The Waco daily examiner. [volume] (Waco, Tex.) 187?-1888, 1885-09-18

tell me, however, that all such bever-
ages in their most innocent use in
,oive certain danger that possibly
any one may, probably many and GER
| tainly some, will abuse IL, and thus
abuse themselves, and by consequence
that all men, as a matter of prudence
and therefore of duty ought TO abstain
from and reject itl an
swer; that is q question OF morals,
for the answer to which We mnst re-
sort TO the Bible or to the church, or
to the teachings of moral philosophy.
The right to answer 1t at all, or TO
pretend to any opinion upon it bind
ing the citizen, has never been COM
mitted by the people III any free gov
eminent ON earth to the possession of
the secular power. If the state eau
pass between the citizen and his
church, his Bible, his conscience, aud
to act upon questions of his own per
sonal habits, and decide what he shall
do on merely personal grounds, then
il has authority to invade the domain
of thought as well as of private life
aud prescribe bounds to the freedom
Of conscience There is no barrier in
principle where the government must
|
scribed by law and maintained by
persecution. Do you tell me that the
using of WINE or beer as n beverage
however temporarily, is of danger
Gus tendency by reason of its exanl-
pie? Do you insist that temperate
use of il by one man may be pleaded
by another rs the occasion and apollo
gy for its abuse? | answer, that If the
government Restraints but one man
OF his own just rational liberty TO
regulate his private conduit and af-
fairs in matters innocent of them
selves, wherein he oflends not against
peace, public decorum, or order, nor
the personal rights of any, then the
government both usurps uudelegatcd
powers, and assumes to punish one
man in advance for the possible fall of
another. The argument that because
one man may offend another must be
restrained, is the lowest foundation of
tyranny, the cornerstone OF despot-
ism. Liberty is never denied to the
people anywhere ON the ground that
liberty is denied to be good or right in
itself. The universal pretext of every
despotism is that liberty /. dangerous
to society-that is, that the people are
unit to enjoy It,"
Under the influence of the great ar.
gument from which this extract is
made, the Legislature of Massachusetts
repealed the prohlbitory liquor law
and returned to high license, | could
make many more quotations from the
speeches and writings of men of
the first distinction in this coun-
try, but will not trespass further upon
your time TO do it. These VIII
suffice TO illustrate the full force of the
argument. The democratic party
would have been recrcant to all its
traditions and antecedents from the
time when, uudcr Mr.. Jefferson, it
vindicated the personal liberty OF the
citizen against tho odious alien and
sedition laws, when 1t fought aud van
pushed acknowledged in defense
of the personal rights of foreign born
citizens, and when after the civil war
i;--.-..si- .l.s -.~s...i.... f-a.- .Ls. ..-is..
them to personal liberty and citizen
ship, had 1t failed to declare ia uu
Unstable terms against the invasion
of personal liberty by prohibitory Ii.
quor laws so forcibly depicted by Mr..
Adams, MIR. i,ill and Governor An.
drew IN the quotations have made
from them.
The northern democrats have
fought prohibition ever since II orr
ginated 1t is an old enemy of theirs
IL always co-opeiates with the repub-
licans against the northern democra-
cy, and no one cause contributed so
much to the democratic victory Ia the
election OF Grover Cleveland, as the
consistent aud sturdy and uucom-
promising fight of the democracy in
behalf of personal liberty against the
heresy of prohibition. Prohibition
does not prevail in a single democra-
tic state. The first prohibitory law
ever passed by the New York lcgisla-
ture was vetoed by that grand old
democratic statesman IIoratio Sey.
mour, then governor. Within the
last three weeks the democracy of
ONO, of Pennsylvania aud of Iowa, in
their state conventions, have declared
strongly against prob bition.
The record of the democratic party
may be scanned throughout snd will
be found to be uniform and unbrokeu
III opposition TO prohibition as well
as TO every other form of Invasion of
The personal liberty of the citizen. /
Liberty, the development of indiyid. |
ual manhood, freedom of thought and |
action, along with accountability 10 |
public opinion and law, have ever
been the ruling thought and purpose
OF the democratic party in its rela-
llons with the people. Such a party.
with such antecedents and history
could not If il would, and would moi
fit could, shirk such an issue as Tho
prohibition party has presented.
Speaking for myself aud no one else.
! do declare, that any man who claims
sincerely to Tea democrat and Mt tho
same prohibi:ionist-and there are
thousands of such-in my Judgment.
either utterly misapl the mis-
sion and record of thc democratic
party, or the purposes and aims of the
prohibition party.
lteportor-S nator, what ls tho
effect of prohibition In the states
where II has been tried ? Does pro-
hibilion prohibit!
Senator C.--lf human testimony il
" DO believed, 1t docs not. If human
Experience Is worth anything il warns 4
~ against the experiment. Tho evils
y inteInpernnce are not of any con. I
adorable magnitude In any OF the I
'ural districts of our country. II Is
II the towns aud cities, aud oonters OF Q
population, that they are found in d
heir highest development, and call b
most loudly for wise aud judiclous Q
philanthropy aud stalesmalship for "
heir amelioration. And II is In these ii
cry localities that universal con- a
urrence of testimony proves, beyond
possibility of doubt, that prohibit r,
Dry liquor lave aggravate aud in- II
rease all the admitted evils of intern a,
crance. This testimony comes from 81
very state where prohibition has vi
cen, tried, without an exception. In
)wa, where on the 18th day of July a,
ut prohibition had been In force one III