The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1889-09-13

| ington Elfreth, of the Mllvlle transcript.
Another has an ism on what | know
about raising tomatoes on my back lot at
! Elmer" and in a little time he is on his
way to lay the matter before that luminous
authority Oh agriculture, and horny-fstcd
granger, J. Newlin, of the Millyille Repub-
| kcan. And so Sam waves off the isms
right and left, caring fifty nine times more
about litter of seven-legged pigs, and a
| litter of "tf'' advertisements, than all the
isms out. Well, WE'LL Sam.
| From the bottom of our heart we pity
James A. Bradley, founder of Asbury
Park. It's another case of a good man
gone wrong Not premeditated wrong,
not an intentional wrong, not wrong for
mercenary or selfish consideration, but a
wrong, nevertheless, and one hard to make
right. Mr.. Bradley is colossal figure in
this country, and whenever Ocean Grove
and Asbury Park are named the name OF
James A. Bradley is associated with it..
This Of itself conspres to make the blum
| der of the too over-effusive "founder" al
most crime. A more aggressive, honest,
fearless and conscientious friend of tenn
perance than Mr.. Bradley we believe hard
to find, and yet we fear the great mistake,
the simple misstep made of writing one
letter too many, is likely to prove the mis-
take of lifetime.
| Daniel Webster made the same mistake,
so, too, did Horace Greedy, and so num-
berless others, some of whom were the re-
mainder of their lives engaged in the fruit
| less task of explaining it away. Mr..
Bradley, in serving notice to the public of
the reversal Of his former conviction on
the prohibition line, is doubtless con-
seientious, but this won't change the fact
that he is likely to be greatly misunder-
stood, and that, too, by class whose good
opinion he is most anxious to retain.
Another class will purposely misunder-
stand him and do all in their power to dis
tort and twist his letter into an aeknowl-
edgement that prohibition, broadly con-
sidered, is failure, and high license the
high-water mark of temperance. The
Republican politician, too, will not be slow
in leayening this little morsel Of comfort,
given by Bradley, into quito lump in
the interest of the g. O. p. A month ago
Bradley was of no particular account in the
Republican party, but now such para
graphs as this from the Atlantic City Re
uiep are cropping out from among our
Republican exchanges:
The name of James A. Bradley, the
founder of Asbury Park. is mentioned as a
candidate for the Republican nomination
for Governor. The list is growing rapidly
and all those named so far are well equip
ped for the place.
Even some of the Democratic papers are
in at the death, (the two parties are a unit
on this question: and the Gloucester Conn
ty Democrat makes him patron of their
Morris county saint, Senator Werts, in the
following;
James a. Bradley, who has had the NOR
ality of Asbury Park in his special custody
for some years past, has become tired of
enforcing prohibition at that place. He
now declares that he is in favor of high
~
that it is impossible, even with the aid of
the many worthy people who visit Asbury
Park to make prohibition success
There are not few other Prohibitionists
in New Jersey who are beginning to come
around to the same views.
How these little fellows will toy and
play fast and loose with the good name of
much greater man than themselves.
What care they for Bradley? What care
they for prohibition or license, high or low,
so they get the offices and the fat places
in the party?
Throwing aside the minor features of
Mr.. Bradley's letter, its import hinges on
the following: First, Prohbitionists don't
rally to the support of prohibition, and,
second, high license more effectually
abridges the evil Of liquor drinking in
community than prohibitory laws We
doubt not bat that Mr.. Bradley has good
reason to find fault with the apathy of
temperance advocates at Asbury Park,
not the least doubt of it. This appears to
be the case everywhere, principally, we
suppose, because the police power to en-
force the law against rum selling is large
ly, if not altogether, in the hands of it's
enemies. AT Asbury Park we suppose the
private citizens feel that what is every
body's business is nobody's business, and
so the thing goes by default. Mr.. b.
should remember that this apathy at AS
bury Park is partially, if not wholly, the
result of having so good man as Mr.. b.
to depend upon to do the prohibition work,
the citizens coming to regard him as alls
ficient for anything that may be imposed
upon him. 1t is another case of one will
ling to do, and others willing he should do.
Then we think Mr.. Bradley makes
mistake when assuming that high license
would abolish the unlicensed saloon, or in
any way be correction OF the evil. Past
history don't read that way. 1t isn't so
anywhere, so far as we know, where high
license prevails. AS tie New York Iade-
pendent says, 'you can't depend upon the
lawless element to enforce law" Does