The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1888-06-07
TnE PROHIRTTI0NIsrS-

N N"OAAAhILlONIATS.
The Prohibitionists have nominated
Zen. Clinton B. Fisk for President and
John A, Brooks for vice-president.
ufractlcal politicians are apt tosmile AT
anything in politics which partakes M
sentiment, but in the end sentiment nre.
valls;If not through one party then thro'
another. WIN
The third party Prohibilionists have
proclaimed three sentiments. which thev
claim to be peculiarly their own-pame.
iy' prohibition, woman suffrage, nom
sectionalism.
Their patent is good only on prohibi-
tiou. The Republican party is and Al.
ways has been the party OF nationalitv
and impartial suffrage. 1t has tough,
Tor and established the former and
IN both National and State conventions
u has given encouragement to the lat
ter.
The cause Of woman's enfranchise-
ment is thus far in the agitation stage
Hardly half Of the prohibitionists them
selves indurse it, but they are studying
& g same as republicans and Dsmocrats
are. In Massachusetts, where it has
oeen more agitaied than anywhere else.
I6oth the old parties have declared FOR
| 1t, but in the Legislature there are al
i ways votes enough to defeat it, a large
majority OF them being Democratic.
Prohibition, too, has long been on the
statutes of certain Republican states but
nowhere in Democratic states, except
Tor local option. The Third Partv
people think that in the South thew can
win from the Democrats all their best
men and in the North win from the Re-
publlcans the best of theirs. There ia.
oil course, some force in the idea that
preludicea growing out of past conflicts
VIII prevent men who think alike from
coming together under either of the old
party names, So the Prohibitionists
undertake 10 make platform as broad
AS those OF the other parties on current
national questions, and in addition with
the three specialties to which they Law
claim made most prominent.
IL is noticeable that this party has.
gained little better understanding of
the constitution, than it has hitherto
shown. Formerly it claimed that under
the general welfare clause of the con-
stltution, Congress could prohibit the
sale or transportation of liquor in the
several states, Notwithstanding the pro-
vision that each state has the sole pow
er regulate its own internal police
But now they declare in their national
platform that prohibition must be Sc
cured through amendments of our ma
uonal and state constitutions -
Their national method is right of
course, but since the adoption of an
amendment requires the votes of two
thlrds OF each house ofCongress and the
ratification of the Legislatures of three
tourths OF the states, it is not likely that
prohibition will become national during
the next fifty years, at least.
As for State prohibition, why do the
Prohlbltionists insist that it must be Sc
cured by amending the constitutions
1t is permissible under them now.
W here public opinion demands it, laws
are enacted. Putting prohibition into
the constitution of a state does not
make 1t any stronger, except that it is
little more difficult of repeal. Laws
have to be enacted for its enforcement
just the same. In fact we believe that
putting it into the constitution weakens
1t, Tor so many people thing it is then
safe that they repose on the achieve
ment and leave it to enforce itself.
There yet remains a great deal of
practical wisdom to be learned by the
good people who propose these meas
ures, Their very political action sub
Jects to the danger of defeat the cause
they have al heart. In the South it
draws very few from the Republicans,
and in the North it draws still fewer
from the Democrats. 1t divides, there
fore, the friends of temperance in each
section and leaves its foes solid and sue
cesstul. This the Third party people
admit, but instead of deploring it, they
rejoice over it because they think it
hastens the day when the friends of
temperance will be compelled to come
into their ranks. Whatever else NAV
kill them, they will never die of an ex-
cess of modesty.
So far as concerns the ticket nomi-
mated by the Indianapolis convention.
we assume that it is unobjectionable.
Gen. Clinton b. Fisk was a praying SOL
dier Of the Union, and Rev. John A.
Brooks was fighting parson of the
Since there is no posi-
bility of their being elected, it is not
worth while to inquire further. Prac-
tlcally, whoever votes for them votes
for Grover Cleveland. The true patriot
is not the one who nails flag TO the
masthead and shouts and prays and
sings Tor 1t until the ship drifts into the
enemy'S port, but rather the one that
takes note of the enemy and of all 9TH
er dangers, and minds the helm and
navigateS for the greatest success that
wind and tide will permin.