Woman's chronicle. (Little Rock, Ark.) 1888-1???, 1889-08-03
Excepting Temperance Out of the Political
Arena"
Arena. y
Continued from last ,reek.)
BY BAKER.

Continued from last week)
Three of the best years of my life were spent
in the city of Bangor, which of all the cities in the
State has the most unsayory record in regard to
the violations of the law, and yet, at its very
worst, it is not to be mentioned in comparison with
any High License Paradise | ever saw. And the
only reason why it is no better there than it Isl is
because we have prohibitory laws with no prohibi-
tory party behind them.
Such is the situation. The question now before
the country is: "Lcense-high license if you
please-versus Prohibition;' and both of these
things are advocated as temperance measures.
There's nobody in the field today saying "keep
temperance out of the political arena" Such
proposition in any deliberatve body of well in
formed men and women today would simply be
laughed at for its freshness. The argument is, on
the one side, ''Prohbtion will prohibt" on the
other, 'High license is better" The entrench-
ments abandoned by advanced temperance men
because of their fatal construction are now occu
pied by the enemy and utilized for all they are
worth to blind the eyes of the people by floating
the flag of temperance above them. 10 advocate
the saloon as blessing they do not, they dare not
in the political arena, but to advocate high license
as better temperance measure than prohibition
they are compelled by the advanced position of
their foe; and to enlist ministers and church men,
bers to advocate the same, is the highest possible
political adroitness and strategy. But to get one
at this late day to say "Keep temperance out of
politics." is not in their thought, and must amuse
them amazingly in one that does. 1t is like buy
ing your ticket two hours or more after the train
has gone and yet, strange to say we Go have some
such belated persons. Long after the advance
portion of the army has abandoned its old fortif-
cations and pushed on to higher and more com
handing positions they come struggling along to
the old entertainments and occupy them stimuli
taneousy with our foes, and then imagine they are
doing temperance work while firing the guns of the
enemy. 1t is spectacle which chagrins the true
temperance worker, chuckles our foes, and pro.
longs the agony. 1t is the old trick of the monkey
sweeping the chestnuts from the fire with some
body else's paw of Satan deluding Christians into
doing his dirty work. But these are fast times,
and the eye-opening process is coming on apace.
Third.-Again, we object to this old cry because
it aims at the impossible. In the fight thus far
with this evil it has been driven into politics as its
only refuge Of safety. Independent of its polt-
ical entrenchmnt it could not live for an hour.
This is its final stronghold where it is to win or die.
10 have driven intemperance into politics where it
finds lis mightiest defenSes and its last ray of hope
and then keep temperance out of the political
arena" is to abandon the field and give the coun-
try to the black flag forever. This can never be
done. The man who thinks it can mistakes the
nature of the fight and the character of those who
wage it. To give up the pursuit when you have
freed your game, would be the climax of folly. TO
drive the enemy INTO his last retreat and then re-