The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1888-09-20

Il + Tx III II IL III IA X L I
MEN,
AN OPEN LETTER TO DIR. JOHN A. BROOKS
PROHIBITION CANDIDATE FOR VICE
PRESIDENT.
The Rev. D. r. Lucas of Des Moines,
Il prominent clergyman of the Christian
denomination, and one of the foremost
temperance workers of the state, has adj
dressed to DR.. John A. Brooks the fol-
lowing open letter concerning the atti-
tude of the third party in the pending
campaign. Mr.. Lucas is fully warrant
ed in speaking for Iowa temperance men,
for he has done more to promote practi-
cal temperance legislation than any score
of men who are now engineering the
third party movement.
DR.. John A. Brooks: There appear in
some of your reported speeches, some
things that appear to me to be unfair to
those prohibitionists who do not look at
this question as you do. You have much
to say of conscience votes" and "men of
conscience" and such phrases. in which
you assert that the prohibitionists who
do not agree with your wild goose third
party movement are not acting accord
ing to their conscientious convictions.
AS you and | are co-workers in the same
church and acting together religiously, it
is query to me when you became the
keeper of the consciences of your breth-
rem. You do yourself gross injustice,
as well as others, when you assume any
such position, for certainly where there
are five prohibitionists who will not vote
your ticket for every one that will, it
comes with poor grace for one to charge
the five with acting hypocritically in
their decision. Now have, as we'll as
you know, been a prohibitiofist all my
life, and it is not saying anything in an
egotstic sense if say 1 have done as
much for the cause of temperance as you
have. You have been in Missouria for
many yeas, where the democratic party
has been large majority, and you have
been a member of that party and what
have you done in that party, or with
your third party, to get prohibition?
Absolutely nothing. have beeni in Iowa
and member of the republican party,
and worked in that line and with what
result? We have one of the best prohib-
tory laws in Iowa that has ever been
made, and it is as well enforced as any
other law. l have followed no ignis
tatu4s Of third party impracticability.
You have. Now what is the result? My
state is prohibitory, yours is not; and
yet forsooth because l connot conscien-
| tiously follow your method, which has
proved a failure, and to abandon my
own which is success, am to be &C
counted as lacking in conscience. Did
| you ever think, my brother, that it is
possible you lire mistaken, and the beam
| may be in thine own eye?
Again we have 15O,O prohibitionists
in Iowa. Of that number $4,000 will
vote for the republican ticket, and 1000
for your third party ticket. Allow me to
suggest that the 149 may be as wise and
honest as the one. It is true one may be
wiser than 149, but it is not very good
taste nor ve-y good morals for one to
say he is the only honest one.
| And what is true of the state of Iowa
is true the world over. AS said before,
you cannot possibly hope to poll more
than one fifth of the actual prohibition
vote for your ticket, and is it not posi-
BILE that the four who refuse to vote it
| may be as wise and conscientious as the
one who does? When you say they are
not, you are violating one of the princi-
pies of the religion we both profess-te
'judge not thy brother
While am at this matter, there are a
few other things to which wish to call
| your attention. The only states in
which prohibition is maintained to-day
are republican states, and yet you make
| your fight against the republican party,
| and your leaders say you have no hope
of electing your ticket, but you wish to
defeat the republican party, SO that the