Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-10-15
PROHIBITION.

Resolutions Adopted by the North Illinois
Conference of the Methodist Protestant
Church.
WHEREAS, The North Illinois Confer
ence of the Methodist Protestant Church
has annually proclaimed its uncompromis-
ing opposition to all forms of inebriaticn:
and
WHEREAS, The evil still prevails, and is
on the increase, for the traffic in intoxicat-
ing liquors is to-day swallowing up vast
proportion of the wealth of this country, is
destroying the lives Of scores of thousands
OF our fellow citizens, and is the cause of
eighty per cent. of all the vice and crime
of the land; and is the greatest enemy of
industry, the greatest foe of domestic hap
piness and virtue, the prolific parent Of an
archy, riot, and social disorder, the fruitful
cause of strikes-hence the deranger Of the
commercial affairs of the whole country,
the great fountain of political corruption,
and, in one word, is the gigantic crime of
all crimes. Its suppression becomes,
without doubt, of great Importance to the
church of God, the nation, the family, and
the home.
WHEREAS, While the traffic yields
revenue of 1884, 100000 the expenditure, in
the various ways it draws upon the public,
amounts to 81, 400, 100000; thus for every
dollar Of revenue it draws seventeen dollars
for expenditure; hence political economy
demands its prohibition. Therefore, as an
annual conference, we reiterate our uncom-
promising opposition TO the entire traffic
! the importation, the manufacture, sale, and
use, as q beverage, in every way, whether
by high or low license; hence are opposed to
legallzing it in any manner, and pledge
ourselves to do all we can for its entire de-
struction and humiliation from the nation
and the world.
WHEREAS, the proper observation OF the
Christian Sabbath is essential to the main
tenance Of the Church and the civil institu-
tons of the land, and the happiness OF the
family; and as the saloon is the cause OF
most of the Sabbath desecration, as mem
bers of the church of God we demand the
! suppression Of the saloon.
WHEREAS, The importation, manufact-
ure, sale, and use as q beverage of all al
coholics are naught but evil, and that con-
| tinually; therefore we demand, in tho name
of our God, that they shall be prohibited
! by the General Government, all State and
municipal governments, from being i'm
ported, made, and sold in all parts OF this
land. And, furthermore, we solemnly feel
bound by our love for humanity, for ma
ton, land, and for our homes, to leave no
honorable effort untried for its utter an
initiation from the world.
WHEREAS, A prominent temperance
statistician asserts the fact that in the
United States there are over 700 ,0G0 drunk
ards; that 100000 die annually, who go to
drunkards' graves; over 275 die daily, IL
every hour, or more than one in every five
minutes, from the effects of strong drink
in country, too, that boasts Of its civiliz-
alton, of its schools and colleges,its church.
es and benevolent institutions. Wei pause
with bated breath before the enormity Of
the evil and the strange apathy Of the peo-
pie, and ask: "Cannot, ought not, some
thing more effectual than has ever been
done to be tried to stop the march Of this
destroying monster, this demon of cri1ne?"
Again, is it not true that this is pestilence
more deadly than the exhalations OF the
tabled upas tree? A Christian people support
it by law, sustain it by fashion, and spread
its ravages by license and public approval.
God help us to lay the ak at the foot of the
tree, and let every tree that bringeth forth
not good fruit be hewn down and cast into
the fire. God speed the day when the peo-
pie shall be emancipated from the thrall-
dom of strong drink. Oh, is there not some
hidden thunderbolt, red with uncommon
wrath, to blast the wretches who dare to
make their living upon the blood and souls
of our fellow-me and women? Our watch
word is 'No compromises; the accursed
traffic must CO." No pulpit, church, home,
or citizen is safe while the liquor traffic