Western cyclone. [volume] (Nicodemus, Kan.) 1886-1887, 1886-10-14


September ID.
Dir. President, Gentlemen and Ladies'
We are approaching another political bat
le-the first since the triumph of democracy
in the nation, The contest will be, though
short, fierce and stubborn. At tie basis of
this struggle there are principles absolutely
Indispensable to the existence of free gov
ernment. Principles as sacred az those for
which or fathers fought the bloody battles
of the revolution, and as dear to the people
of Kansas as those for which your sons laid
down their lives on the bloody slopes of
Mission Ridge.
The question i'll Kansas today i5 Ques-
ton of the supremacy of law. The question
| il, shall that mysterious and invisible power
which protects your family, life and proper
| ty, by day and by night be trampIed down
! by the laWIass elements In society and these
sacred rights left to the merclless assaults
of the thugs and Cut-throats who congregate
! about the saloons of the state.
Shall the saloon meh control the govern
ment or shall it be conducted by the people?
! viii we have the rum shop for the central
force in our civilization or shall it be the
| school house? Snail the voice of the people
of this state be stihed and the constitution
and laws of this commonwealth set at def
| ance by the few white aprOned thugs who
! preside behind its whisky bars, or shall they
! be respected ana obeyed by every man on
| Kansas sOil2
These, my friends, are the questions that
| ara involved In this struggle. Is there-can
| there be any question as TO the result of such
a contest In this fair young state? The
standard bearer of the party that represents
| the saloon, may, with the magic wand of the
whiskey power, summon from the vast deep
| all of the devils and demons of the internal
regions and join forces with the cOwardly
villains who placed giant powder under the
| homes of defenseless women and children
| in AtchisOn, and then when ne has his
forces all In line, if he will give the COM
mand for battle in the broad daylight when
! honest people can see them full in the face,
! the COwardly horde will stink away 10 places
of safe retreat without taking a single out
| post
We have planted in the fundamental law
of this state, q provision forever b8nishlng
the saloon from our borders. 1t was put
there by the sovereign people as the result
of their deliberate Judgment. In pursuance
of this behest of the people, the legislature
"a republican legislature-has written upon
| tbs statute books Of the state its solemn pro-
J hibitiOn Of the liquor traffic. Again and
! again have these 6nACtmentS been approved
| by the people at the ballot box by returning
members to the Legislature pledged to the
| policy OF prohibition. During all the time
pending the great struggle that mas led up
| forces arrayed against each other contend
| inL for the supremacy. When ! tell you
! that on one side was to be found ali of the
| Saloons of the state, their aiders, abettOrs
and apolOgists, the thugs, cut-thrOat5, and
! gamblers, every dive and den, every force
and element Ia the state that would degrade
| and debauch society, every organization and
institution that would dwarf and destroy
manhood and WOmanhOod And that on the
other side was arUayed every church, school
| and college, every sentiment OF humanity,
| every christian man aud woman, every force
in the state that would establish and en-
throne better and purer manhood. say,
| when | tell you, that these were the forces
that contended for the supremacy IL this
great conflict, you will know on which eide
| to place them! And, more than that, every
man woman and child will instinctively
know on which side of this question they be-
| long. You may at first hesitate TO break po-
litical ties and affiliations, but at last you
will find your place on the side to which by
! instinct or education You belong, as surely
as water seeks its level.
In the early stages of the conflict, of
| course the lines were not so sharply defined
in party sense as they now are. But to-
day the two great political parties Of Kansas
| stand arrayed upon this question. The dem
| OcratiC party, true To its instincts and edQ-
cation, If it can lay claim TO such thing
stands as the representative and champion
! of the saloon and lawieesness.
! say, true TO its instincts and education.
| Instinctiyely it would seek It's level. Natur-
| ally it would defend ita friends. Of course
it would not abandon its recruiting camps.
! As filth breeds vermin. so would the saloon
/ breed democracy, and SO | say, lnstlnctively
| by education. Why not? Has there ever at
| any time been in this country an institution
more loyal to crime and lawlessnes5 than
| this party? | speak il not with pleasure but
! IN sadness. Have | drawn this picture too
strong? Let the facts of history decide.
! Did ii not foster and defend the institution
| of human slavery? 1t inaugurated and car
7 riei on, openly and IN secret, 3 war 10 de-
/ strOy this government ia the interests OF
| that institution. 1t resisted the draft 1t
| burned orphan gsylums; It stole an army
/ and navy; it bankrupted the government.
! In 1864 ii declared the war failure and that
| too at q moment when every loyal heart
| beat with the profouudest solicitude for the
nation: it resisted and retarded recons.zuc-
ton; il denounced the greenback, and OPP
/ posed every war measure, great and small,
/ from the first to the last. 1t organized the
! Ku klux and White League 1t has stuffed
| ballot boxes and made OF the shot gun 20
| tential argument: it has murdered men and
| driven them defenseless from their homes;
It has terrorized states and territories and
robbed citizenship of its highest preroga-
tives. And now, what further education
would fit and qualify it IS the special cham
pion of the saloon system in Kansas? While
these things ara true, of the party, desire
to bear willing witness 10 the personal
purity and excellent qualities OF many Of It's
4 members. But these men are In the minor
| ity in that party. In q hopeless minority,
as witness the late convention at Le8ven-
worth. Some of the members OF that con
vention rising above their party offered and
supported 8 resolution demanding the en-
/ forcement Of the prohlbitOry law 50 long Is
it should remain the will of the people.
| Manfully they fought for that resolution;
| every consideration OF loyalty and good
citizen ship was urged for its adoption. The
convention was reminded that even dem
1 ocratic convention could not afford 10 cOun-
tenance lawIessneSs: that II every man
/ could be permitted to set aside and defy q
! law that did rot suit his peculiar DOtiOus OF
propriety, that then there would be al end
! TO government; that then Ee would have
chaos and confusion; that then We would
have anarchy with al Of It's horrors: that