
day. 1t is without a single re-
deeming trait. 1t increases our
taxes at fearful rate; it impedes
legislation; it corrupts our Courts
and debauches the ballot box it
corrupts our youth, degrades our
manhood and fills our jails and pen
itentiaries. Nine-tenths of the vic
Tins of the gallows make their
start from the saloon.
And the enigma of the ages is,
that any Christian man will vote
for it, or even countenance it for q
moment,
Therefore, Re8olved, That as an
association, representing the inter
ests of the Baptist denomination
of this State, we place ourselves
squarely against the whisky traffic.
Resolved, That we declare our
selves for the Home and against
the Saloon; we declare ourselves
for the State and against the liquor
oligarchy we declare ourselves for
the Government and against this
man destroying, God dishonoring
and impudent Rum Power.
Re8olued, That the Baptists of
West Virginia do most earnestly
and respectfully petition the next
Legislature to submit to a vote Of
the people, the proposed Amend
ment to the Constitution, prohibit
ing the manufacture and sale of in
toxicaing liquors as q beverage,
within the limits of this State.
Resolved, Specially-That as an
earnest of our foregoing petition,
we declare that we will vote for no
Candidate for the next Legislature
who will not pledge himself to vote
for the submission of said proposed
Amendment to vote of the people.
Resolved, That as Christian Citi-
zens of great Country,we dare not
and cannot divorce our duties as
Christian workers from our duties
as loyal citizens and voters,in deal
ing with great issues that affect
alike the moral, religious, social,
political and material interests of
all the people, and that as great
moral and political reforms, under
Republican form of Government,
are brought about through the
agencies of political parties, we
hereby declare that loyalty to Christ
as we'll as loyalty to Country, de-
mand that Christian citizens shall
labor and cooperate only with
such party or parties as declare, in
purpose, policy and platform, for
the moral social and material wei
fare of the people.
Resolved, That the Legalized