The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1888-08-24

hem in subduing the American colonies.
This ally was the foreign saloon, beer gar
den and Sunday parade and picnic. Ihis
was powerful accession to the rum power,
and laughed the moral suasionists and spir
itual regeneration party to scorn. Inc
women of the unprotected home in the
State of Ohio, seeing their husbands, sons
and brothers captured in the streets and
carried into slavery, grew desperate, rush
ed out into the streets, and forming bands
marched up to the saloons and prayed that
they have mercy upon them and not carry
of their natural protectors, and leave them
to starve in tlarkened aud blighted homes.
These pitiful appeals shocked the saloon
for a brief spell and caused them to hang
their head, but as soon as the sound OF the
last prayer was waited away on the wind,
the saloon door was thrown open and the
work of devastation went on as before. The
keepers of these places growing weary oil
the prayers and lamentations Of the women
pretty soon, rudcly cast them .out and bid
them begone, or they would prosecute them
as nuisances and trespassers. Light began
to break on the moral suasionists that the
grog seller had the law all on his side, that
he had been paying government price to
do what he was engaged in and had legal
right TO follow the business as one OF the
legitimate industries of the country.
From this outbreak of tue crusade women
in the West arose the great order of the w.
G. T. U. which went to work Systematically
to teach the children the danger of alcohol
and cultivate public sentiment in every di-
rection against the drink evil. They are
making their influence felt every where, in
politics as we'll as in morals and religion,
in education and in society.
But the liquor interest has been as busy
as it's enemies and has kept pace with the
preparations to fight and subdue it. Organ
izations have been formed all over the
country by distillers and brewers, most per-
feet in all their arrangements. They have
established able papers to advocate their
rights. They..contribute literally and will
ingly to the public revenues, pouring into
the treasury of the United States more than
a hundred millions annually and into the
treasures of the several states probably as
many millions more. They keep the most
powerful lobby in Congress of any interest
in the country and one of the ablest atlor-
neys always present at the seat of govern
ment TO watch their interests. They have
divided and distributed their forces between
he two con trolling political parties of the
nation, and when candidate is offered for
nomination who is obnoxious to their tnter-
est, they defeat his nomination if possible
and combine against him at the election; or
if failing to defeat him in the early stages OF
his ambition, they follow him to the legis-
lative hall, threaten him with their power
in future, malign him to the public, and
leave no stone. unturned to defeat and ruin
him as public servant. They threaten the
bosses and machine workers of ..his party
with defeat if they don't get rid of such .
man, and in the end are almost sure To
kill off members of Congress or Estate legis-
lators who show grit enough to oppose the
rum power.
Now what is the logical outcome of this
f fly years. teaching and experience? Com
scientious men of decided character and de-
termined natures, have grown tired of this
nom partisan moral suasion fooling, this faith
without Iworks, this throwing grass at the
boy in the apple tree. and haye determined
to throw stones in place of grass, and de-
stroy by law.the evil which has been fostered
by law. The inevitable logic of the situa-
tion has been the formation ola distinct
political party, which seeks 10 gather all
these temperance workers into its ranks and
protect them from political slaughter by
their enemies of the grog party who have
carie-blanche to rove through both the DOM
inant old parties without let or hindrance.
The saloon is represented by its ablest men
in almost every committee and every con.
vention, county, State and National in both
the old parties. 1t fought the committee
on the platform in the Chicago convention
a day and half to keep out temperance
plank which the anti-saloons party insisted
on having inserted, and when majority Of
the committee was about to yield, rose in
the person of Senator from Illinois, and
declared that if such plank was put into
the platform the party should be defeated
in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. The re-
suit showed that the liquor power was abb
solutely master in the convention where its
interest was touched. The democratic plat
form makers did not even stop to refer TO
the liquor interest but simply reafirmed
and endorsed the anti-sumptuary plank in
the platform of 'S4.
Hosts of men of the highest standing,
with decided, independent minds are
crystalizing into distinct and separate
organization for the purpose of destroying
al 1..x al III,