The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-09-21
THE LIQUOR LEAGUES woRK.
How the Honest People of Indiana Are in
the Clutches of the Liquor Power.

| How the Honest People of Indiana Are in
the Clutches of the Liquor Power.
| Indiana Christian Advocate.
We have but little sympathy with the political
! management of the anti-saloon element of Indi-
| ana this year. In our opinion it embraces two
thirds Of the voters of the State yet it is power
| less, and making no adequate attempt to olsen
| thrall itself 1t Is found in all parties. yet it
! tamely submits to the vilest outrage ever perpe-
| trated against a free people There was a show
of propriety In the use of violence in the South
when 1t took the form of conflict between
| ignorance and intelligence, for it must be con-
coded that the lately enfranchised negroes were
| poorly qualified for statecraft When the ma
npulatorS of electons in Cincinnati sought to dis
| franchise their neghbors by miscount and for
| gerry, they took the attitude of feons, and
| are now in a felons cell or on the
way to it. 1t was plainly an unlawful act, as
we'll as outrage, and no one thinks of associat
ing with these felons except as felons. Not so
| in Indiana By one of those political accidents
| to which republic is liable the Liquor League
| of Indiana had last year the Governor and ma
| jority in both branches of the Legislature
though it had cast but pa, 992 in an aggregate
| vote of 495. 206 and more than so, 900 of these
are evidently not in sympathy with the pur-
| poses or the League However. thus in power,
| the League not only opposed every measure in
the Legislature which looked the least in the di
rection of temperance, but having the opposition
under its feet it proceeded to tie their hands,
SO that nothing but a revolution could
| ever make it possible for them to pass any law
| that would interfere with their business This
was done by method thousand-fcld more in
| famous than the methods adopted in Cincinnati
| or in the South. There the villains took the at
| titude and risks of law breakers-here they
framed their villainy by law which received
| the Governors approval 1t was done by so dis
tricting the State for legislative purposes that
the minority. by 1922, could elect to the next
| Legislature lot of the 80 members What hope
| can temperance people have with such
a, legislaturel Take few exam
| county are tied to the Liquor League influence
| in Sullivan, running through Vigo. The tenn
| perance men of Union are tied to the LIQUOR vote
of Franklin and Ripley, and the temperance
| men of Jefferson are tied to the whisky vote of
| Floyd and Clark and Elkhart is tied to DeKalb.
/ The liquor voters Of Hancock and Shelby have
each two representatives, while Decatur, and
Rush, and Randolph, and Delaware have each
but one though as populous as those. But we
need not go into details. The Liquor League can
elect lot of the next Legislature. leaving the
temperance people forty three.
TO our mind this presents state OF facts
| most alarming. 1t ties our hands forever unless
we are ready for revolution at the ballot-box
II that will do it. but by any measure that neces
| sary If that will not. We are unworthy sons of
| a noble ancestry if we will allow a minority of
| the voters of Indiana to thus dsfranchise us, a
| majority of that minority being men of foreign
birth or ancestry and all In the interest of yie
class and of business that Is infamous. Yet
here is little handful of men playing at voting
and calling themselves Prohibitionists and there
| q little handful, gravely voting and calling them
selves Greenbackers. and another handful goirg
through the motion of citizens and calling them
| selves Republicans.
| The first thing the moiority of the people of
Indiana should do is to secure the right to vote.
| We believe that an appeal to tens of thousands
| of honest Democrats would secure their aid
| When the liquor power of Indianapolis, few
years ago, tried to perpetuate their supremacy