Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-07-02
EX-Gov. j. p. ST. JOHN.
IContiHued from Fourth Page. ]

West Virginia, was to send petitions to the
Legislature with boots on. Applause. I
He said the Republican party of Pennsyl-
vania had it in It's power toprohibit the
sale of liquor, but it dare not do it. The
trouble was that the politicians of Pennsyl-
vania, land our good friend of the Iatelli-
geIleer along with them," were about five
years behind the times ''Hereminds ME, -
he said, ''of the little dog who ran out to
bark at the cars, but found when il was
ready that the train had passed out of
sight Applause. He said the term
third party" was misnomer; there were
but two parties on the prohibition ques-
tion-the Democrats and Republicans on
one side and the Prohibitionists on the
other. [Applausel.
After referring to the Scott and Dow laws
al the most infamous laws which ever dis
graced statute book, for under their provi-
sions the people have right to open saloons
on the Sabbath day, i'll defiance of the laws
of God, he said: 'What we want is
politics which will 20 hand in hand with
our religion. We may as well get down to
bed rock in this matter for if we do not
God will compel us to do so, or our Gov
ernment will cease to be"
The speaker referred at length TO the
universal adherence of the ideas advanced
by the original abolitionists, generation
or more ago, and related an amusing in
stance on the occasion of an address de-
livcred by Cassius NJ. Clay, of Kentucky,
at Springfield, ILL.,, in 1850, and yet he said
within ten years OF that time,
"a third party obtained con-
troll of the Government OF
the country, and one who, on that day OF
Clay's speech, hung about the outskirts OF
the crowd, whiting u stick, with one
stroke of his pen broke the manaclcs from
the limbs of every slave in America. There
were lots of Abraham LincOln's now-a-
days. In ten years" said he, ''yea, in
1892, the prohibition idea will sweep the
country, and all you Doubling ThomaSes
of to-day will be going. around proving
that they were charter MEM
bers of the party, and among
them the editor of the Lltel!igeHcsr,
who, having lost all his old files through
some misfortune, will be asserting that he
was in at the birth of the new party. Az
plause. Why, my friends in ten years
YOU couldn't build stone wall high enough,
even though it was capped with spikes, but
that the editor of the InteHigeRcr would
scale it and come into the fold" Applause
and cries of good. y
The speaker referred TO the old argu-
ment that the closing Of the distillericS
would hurt the farmer, through the lack
of demand for grain, and exposed the iiIl-
lacy with little effort. He then took up
the injury the sale of liquor inflicted upon
the labOring men and their families, and
illustrated his points with hIlt-a-dozcn
humorous anecdotes, which were much ap-
prcciatcd by the audience. Abiding TO
the claim that saloons could not be abol-
ishcd because they were the source of Il
large revenue to the city and State, he
pointed out the fact that in order tn
obtain revenue Of $4,000,
the citizens of Wheeling annually passed
$500, 600 over the counters of the saloons
of the town. and demanded of his hearers
ifthat was good financeering.
Concluding, he said:
"Thc action of the old parties iorcibly
remind me of an old hen who has raised a
brood of ducks and who is filling the air
with cacklings on seeing her children first
take to water. Applause. The Probibi-
ZIONIST ducks have just found out that they
arc good swimmers, and the Republican
hen is charging up and down the banl;
cackling to them to get them back. But
We are in the water 10 stay and no amount
of cacliling will induce us TO come back. y
GApplausc and cries of good. "