Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1886-12-09
THE TEMPERANCE vorE.
Htis Anal zed by Oh Iirman Cooper,
VINO Ne es Hope scr the Future.


VINO Ss es Hope scr the Euture.
At meeting of the executive commit
tee of the Temperance reform party, at
Dover, Tuesday week, Chairman Il. III.
Cooper presented his report OF the cam
paign, in which he snid:
I'VE can review our political campaign
with unwounded conscienoes; our hands
| are not stained with bribes; we have de-
ceived no one TO secure his vote: every
vote cast was the voluntary act of an in.
dependent voter. Our independent stand
and fearless spirit commanded the respect
of our opponents and the hearty support
of our friends; as your leader 1 have
been everywhere treated with the pro-
foundest respect by both. Our platform
became so popular that the speakers of
the opposite party, having none of their
own TO stand upon, put themselves upon
ours and covered nearly every plank of it
but local option, and sometimes got their
toes on it. Before the election Demo-
cratic leaders were compelled to promise
even local option in order to hold many
of their old supporters, who declared that
they would be denied the right no longer.
Our principles are so firmly fixed in the
minds of the people; the constitutional
reforms advocated SO favorably commend
themselves to every intelligent man, and
the facts declared by our speakers in
regard to the moral, physical, economic
and political evils of the rum traffic are
so self-evident and convincing, that the
dominant party, though rum was a most
potent factor at both their primary and
general elections, acknowledge that they
will be compelled, at the next session of
the Legislature, to act in the matter. And
the Republicans, who were so terribly
afraid of the temperance cause in 1884,
rvol,nsa tc tetn rr .ho ;ssra ord '-~',e =
win success with it in 1885,
The report then gives table showing
the increase of the Temperance and the
decrease of the Democratic vote since
1880, and says;
.tThere were over 400 combination
tickets voted in Kent and about $50 in
Sussex, one-half Of which, it is safe to
say, were voted by Republicans, making
325. 4 he table shows that the Democratic
vote of the State varied but one between
the years of 1882 and 1884, but lost 2, 705
between 'Si and 'S6. Allowing one.half
of the combination votes to have come
from Democrats (325) there is still loss
of 1850, 1000 of which, undoubtedly
voted the Reform ticket. We have
then 1900 old Democrats identified with
us in the reform movement, and 325 who
voted the combination ticket, which
added to our loss as compared with the
temperance aud Republican vote of '64,
makes 1000 Republicans who did rot
vote for temperance reform at the late
election. A small portion of this loss
may be accounted for by an increase of
delinquents, but very small, for no
special effort was mnde in 'Si to have
colored men assessed, many Of those who
voted in SO having been dropped from
the assessment list. ae is seen IN the table
by the loss OF over 300 between the Re-
publican vote OF 'o2 and tine Republican
and Temperance combined of "a,
when We take into consideration the
petitions of past years, the solid, perma-
nent vote Of S,0h', 1000 of which came
from the ranks Of the Democrntic party
and tie ioHs from their ranks somewhere
of 70U more, il looks ns though the
''powerH that be" Will he Eaeve,i TO action
if nythins short Of an earthquake viii
move them And il saeuis 10 me that
with this voice Of thUuder in their ears,
there ia no Eeed that We Shall petition
again, but await and watch results, How
ever, this is no time for Us TO wait We
must act the part OF determined men, snd
push our cause to sue ess. If possible, at
the next session of the Legis hture, not
by petition, but through sosac aiethGd 10
be adopted by us today. As mp.IRnce
men we want nothing shurt ~ Is locai
option law, tree from all constitutional
objections, prohibiting the sala o. al ~
toxicRting liquors, and with alupis p5p:
visions for its enforcement. We want 10
more pretext of law, nor Ilockery in its
enforcement in order to bring il into dis
favor and have ii repealed aud in the
struggle for constitutional reforms, We
want constitutional prohibition.
'sAs refoImers, We want incorporated
in onr organic law the constitutional re-
form for which we have fought iii our
campaign, aud among ether statutory re-
forms We want the laws for the assessment
and collection ef taxes no longer made a
farce. We need not imagine our work
done if We secure these reforms at the
hands of the Legislature of 1887. Eternal
vigilance is the price ofgood government" +"
II we secure prohibition by local option
we'll have a local option campaign to
fight throngh. A prohibitory law passed
by party not in sympathy with its prin-
ciples will likely be weakliEg Mt its
birth and develop into greater weakness
through the neglect of its guardians. We
will have foe to conten with which
neither sleeps ncr slumbers, hut will try
every device TO evade and weaken the
law. These interests are committed to our
hands; we must hold the vantage ground
and push on till all the reformn,iops for
which we are contending are permanently
secured and established.
IF the State Of Delaware is TO be re-
deemed from the rum curse If she is TO
have constitutional reform; il her politics
is TO be rescued from the whisky power,
bribery, corruption and machine trickery,
the Temperance Reform party, which had
its birth in this hall less than six months
ago, has got to do il, and we might as
well meet the responsibility like men,
trust in God and apply ourselves to the
work. r. NJ CooPER,
| Chairman of Committee.
DOVER, DEL, November 30th, 1886"
|