Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1886-10-23
THE ANr1-sALooNIsTs.
Text OF an Address Issued by Their Exec
utfve Committee

Text OF an Address Issued by Their Exec
utive Committee
! CHEuAGo. Ill, October I3.-Ths national
| committee of the auti-salOOn republicans,
| appointed by the conference held in ChiCa-
4 60 on September l6, 1856, make, through
! their executive committee, 10 the republican
| party in the United States, and to all friends
| of temp eranCe and order, this appeal, and
/ they ask for it such acceptance and such re-
| spouse as the gravity and urgency of the
matter shall demand:
| ''Ths evils of the liquor traffic, as embed
I led in the American saloon system, has
| reached a magnitude and degree OF dsstruct-
! ivensss that threaten the foundations of
] government society and the home. The
| time has therefore come when political par
l ties and private citizens must take sides
| openly for or against the traffic with its
I methods and Its results. Neutrality rs hence
| forth impossible. Indifference is heuCefOrth
/ betrayal of the trust involved in citizen
| ship. The anti-salOon republican move
ment recognizes and prOclaims this state OF
! things The American llquOr Lralnc5 what
! ever it may once have been, Is no longer
! a legitimate and law abiding branch of
! trade serving to supply natural and I'M
| forced demand for its commodity however
harmful. The saloon system encouraged
| and directed by the diztillerE. brewers and
/ wholesale liquor dealers, has become q vast
and vlgllant organization Forming
market for Intoxicating drinks, 10 cr5ate5
/ demand where before zone existed that it
may profit by supplying that demand. IL
| the saloon is the enemy Of society, it is the
| special foe Ofthe WOrEIngman and his home.
I Defective laws and unjust customs which
I bear hardly upon labor ought 10 be and
must be reformed but the central cause Of
| the unthrift and the resulting unrest among
l wage workers Ia the fHghtful waste of the
wage fund concluded IN the gross receipts
[ Of the saloon.
/ WOrkmen3 whose energy, tru5tWOrthineas
] and skill are daily impaired at the saloon,
/ determine the standard OF wages for vast in
] nj HnaIH
| drink they fix a low average OF daily pro
[ ductiOn in great establishments, ana wages
/ seek a corresponding level. The repressn-
/ tatives Of the liquor traffic in the United
] States have become a league of law breakers.
/ Not content with unitedly refusing to obey
| the law until compelled by legal process,
I they openly resist enforcement by criminal
] means. Arson has become "a common
! weapon, used to iutimidat5 communities
/ which try to free themselves from the saloon
I curse, and furthermore the desperate de
/ Tenders of the traffic do not stop at assassin
alton as means of warfare, as the blood Of
Haddock, in Iowa, testified, and the wide
! lpr5au violation OF one set OF wholesome
| avs breeds general contempt for all law
/ and opens ho5pitable door for those mod
ern allies of the saloon systeu-cOmmunism
I and anarchy. The criminal class, which is
| multiplying faster than courts and prisons
can dispose Of 1t, nnds breeding place, it's
/ school, It's incentive and its council cham
/ Der in the saloon, whose keeper sets daily
/ example of a criminal disregard of law and
l the public good. One Of the grav6st pOllt-
/ ioal dangers which now confront the public
/ Ia the corrupt use of money to influence
elections and legislation. While this evil Is
/ intrenChed in our political system, our free
/ institutions would be at an end. When
! they can defeat or reverse the will or the
/ majority, self government Is farce. TIE
/ saloon power in the UBited States system
atically uses its corruption fund without
stint to control primaries, to carry elections
by the purchase OF votes TO prevent restrict
| i've legislation with bribery, to obstruct the
! course of Justice by t8mperiug with juIies,
[ and to punish with defeat public servants
who have incurred IJs displeasure. This
| wholesale crime against free and FAR gov
/ erHment is not even denied or concealed.
| The irrepressibls conflict between the sa-
| loon spstem and the public welfare remain
I ed a local aud subordinate matter until the
! leagued power of the liquor trat1s took tie
/ offensive, and by successive and rapid ag-
/ gres5ions invaded every place, however sa-
| cred; violated every restraining law, how
/ ever moderate, and now avoWedIy aims az
/ complete political domination by debauch-
lug the ballot and the legislature.
The national anti-salOOn republican con
| ference representing the predominant sen
timent of republicans and good citizens
| everywhere says that the saloon ought to be
put out Of existance; that the people OF each
| state and municipality ought to have the
/ opportunity, wherever desired, of deciding
] when and how this shall be done; ana that
| until destroyed, the saloon ought to be Grip
! pied by every restraint and disability which
I local public sentiment viii enforce and
made to reimburse as much as possible Of
l ths public loss 1t causes 1t Is believed that
I this policy, backed by vigorous enforce
/ ment OF law, cOmmend5 itself 20 the com
I moa sense ana conscience OF the people and
hat on this p latfoTm ali reasonable friends
/ of temperance and public safety can unite
/ and work. It does not require community
/ which is ready FOR prohibition 70 tolerate
l taxed or unt8Z6d saloons until an 6nLlr
state including great cities, has reached the
I same level Of opinion. lt does not compel
communities to submit 70 a riot of free rum
until they are prepared to enforce the total
/ suppression Of the liquor traffic within their
limits. 1t does not attempt to apply a rule
uniform and arbitrary 40 6OsCOO,OOO people
living under widely varying conditions.
! 1t is permissible to reach a common point
/ by many roads. The saloon has entered
! politics with its own methods and weapons.
l It has allied itself with the democratic
I party of obstruction and reaction, and to
/ day rules the party with rod Of lrOns and
/ while thousands Of democrats are hostile 10
I the liquor traffic, their voice Is silenc5d and
l their wishes ignored. The machinery re-
/ sources and votes OF a powerful CEgEnlZa-
] ton are thus enabled to defend and perp6tu-
l ate this cancer on our civilization. The
/ prestige, resources and championship Of
/ great, historic party are needed on the SIDE
l OF home and hum bic welfare. The r6puDu-
/ can party is called to this place and work,
/ and called by a mandate as genuine and
majestic az that which summoned 10 into
| existence. Having taught the present gen
{ Grafton TO lock TO it for leadership in every
| great reform, The republican party could not
nov refuse to hear and heed the summons
| TO this forward movement without abdlcat-
/ ing its place and passing at once INTO his
I tory. But the republican party Is not going
/ to retire, and least Of all is it going to pass
out of existence through the gateway OF
/ The anti saloonEepubl1canco nt6r5n nee d1d not
bsTin to end the movement Of which il was
/ the exponent. The permanent organization
/ for which 1t provided is in the field to re-
main, and 10 asks the cooperation OF all re-
/ publicaus in placing tine whole party right
{ 10 this matter 1t asks the cooperation OF
/ all the friends Of temperance ana the home
/ Of other political parties, wherever and
I whenever the republican party ia true 70 this
/ supreme Issue, and It does this not SIS
/ presidential device 20 promote parry ends