The Russellville Democrat., 1886-06-23


 \ the field Of foreign missions, sends out hundreds of missionaries, anu
 makes thousands of converts each sear. But for every ono convert i sl,e makes in other lands, the dram
 shops destroy full one hundred souls ] in Christian countries. And here among our pulpits and by the very side oi our preachers it is safe to say that the dram shops lead as many |downward as the churches lead up ward. We are asked then to license
 an institution which:
 Provides nothing useful or beautl- l full; canses encourages idleness l!s.saunes tippling and drunkenness
 breeds disorder, vice, poverty, and crime; antagonizes our homes schools and churches. Can we, dare we, call such institutions into exist. | istence, set them up in our midst sanction their work, and protect them in it? Are the interests of our homes, our society, our children and
 our neighbors to be sacrificed to such a demand? And for whose interests. 1 That one in five hundred may be- come dram seller and make lazy l living at the expense of all we hold cear; that the other four hundred
 and ninety nlnc may bear the bur
 den and suffer the misery.
 | IT. What the voter does by licens- | ing it. Christian voter, before you cast your ballot for the dram shops,
 please think that by your licensing 1 it:
 I. You compromise with wrong. l Suppose man comes to you and
 says, "Sir you have 2 nice boy grow | ing up there, will pay you one hun dred dollars if you will give me the liberty to teach him to tipple and
 drink. will not compel him but
 simply use attractive display and persuasion on him."
 You indignantly repel the awful
 proposition. But friend standing
 near says, "You might as well take
 the one hundred dollars; If you re-
 fuse, he will get your boy in some secret and illicit way, and teach him
 to drink. Your boy will learn to drink all the same, and you will have the one hundred dollars" And yet you repel with perfect adherence the suggestion that you should allow anyone, for a money consideration, to attempt the ruin of your boy. But when man goes to your corporation and says, Il will give you one hun dred dollars if you will allow me to teach as many of the boys in your county or city as can allure to tip pie and drink" what do you sayp
 In the first case the man wishes to try his arts upon one boy, and that one yours; in the second he proposes to try hls arts upon all the boys, yours included. It would have been infamous for you to have accepted his money and delivered your boy over to his seductions; is it not all the more infamous for you to vote to take the money and deliver all the boys of the corporation over to his wilcs? You would not compromise with wrong when the proposition for private corruption was made; al thousand times less should you do so, when it is proposed to atttempt wholesale and public corruption.
 ?. You go into partnership with the traffic. When you license the dram shop you practically say "Giye us a portion of your gains, and you keep the remainder. You thus become the silent partner, and are paid for your silence. The dram shop ruins yonr neighbours son; you can say nothing, you will get your percentage of profits made out of its ruin. The dram shop destroys d happy home, and mother and child l ren sit weeping and heart broken in it's ashes. You must be quiet, for in your pocket ciinks portion of the i silver into which that happy home was pitilessly transmitted. And | when at the end of the year the dram seller counts up the gain-while out side you behold the ruin, the vice, the misery and the sorrow which | have been wrought, he invites you in and with almost demonaic leer says to you, Il know it looks ugly l put there, but 1 have the gains and here's your share sir. We're part. ners you know" Can you partner ship the traffic2
 3. You lendit responsibility and sanction. The liquor traffic without license is vagabond, bankrupt, m outlaw. It sinks about with the brand Of Cain on it's whoever inds 1t may slay It.
 The very moment you license it, it s entitled to claim full citizenship; t lifts it's head boldly on your best streets; it IS recognized us full broth 1T to every useful and legitimate ,usiness; 1t wears the full flowing garments of respectable sanction, md leans for support on your schools, 'our churches and your laws. When t struck blow before it was done urtively and in constant dread of, punishment; now it bares the sword n full view of all, and stays right md left. It enIarges the borders of ts garment, and with all the pres iQp of city and atafa antbr.;t..