The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1886-06-17
AN ADDRESS TO THE VOTERS OF
LINCOLN COUNTY.

of Mississippi. You all know that foI
some cause the legislature at the last >rs-
sion enacted a law commonly called the
Local Option Law. This is a law which
gives the right to the legal voters in each
county, To decide by voting, whether
men shall he licensed 10y law to sell iu-
toXicating liquors as common beverage
for the people.
1t may he well for every citizen to run
over in his own mind some of tie causes
which led the legislature to refer this
matter of 50 great Importance to the poo
pie. We did not hear the arguments, for
or against the liquor traffic, but we are
men rs they are and can think over the
various Arguments they might have used.
| One might have said that petitions for
license to retail Intoxicating liquors do
not express the full and true sentiment
of the signers. These petitions say, that
the man is a suitable person TO keep sa.
loon. But not half of all the men who
/ sign petitions would ever of their own ac-
cord seek to have Il saloon started or
willingly certify that they are good and
necessary for society. The truth is,one-half
of the siguers do not believe this to bc
fact; some sign to avoid the displcasuIe Of
/ the man who presents the petition and
! some becausc of ignorance, and a few be-
cause they believe whisky saloons are
good places for them to 90 to. Another
might have said, that the people are toe
poor 10 bc tempted 50 constantly with
such -powcring, costly luXurics as in
toxicating liquors arc They are not able
to afford these costly beverages, however
much they may be tempted. Poverty aud
suffering would come from the too fire.
quent Use of strong drink. 1t will dehaSe
them, even if it did not craze the mind
and cause crime and loss of time from
labor. No poor man should drink intoNi-
cants, if for no other reason, simply be-
cause they are luNurics which he is not
able to afford.
BY poor man is meant one who is not
able to provide for his family and pay
his debts. All such should be against
setting up the temptation of saloons. Yet
the poor man is often SO tempted by the
sight of the dram shop that contrary to
his better Judgment he will drink at one
dram the price of whole chicken, when
he knows he has not those things which
are necessary at homc-no chicken, no
sugar, no coffee, no butter, no -four, no
milk This is no phantom of the magma
ton, nor is it an exceptional truth. |
know whereof speak. | know the facts
of the case. If only had the votes Of
all this class against license and their re-
formation from drinking strong drink,
night would come early at the saloons
and the tailoring man might rest from his
toll when eight hours work was done. |
would pause here and beg all those who
have ever been disgraccfuly drunk even
for one or two times not to vote for Ii
cense, for y0p have the deciding vote in
this election. You who have been drunk
and crave strong drink, still drink every
time YOU see n dram shop. But you
may argue that the rich man has no more
right To drink strong drink than the poor
man. Well, if you prove it don't care.
III admit it; what then
Dram drinking does more harm than
simply to take away the neccssarics Of
life. Gluttony and idlcncSS would do
this much, dram-drinking does worse
First, it destroys Il better man, the dram
drinkcr himself, and it oftcns destroys his
ncighbor. Some time in crazy violence it
causes him to take his nei@hbors blood
and life, but oftencr and still worse, he
takes his good name and character and
Seduces his children into idlcness and
dissipation. One drinking man often
does irrcparable injury to Il whole neigh
borhood and to generations after him.
| heard a man that was rich once say
that the control of labor was all iulpor-
tant to great enterprises, and the way to
control labor was to keep men poor, and
the way to keep men poor was to furnish
them plenty of whisky. This, he argued,
was one good score for whisky. If that is
so leave it to you to think it all over for
yourselves,
Some say men need not go to saloons.
/ admit they should not, and what Prohi-
bItionists want is to keep saloons from
going to them. Five hundred miles Of
railroad have been built in the State
within a few years, ana our legislature
eau hardly find time IS do any thing else
except to incorporate the little towns that
spring up along these roads And the
moving cause is frequently to get saloons,
for You know that - voters in an incor-
porated town can license saloons to sell
strong drink without consulting the
wishes of the thousands of population i'll
the country near around. \ few dozen
white and colored men in Il town can iiN
up the trap or dead-fall, as they some
times aptly call the dram shop. This
is the boast of the fairness Of the present
license system.
Now, the railroads have use for little
towns, but they have no use for the
saloons They would have more freight
to carry to and from these towns if they
had no whisky to carry. No railroad
superintendent will ever contend that the
operatives are benefited by strong drink.
Indeed they prefer men that do not drink,
especially while on duty.
There are but few large towns in the
State of Mississippi to-day that are not