Mexico weekly ledger., 1888-06-21
at considerable length and his re.

at considerable length and his re.
marks were well received by the
audience. He thought that if the
citizens of Mexico wanted to main
tain the present financial system
and the present temperance reputa-
ton of their town, they had best
raise their hand against all such
measures as the one soon to be
voted on. The judge dropped
backward a few years in the history
of Mexico, turning to the pages on
which is recorded a temperance ag-
itation that once visited this town.
He refreshed the memory of older
citizens and enlightened the young
er and newer ones. The speaker
told of the time when Mexico had
but one saloon, an orderly and
well conducted place. The tenn
perance wave struck Mexico and
its supporters appealed to the City
Council and license was refused
when applied for by the owners of
the single saloon then existing.
For just four weeks there was no
saloon in this town. The same
temperance people saw in those
four weeks that whisky was ruin
ing u boys; hat the fiery fluid
ran like water and thenthat selfsame
crowd again appealed to the City
Council and we got, not one, but
four saloons. When the saloons
were opened, the license was not
made high forrevenue only; the rea-
son the licensewas placed atthe pres
ent high figure was that doggerles
and hell-holes might be suppressed
and the traffic in liquor placed in
the hands of responsible, substan-
tial men. "There is now no town
in Missouri" continued the Judge,
with better morals, better relig-
ion, better intelligence than this
little city of Mexico"
GEO. ROBERTSON.
Mr.. Robertson was called for,
and coming forward, said that the
preachers say this is a religious
question, and that being the case
last Sunday he read from Luckey's
history of England an account of
drunkenness in that country in the
18th century, and had learned that
at one time during the 18th CEN
fury the very life of the nation had
been threatened by the drunken
ness of the people of all grades of
society that the Kings ministers
reveled in drunkenness and de-
bauchery all night and went about
their duties the next day with
their aching heads wrapped in wet
towels; that crime was more fire.
quent than..at any othe- time in the
history ofthe country as a result of
drunkenness, and that one-third of
the arabic land of the country was
devoted to the raising of barley to
be made into the various kinds of
intoxicating drink. But look at
that country now ; it is actually the
most temperate country of any.
Christianity and civilization have
brought about this condition there,
and it would and is doing it here.
The Bible in the hands of the pure
clergy, who keep the pulpit free
from politics, and in the hands of
the pure and angelic women of the
country will finally close every
saloon in the land, and reduce the
excessive use of intoxicating il
quors to a very low degree. He
had a great deal of respect and rev.
erence for the ministers who preach
Christianity, but he was very fear
full that much harm is to come of
the preachers taking this and other
political questions into the pulpit.
Christianity is one thing, morals
and politics another. Politics
must be kept out ofthe Church, and
the Church out of politics. The
speaker showed that a prohibitory
law interferes with and denies the
individual his natural rights under
a government. A man, in order to
keep B from drinking too much
and in order set a precept for B,
concluded not to touch it, but that
does not give B the right to force c
to follow the precept set for B, for
c may be a perfectly temperate
man, and has a right to do and act
as he pleases about such things, so
long as he does not interfere with
the rights of others. He proceeded
then to discuss the peculiar fea-
lures of the Local Option law, con-
demned it as being violative
to the rights Of the citizens
and contrary to reason and
all true principles of governments.
He demonstrated to the satisfaction
of the most credulous that if the
law should be adopted it will be
unlawful for a druggist to fill pre-,
scription containing Intoxicating
liquors, it matters not how urgent
the necessity for its use nor what
the enlightened science of medicine
should say about it.
The meeting closed it'll Mr..
Robertson's talk and everyone left
the Court House well satisfied and
with a full understanding of the