Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-04-18
ms LIQUOR TRAFFIC.
QUESTION THERE CAN BE
W no MIDDLE GROUND.

,.,sr AN Enemy to Be Destroyed or
III ..s,n- to Be Freserved-A Foe of
a., Morality, Good Government
Iaw-The Rise of Public Senti-
u" AGAINST a Gigantic ~Evii-lsrisht
Hone for the Future.
rha following brilliant address Oh the
1t stake between the people and
,,s ISL l;cue, traffic was recently delivered
,ns pav sam Small before an immense
ps '5;anae at Evansville, Ind:
Ai"e NOR might RS we'll try to wipe the
NV Mountains off the face of this con-
noan Witt a school-boy's sponge as to
nu0 ~ eliminate the liquor problem from
", issnes Of American life with any sort
~ - neasure short of its total, absolute
o. oa,;onaI Prohibition. 1t is the gigantic
a III Of the age, and the issue of its
s s,-nre l;fe or death as q traffic is the ire
trsssible conflict that is now upon the
aatlon. The line Of division upon this
lnss,iou is radical and inf1e1ible. There
y no middle territory where the man of
nonsc,ence and patriotism can stand,
"unfessjne a love for God, country and
%tallow1nen on one side, and practicing
friandshir with the liquor traffic on the
n,har hand. He that is not against it is
tnr it. tv The unavoidable logic of the
situation, and no manner Of argument or
yeherence of protestation to the cos-
trury can ever change the fact.
ri he nature of liquors and the his tory
Of fine traffic in oil lands convict it as the
uost stupendous curse of humanity, the
anemy o. al righteousness, the robber OF
Iii prosperity. the dist1rber of all peace.
md the despoiler of all phases of indi-
y;dual aud national glory. No priest or
plblicist. no rite or sacrament, no phi
iosphy, ouG no Legislation have ever been
,ble to ;.lnsmute it from n curse into a
blessinc. Your own common sense repu-
dates any man or argument that seeks to
teach you shat the liquor traffic is a per-
sonal or public good. Ii I we're to say
10 YOU that its tendency and aim is to
produce sober, industrious, and thrifty
citizens. instead of sots, paupers, and
criminals. not a man or woman among
YOU would leave this hall to-day with an
atom of respect for my veracity and hon
estv. II I were to say to the wives of
Evansville that the liquor trade is a bless
ING to them, Welding them loving, ten
dey. %provident, and Christian husbands,
they would r%epudiate me with scorn, as they
remember their sorrows, their tears, their
shame, and their ruined hopes. BY my
hope IN God. by my past experience, by
my loyalty to the truth, I would die a
dogs death in my place before 1 would
so outrage and Insult you!
THE ENEMY OF CHRISTIANITY AND MO.
RALITY.
This liquor traffic is the great enemy
and obs.tuctionist of the work of Christ.
1t is tie brutal and bloody foe of his
cross and his church. Every great heart
aud brain that is to-day preaching the
gospel OF Christ, stands tip-toe upon the
mountain tops of truth and proclaims to
men everywhere that the liquor traffic is
hells best agency to thwart the triumph
of the worlds redeemer. In the great
evangelical alliances the best and tallest
Christian authorities have put on record
the truth that the church must help to
abolish the liquor traffic. or it will con.
tinue TO cripple the church on every field
of its labor. What blasphemy is this
there IS a position in which they can
stand, loyal to Christ on the one side,
and projecting the liquor traffic on the
other?
1T is e question that deeply concerns
public morals also. Ifthere were no God,
no Christ, no eternity, no heaven and no
hell. there are principles written in the
very constitution of human nature which
demand a total prohibition of this liquor
evil. How miserable an estimate of our
mortal pcwers. of our bodies and brains
that We should so freely consent to de-
bauch and destroy them! What a wonde,
is the mind of man! How it can travel
ont beyond earth and air. can compass the
visible universe, drive with Phuebus the
circuit Of the sun, sit in silent medita-
tlon with the moon, queen Of the night,
bathing the earth and sEeathing her shafts
of silver in outer darkness! How it car
weigh and measure the stars, unwrap the
evolutions OF mother earth and count the
centuries of her growth; can sift the
mountains and unseal the treasures of the
deeps! Yet is the end of it all to be for.
ever drunkeness, misery and the bloody
grave?
No! we ere responsible to one another
ii you choose to say We are not SO to God
| have no right to. dispel the moral ut
mosphere of our mutual existence Will
my sins and shame. I have no right tt
build up a brothel under the caves of tn,
home in which your daughters are grow.
ing in grace and purity. No more hav.
You the moral right to raise u saloon il
the pathway of my sons, who are growing
up in sobriety aud industry! The n il
as evil as the other. They are boil
crimes against life, morality and destiny
THIS IS a WAH Fol- THE LIFE OF TIKI
LAW.
This liquor traffic is an enemy to thu
public peace and the public veal: In on.
country our loyal appeal must always bt
10 the Justice of the people, crystallizee
IN public law. We have appealed to thu
law, and the law has, in a majority of on
communities, come partially to our help
We only ask it to come all the way-to d
fully that which it has done in part, ant
therefore insuficiently for its own pro
lection.
We nave laws which say that this traf
nc shall cease on Sunday. But that rea
sonable and wholesome law is trampie.
under the feet of lawless men in thi
very city. But the day of reckoning i
coming the more speedily for their sins
"A historical parallel is in sight. II
me recently published Life of James d
hirney,' the first Presidential %candidat
OF the Abolitionists, it is said truly tina
me day of deliverance to the slave
aawnea when the day of the enslave
inent OF the freemen of the countr
cast its herald signs again. When tn
MALE were violated for the destruction o
Abolition literature; when Southern leg
,siatnres set a price upon the heads o
greeley and Garrison. the country awok
20 the fact that slavery was no longer q