Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1890-01-02
Tha, Mass Temperance Meeting.

About three hundred people assem-
bled at the court house last Sunday
night in response to the call for mass
meeting in the interests of temperance.
Rev. Hgenfritz called the meeting to or
der at 1880 and called DR.. &. w. De
Motto, the chairman of the committee
appointed to call the meeting, to the
chair. A mixed choir sang "Yield not
to Temptation" after which the chair
man tersely reviewed the history of
temperance legislation in Iowa, and re-
minded the audience that all of the
laws, whether restrictive in great or
small degree, had been flagrantly yiolat-
ed. The popular vote in 1882 in favor
of constitutional amendment had
been thwarthed by technical error on
the part of clerk, but had encouraged
the legislature to make statutory laws
in accordance with the will of the peO-
pie. 1t was now proposed, the Doctor
said, to repeal these laws, as an excuse
for which, those in favor of repeal ar
gued, that they had been violated. AS
well repeal other laws for the proven
ton and punishment Of crime which
have been and ever will be violated
while sin endures. The speaker said
that it was meet and proper that legis-
lators should look to their constituents
for opinion on questions of public ma
ture, and it was for the purpose of Sc
curing such expression that this meet
ing had been called. After another Sc
lection by the choir Rev. llgenfritz
spoke directly upon the moral phase of
the question, presenting an unanswera-
BILE argument in favor of sustaining the
cause of temperance, and made po-
tent appeal to friends of temperance to
continue strong in the warfare. Rev.
Dickinson, being summoned to the plat
form, expressed regret that the lay
men were not coming forward to speak
upon the subject. He considered the
temperance question non. partisan; be
lieved that the evils. of the traffic could
be in no manner mitigated by license
high or low; he believed license consti-
tutes a monopoly, whereby the poor
man who has an inherent right to ruin
his neighbOr equal to that of the rich
man is deprived of that high and NIGH
ty privilege. lie spoke of the degree
of enforcement Of the prohibitory law
in Iowa; while it was not all that might
be desired it had accomplished great
deal of good, and in large majority of
the counties of the state the nuisance and
evil had been in large degree prohi-
ted, Rev. Dickinson sounded the KEY
note of the meeting when he quoted
and applied the immortal words Of Alb
raham Lincoln, used on the occasion of
his second inauguratiOn: with NAL
ice toward none, with charity for all:
with tirmneSs in the right as God gives
us to see the right, let us strive on to
finish the work we are in" to maintain
and enforce the prohibitory law of
Iowa
The chairman then stated that it was
properly within the province of the
meeting to select delegate to repre-
sent the county in the state convention
to be held at Des Moines, January 9th,
whereupOn Hon. J. y. Overholtzer was
duly nominated and elected Mr.. Over
hotter suggested that second dele
gate be chosen, whereupOn Hon. VIM.
Walker was duly nominated and elect
ed.
n collection was taken to pay expen-
ses of lighting hall for the meeting, the
balance if any to be divided between
the W. G. r. t., and |. o. &. T.