The midland journal., 1888-03-09
Friday. Mar. 8, 1sss.
Those Petitions.


petitions which baye been circulated and
industriously pushed by the liquor interest,
in this county, are to be gathered together,
collected into focused, SO tospeak and the
burning light of their focus rays turned
fnll upon the legislature, with that incan-
descent blaze of Intelligence and virtue
which scintillates from thousand names,
asking that the good people Of Cecil County
be required to go 10 the polls in the several
election districts of the county and vote,
What for? Why to ascertain whether a
majority desired to have rum mills reestab.
lished in the county.
The desisiye crs no longer goes up that
prohibition doesn't prohibit, but the liquor
interest demands that the people vote again
whether the active source Of crime and ru-
in shall be reinstateu in our midst.
Why should they be required to vote on
such proposition? Has the short term Il
prohibition which has been enjoyed by Ce--
ell county injured the public in its person
or It's business? We have heard of no COM
plants OF such injury either from the
friends Of temperance or its enemies.
II is only few weeks since the Supreme
Court of the United States affirmed ty a
decision virtually unanimous, that the'eh-
tire manufacture and sale of spiriluous IL
quors as a beverage was public nuisance
affirming The right of state to ahate them
as such. And now we are having petitions
.'numerously signed" and by many goody-
goody people, no doubt, to be laid before
the legislature asking that the voters of
Cecil County be compelled to answer at the
polls whether bare majority shall order
back, and impose again upon the commu-
nifty, on the willing and unwilling part
alike, what the highest tribunal in the
land has pronounced, a "nuisance," In the
face Of the sentiment of this country will
the legislature dare to even consider such al
petition? We believe it quitelikely. Ey7
cry member is threatened with POLITICAL
decapitation If he refuses, and men ia 20
litical life are afraid to trust the temperance
sentiment. Polities lily it is SO watered and
diluted that it will stick to its political
party and allow the best temperance me-,
to be set upon and slaughtered by the Ii
quor interest. The liquor interest has it.
followers trained TO stick to their interesi
first and their party last. On the Other
hand the prohibitionists are taught to stick
to their party first and their temperance
principles last. e
We have sand that the liquor mems pc
titions would be numeronsly signed b,
goody goody people. There are vast numb
ers of these weak vessels in the world. The
temperance associations are full Of them,
the church is full of them, all benevolent
societies are full of them. They can't
say no. They are Timber as wet dish rags.
They are all sympathy and sentiment.
They have great deal Of sympathy fol
the murderer and his family, for the forgei
and embezzler, for all manner of criminals
after they are overtakeu by the law and
justice. They never evince any acti 'e
sympathy for the victims ofthese criminals.
These goody-goody people will sign acres
of petitions asking the governor to pardon
criminals; and they will vote prohibition
or local option tickets to banish rum from
their midst, and sign petition the next
day TO give whiskey another trial if one OF
its determined champions appeals to them
land they find themselves alone and hel2-
less! There is not doub. that the petit
tions which will be launched upon the leg
islature by the liquor interest wilt contain
the names Of hundreds of these goody
goody signers. They are stumbling block
to the temperance reform, to the church, 10
the state, TO society, 10 everything that is
fair and Of good report. They push them
selves into the best places in society, echo
its VOC and pose in its reflected light io
betray and hinder every reform by falling
an easy prey to the enemy when he ti0ds
them alone. These goody ,goody people arr
more TO be feared than the avowed liqAor
men who frighten or ceax them into theil
service on all occasions. They are ready
to give ear to any fiction that the liqnor
party inven,s. From this goody goody class
good Lord deliver us should be the prayer
of every sincere person. Our contempt ior
the light beaded, faint hearted, tender
footed, weak souled goody-goody is mesl
profound. asir