The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1890-12-26

bieSzealots, bs ankiest thing
have seen in is from your
sprightly correspoi II Memo, in the
EXPRESS OF Dec. 5tn. 1t Is said that
extremes sometimes meet. and really
the extremes of fogyism and fanaticisnn
seem to have met in the personality Of
Memo, OF Brownsville. in his fanat-
ical assault upon the principle of pro-
hibition, as n specimen of the sub
timely ridiculous, am of opinion that
the following quotation, from that re-
markable production, cannot be SUI
passed. viz: "Later still, but with
bolder mien, we see this hydra-headed
monster emerging from the blood
stained darkness of the past, In the
prohibition movement of to-day. The
thin veil which its devotees have
thrown around 1t, namely, the preven-
ton of intemperance. does not hide
one line of its hideous anatomy. IL is
the same fanatical fiend that nailed
the Lamb of Calvary to the cross and
enacted those scenes of cruel butchery
which eliminated In that awful trag-
edy ut Mountain Meadows.n After
this brilliant flight of picturesque verb
age we pause to catch our breath, and
quent he is nothing. But how strangely
set must his imaginative powers be.
One would suppose from the above
quotation that when Memo sees a
beautiful flower garden, and inhales
| its rich fragrance, he is thereby re-
minded of Il loathsome, fostering car
cass. When his ears are saluted with
the thrilling harmonies of some grand
anthem, rendered by a skillful mu-
sician, he Is instantly reminded of a
| cat concert; and when his head itches
he seeks to allay the Irritation by mp
plying his finger nails to the bottom of
his feet. A queer specimen of human
/ ity must this man Memo be. While.
reading his tirade against prohibition,
your correspondent could scarcely re
sist the thought that Memo must be a
long-lost relict Of the Bellanly family.
who, like--and yet unlike-his relative
| Edward, had but recently awoke from
a slumber. rot of u hundred, but of a
thousand years; for surely he is n thou.
sand years behind the Tunes. Think
of il, gentle reader, the principle that
would prohibit the traffic in intoxicat-
ing aud poisonous liquors, to be used
as beverages; which traffic, while II
does not bring n single blessing to oui
race, according to the best legal and
medical talent of the age, is the source
nf Mt least three-fourths of all the crime
and pauperism of our country, and
which annually sweeps into preinatur,
and hopeless graves from sixty Il
lightly thousand of our countrymen
bringing q deluge of sorrow to thou
sands of once-happy homes, is declared
to be Identical with that spirit which
crucified our blessed Lord. To seek bN
legal enactment to prevent the fruitagt
of the most fruitful source of moral
physical, social and political evil, i.
declared to be on a par with the atrOci
ties of the Mountain Meadows massa
ere. To prohibit few thousand sleek
gentry, with red neesties and reddei
noses, from dealing death over counter
to our young men, who are the hops
of our country, blighting their Lives
and making criminals instead of good
citizens Of them, and thereby increas
ing the burden of taxation upon ever,
honest industry of our fair land, Is de
clared to be in keeping with the spiri
that animated the Spanish pirates of
century ago, whose deeds of rapine ar,
not fit for publication.
One suggestion To Memo and WI
close. III the doctrine of prohibition
is wrong per SC, then has our govern
ment already reached an awful degre-
of tyranny and desperation; for lor;
ago, by constitutional and statuto'
law, we have prohibited duelling, muf
der, theft, arson, perjury, gambling
eounterfeiting and the like, and mo-,
recently we have gone to such pitcl
of desperation AS to prohibit polyam,
in the territory of Utah, and havi
actually prohibited the 4. s. mail seq
vice from handling mail matter lef
. tanning To the interest Of certain ind.
viduals who seek to make money b,
the lottery business, and as matter {.
fact almest every evil tendency il
man has been checked or curbed son. G
what by prohibitory law. Why thei
this wonderful ado when IL comes +
prohibiting the liquor traffic? VII
Memo answer why? loo.