Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-01-12
4 Sunday Letter from Rev. L. A. Cutier.
RICHMOND, VA, January ;,
To he Eif;ioT Of Uispdtch:


To ne Efitor Of The Dispatch:
Now that no exciting political campaign
IL disturbing the people, VIII you give the
readers of your widely-circulated paper tho
following reliable information on the bene-
fetal effects of prohibition.
Governor Larrabee. Of Iowa, in o letter
addressed TO the President of the Non-Par-
tisan Prohibition Convention, Omaha,
Neb., wrote: " Prohibition has done great
things for Iowa. The law has been great
success"
Governor Humphrey. Of Kansas, wrote:
II is not needed to disguise the tact that
there are some cities and towns in Kansas
where the law and the Constitution are
violated. Every penal statute ever enacted
has been violated. But you can boldly tell
your co-workers that prohibition is neither
farce nor a failure; that the open saloon
is outlawed and the vocation of the bar
keeper gone. That since prohibition was
enacted the State has increased in wealth
and population and prosperity and that
crime has diminished. Kansas presents by
facts and figures the benefits resulting
from constitutional prohibition. Kansas
has taken this marvellous stride notwlth-
standing the fact that she is surrounded by
license States and adverse influences"
Governor Martin, of Kansas. in his last
message to the Legislature, said: Of
firm with earnestness and emphasis that
Kansas is to-day the most temperate, or
derly, sober community of people In tho
civilized world"
Hon. L. II. Hutchins, Commissioner Of
Labor, Iowa, says: Noteworthy evidence
of the beniicent workings Of prohibiuoni Is
afforded in the fact that while from year TO
year the population OF Iowa Is largely IN
creased, the population of her state penl-
! A. 90 II 90 Ifr,fn1clfnrr "
Chief-Justice Horton, of the Kansas SUI
preme Court, writes: Under the laws OF
our State the open saloon has been banish-
ed utterly from its limits With the
abolition of the open saloon the vicious
habit of treating has passed away. with
us the habitual use of Intoxicating liquors
is bar to political preferment, and the
saloon is no longer potential factor IN
elections"
Governor Martin. in a public address,
SAID Fully nine tenths of the drinking
and drunkenness prevalent inKansas eight
years ago has been abolished. Thousands
Of men who wer6 then almost constantly
under the influence. more or less, OF H.
toxicants are now temperate aud SOBER,
and in thousands of homes all over the
State where want, Indebtedness, and woe
were the invited guests OF drunken nus
bands and fathers plenty, peace, and con-
tentment now abide. Our temperance,
laws have largely abolished drinking and
drunkenness and the poverty, wretched-
ness. and crime Of which the open saloon
is the fruitful and certain cause"
Senator ingalls, writes: (which OF two
methods (prohibtion or license). both In
efTectual TO prevent the use, IS the better
to prevent the abuse of alcoholic drinks
and relieve the individual and society from
the evils of intemperanceI From com
parison of the results in Kansas with
those existing elsewhere, the conclusion -
irresistible in favor OF prohibition. IL can
be efficiently and successfully enforced. II
does not retard the growth nor lnJure the
resources OF the people. It's operations
practically close with tho closing of the
saloon, leaving personal liberty uulmpair-
ed. IL exOncrates the State from compiled
| ty and participation in the most fOrmlda-
! be agencies OF its own destruction. Kan
sas has abolished tho saloon. The open
dram-shop traffic Is as extinct as the sale
! OF indulgences. a drunkard IS q phe-
nomenon. The barkeepcr has joined the
| troubadour, the crusader, and the mound,
builder. The brewery, the distillery. and
| the bonded warehouse are known only to
| the archaologIst."
Which will YOU accept, tho doubtful
| statements Of interested and unreliable
| liquor-men. or the published statements OF
sworn officials and the affidayits OF honora-
| bic gentlemen
The liquor traffic is q crime-a crime
against God and man. Paying high license
TO destroy and damn will not make the busl
ness right nor lessen the crime. * vote
to license the sale Of intoxicating liquors
vote to corrupt the community. 10 impov-
erish the people. to cbstruct the Gospel
and 10 damn the souls OF my teilow-luen
Il n fllt business.
The whole South mourns the death o.
Henry ". Grady, of Atlanta. sRead what
this noble and eloquent editor'of the Con
siRiaion said in his celebrated speech in be
half Of prohibition in Atlanta in 1887. Il
is in Tie Voice of January 2, 1880. Lei
everybody in Richmond read it. Every one
who does read it. who has a mind anC
heart, viii always vote against the saloon
Respectfully, l.. A. CUTLER.