The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1890-06-26
The Ethical Base of Government

tclligcncr and moralityl And II he
was, o,rht not constitution makers
to I've careful iU preserve the ethical
element in the organic law' y wrong
done any class of the people wlliturn
cut at last tn I've q wrong done to- all
the people. An Immoral principle
adopted will, through the years T."
follow, work after its own nature, and
work harm. Wrong is the disqulct-
ing force in this world, always to be
feared. avoided and resisted. There
fnrc. men without moral ideas are
unfit TO- frame constitutions, make
laws. H administer government.
They are not. in any true sense,
statesmen, however high they may
stand as politicians. Take away the
churches and the people who support
them, tire people OF conscience and
moral ideas, and how long will free
institutions resist the attacks of the
opposite classcsf Group together
tire churches, the school houses and
those who belong with them on one
side and on the otherside, the saloons.
the lotteries, the gambling bells, the
houses Of iIl-fame, the CONSCIOUSNESS
trusts and cOmbines-which group
must he depended upon to uphold so
cial order, administer justice, main
tain government Everybody knows.
Now, if the principles of morality in
citizens are essential to free govern
ment, those principles ougth to be IN
the constitution and laws. An i'm
moral constitution sends forth con-
stantly a deadly influence. 1t edu-
Gates in the wrong direction and be-
comes an instrument of danger to
the State.
Let us look particularly at some
phases of the question that we may
the value of laying the
foundation in righteousness.
The Clarion Ledger, the most re-
spectacle of the saloon papers of the
State, Was constrained to ask the
question very recently, whether the
Lottery owns Louisiana,
or Louisiana owns the Lottery. Why
such a question: Well, we suppose,
because that huge gambling concern
seems able to control papers and men
at will III Louisiana. 1t is dubious
question, and looks very much as If
the Lottery owns the State. Its pow
er is everywhere. Great papers, en-
inent politicians, great lawyers and
many pulpits are controlled by NJ. a.
Dauphin and his fellow gamblers.
How Did it happen7 Years ago the
was licensed for money, and
like a serpent warmed in friendly
bosom, stealthily it has wound its
folds around its patrons till resist
ance is well nigh useless. Was it
ever wise to give such an institution
protectiOn9 Ought Mississippi to put
a lottery clause in her constitution ?
Look at the saloons. Like the lot
terry in our sister State, they, in large
measure, control Missi ssippi. The
State agrees to protect them for the
crumbs which fall from their tables.
of the irrepressible conflict
between their interests and the inter
ests of society, they are the universal
corruptOrs of politics, of juries, of
of judges, of lawyers, of
of public men, of newspapers,
of every body and every thing COM
ing within the area of their wide
spread, subtle and well nigh all per-
vasive influence. They submit to no
law, acknowledged fact, no restraint.
They combine with gamblers, thieves.
thugs, prostitutes, murderers and
every outlaw to resist law and tram
pie on the rightful authority of the
State. Every saloon becomes the
habitat of criminals. Boys are trained
in perjury to protect the saloon
interest. and, with the saloons, there
is nothing sacred, neither Sabbath,
church, State, motherhood, childhood
man nor God. What each saloon is
in itself, the National Whisky Trust
is on gigantic scale, an organized
war upon society, church and State.
To regulate saloons is as impossible
as to regulate the devil whom they
serve. A vast majority of all our
criminal cases originate with the sa-
loon. ga saloon is good place to
start to investigate almost any crime"
said an experienced States attorney
recently. Now is it wise to foster
these lawless institutions? 1t is easier
to crush them than to regulate them
a thousand times over.
Prohibit lotteries, saloons, gambling
bells and houses of i'll fame in our
constitution, and at once very large
per cent of the lawless element of the
State will leave us. Others of that
class will not visit our shore, but will
seek place where they can shelter
under the law while they undermine
law. The quiet, the sober and law
loving people from abroad will seek
homes among us. Politics will be
purified, public men liberated from
bondage to saloon bosses,
the moral atmosphere will be clari-
fed, vast sums of money will be
saved to the people and will go into