The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-05-05
OPPOSED TO 4 THIRD PARTY
DR.. Ritter Speaks Strongly on What He
Thinks Retards the Temperance Cause.
Prohibitionists Assist Democracy and Post
pone the Time When Sound Legislation on
the Liquor Traffic Can Be Achieved.

the Liquor Traffic Can Be Achieved.
About fifty persons. nearly. all third-pa<ty
Prohibitionists met ut the Criminal Court
room last night to hear DR.. Levi Ritter and T.
E Ballard. an attorney from Crawfordsvills,
discuss these two propositions
I. The organization of third party has been and
VIII continue to be injury to the temperance cause
and there exists no necessity for such party.
2. The true course to adopt in regard to legisls-
ton il to enact law in advance of public senti-
ment and which cannot be Endorsed by popular vote.
and to take the best get within this PROPOSE
ton.
DR.. Ritter took the position affirmative of the
propositions. He said he was willing to concede
that prohibition would oe good thing, and was
therefore desirable and he admitted that the
evil of intempsranee was great beyond portrayal.
There was remedy for the evil but it would
amount to little as long as the third party was
in existence. No law should be asked for that
was in advance of public sentiment,
and could not be sustained by
a popular vote. There were two fields
in which honest temperance reformers should
work. Moral persuasion was one The rising
generation should be taught the evils Of intern
perance. and public sentiment should be edu-
Gated to the point where q man VINO had any
respect for himself would not take drink. For
man who had acquired the appetite for drink.
moral persuasion was remedy Then the other
phase Of the question presented itself. The ava
rice and cupidity of man lead him to estsb-
lish saloons, In order that he may make
money. That branch of the subject required
legislation, but not the kind the thi I'd party men
were demanding. There were good many peo-
pie who think q prohibition law could be passed
that would stop drinking immediately. and in
supporting this claim they cite how slavery was
wiped out Of existence.
The two questions willnot admit Of compa RI
son, except in that both were great evils The
slaves did lot require any officers to set them
free Whenever the shackles fell from slave
he was free man forever. Whenever one
breaks the shackles from man who is a slave
TO drink and attempts TO make him q free man,
be has to drag HIM into the light. and station
officers around HIM, in order to keep him from
going back into thralldom. If a drunkard ever
got one invitation to go back into slavery he
would 60. The questions were different in char
acter. and had to be treated differe ntly.
The third party has injured the cause of tenn
perance. First. because il has injured the moral
persuasion agitation. That sort OF agitation
had fallen fat since the third party
WAS organized. The sentiment In Indiana
In favor Of Temperance is far behind what IL was
four years ago, when third party showed itself.
That party had been thrust before the churches,
and they had been asked to indorse it. The
churches all believed in prohibition, but they
did not believe in the third party The w. c.
I. u. has made fatal mistake by indorsing
this political movement. The Union is losing
ground because many people look upon it as
third-party adjunct It will have to abandon
its present position, or it would lose its useful
ness
'You say" continued the speaker. shat il
You do not swallow the third party you are no
friend OF temperancel When you do that
you divide the forces The Republican party
is the only one that ever did anything for tenn
perauce, and no man in the State has done so
much along that line r. T. Brown, who
has been led into q false position.
To show you what you are doing will take our
city election last fall as an example There was
q fight, hand to hand, with clique OF tally
Prohibitlonists went astray that day. and set
themselves up as the Simon pure Of the city. II
there had been one thousand OF this Simon
pure, instead OF the ninety-nine. the gang of
corruptionists would have triumphed, and We
would have had free whisky. Those ninety nine
| Simon pure men said they were casting their
vote as their conscience dictated. For my part
/ never want my conscience to get into such a
| condition that cannot cast my vote in way
that it will do the most good.'
Thus 1t vas, he said, that the forces were
being divided. There seemed to be an impress
ion that party lines could be divided. but they
con-
| tinued, ''the Republicans Endorsed = constitu-
| tional amendment. and assisted by Democrats
we got "a 600 votes for it. The third party will
never be able to Get $4,000 votes in Indiana
You defeated James g. Blaine in 18S4-Ivigor-
| Gus applausel Now / come home to you. You
indicate exactly whore you belong. You
defeated the only prohibitionist who was ever a
| candidate for the presidency. What more have
| you douef You elected David Turpie to the
United States Senate. Had il not been for your
Qoia 70 fha PC IN <h~~o
! counties. the Republicans would have sent Gen.
| Ben Harrison back to the Senate. What sort
| OF temperance man is Turpie2 Only
| yesterday he voted against bill providing for
an Investigation into the effects Of intemper-
ance. With all this staring You in the face you
say you vote as you pray. should like to know
what prayers you utter in secret. You have
| never accomplished anything except when you
| Joined forces with the Republican party. In
! 1850, Professor Brown. your candidate for Gov
| suit was the constitutional amendment was sub
mitted. You had gained q step then, but instead
OF persevering in the right road, you struck out
madly by yourselves, and have since been de-
mandirg the earth.
| In reference to enacting law in advance Of
public sentiment, DR. Ritter was sure no good
| could come from it It would, perhaps,
| be repealed by the next Legislature. Public
sentiment made the laws In concluding. he
said: You never got any temperance laws, and
| never will get any unless you join forces with
the Republican party AS soon az your third
party gets one-fourth of the votes in the States
| that now have prohibition those laws will Do re-
| pealed. You say your conscisnces will not al
| low you to countenance an evil. You might az
well say. 4 will starve to death unless can get
| whole loaf Of bread
Mr.. Ballard, in reply. made no attempt to an
| swer the argument of DR.. Ritter. He dwslt
upon the greatness of the evil OF intempersnce.
| submitted statistics in proof Of his statements
| and areued that a national Prohibition party
should be maintained because the liquor-dealers
had national league. He also entered
| into a long TRADE against both the
old parties. which, he maintained, had done
| nothing in the interest of temperance. In
arragning the Republican party he quoted from
speech Of Daniel w. Voorhees,, which led DR..
Ritter to remark that the Senator spoke in the
Senate the other day whom he seemed to have q
whole distillery within him. After Mr. Ballard
had concluded the audience was dismissed.
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.