Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-05
ANTI-LIoUoR CRUSADE.

| Prohibitionists Preparing for a Great Legal
| Attack, Simultaneous In Many Cities
| Prominent People the Subjects - Vice
President Morton Was to Have Been
First.
NEW YORK, June AIR. W. Jennings DEM
CREST the Prohibitionist, has just returned
| to New York from Mexico. In Mexico he
spent most of his time in laboring for the
prohibition cause. He succeeded in getting
meeting of missionaries to pledge them
selves to work for prohibition, and he in
| turn promised to give them 10000 medals to
| distribute among children who would speak
| prohibition pieces.
The great success of his work in Mexico
so stimulated Mr.. Demorest that on his re-
| turn to this city he began working on the
| plan of startling and gigantic crusade
against alcohol. The agency through which
| this campaign will be Conducted Is the Ma
tional Anti-Nuisance League: The objects
| of this league are enumerated in the follow
| ing statement, which Mr.. Demorest has had
| printed in tract form:
"The purposes of the National Anti-Nuis-
ance League are to prove before the courts
by suits in equity, 1njunctions, and for
damages, that the fascinating, acrid and
deadly poison of alcohol is the most danger
Gus enemy of our health, homes and country;
a public nuisance, and as such to be nbated.
Every sentiment of humanity and pa triotism
calls for its utter prohibition as beverage
colossal evil is to outlaw the manufacture
and sale of it as a crime to be punished with
the utmost rigors of the law"
What They Rely Upon.
"We rely upon:two things to establish our
case," said Mr.. Demorest yesterday. "One
is the decision of the United States Supreme
Court already made in the Kansas case, with
which all Prohibitionists are familiar. The
other is the result of the investigation of
cf arrrr Ro fa1r or,d NIL chi fp
men in the nature of analyses of alcohol.
They have proved that It is nothing more
nor less than the excrement of microbes, and
that it can be made in no other way. These
microbes are generated by the fermentation
OF any fermentable substance. They live
upon the starch in the malt and their sub
sistence produces alcohol. This is deadly
poison, more so than arsenic or strychnine
That is because of the terrible affinity for
water which pure alcohol has. Half an
ounce on the tongue will produce instant
easn Sp s SO iof
the United States Supreme Court:
=, NO Legislature can bargain away the pub
lie health or the public morals. The people
themselves cannot do it, much less their
servants Government is organized with
view to their preservation, and can not di-
them.
"Now, sir, the inference to be drawn from
that is that Governments can not legalize by
license that which will be an injury to the
ptOplt. we STILL prove GnaC alCOQOl Is an
injury. by such scientific men as I have
quoted, and resting on the Supreme Court
decision, we have our case The result is as
sure as the sun is to shine. That decision in
the Kansas case was unanimous, except that
that there were two dissenters"
A Big Plan of Campaign.
"Now for the Anti-Nuisance League. This
is the initial league. We shall have auxiliary
leagues in all the large cities, whose bust
Wi he tn rnr,1n To- wi
dence, and fight the cases. We are going to
inaugurate campaign against the liquor
traffic which will take peoples breath away.
Already we have completed negotiations
with 40 of the best lawyers in the country.
These lawyers will commence actions stimuli
taneously in different parts of the country,
and am sure will have no trouble in show
ing that the liquor traffic is O nuisance, and
as such should be entirely suppressed. We
shall begin I'M unction suits against the most
prominent liquor men in the country Then
we shall institute suits for damages where
the locality of saloons works injury or
where persons have suffered injury by rea-
son of the sale of liquor. Every case will be
carried to the court of last resort. The Ques-
tion will undoubtedly go to the United
States Supreme Court for final adjudication.
That court has already given decision
which sustains the position we have taken
in this matter.
"0ur plan was to begin the crusade in the
f6y OF BY scouting an nne
ing him from selling or allowing others to
sell alcoholic beverages in his fashionable
hotel the Shoreham. Our hopes were tenn
porarily dashed by the accident which hap
pened there recently. The stairs fell down
and the building was deemed unsafe. We
were quite annoyed when we heard of the
work in Washington by restraining the Vice
PRESIDENT. However, have learned that
the repairs in the Shoreham are progressing
rapidly, and the hotel may be opened when
Some Shining Marks Selected.
The very thought of bringing an action
against Vice President Morton affords Mr.
Demorest much pleasure. Judge Moulton
has charge of the Washington end of the
campaign. But Vice President Morton is not
the only prominent man who is to be prose
cuteo as the aDettor of q nuisance. No one
who is prominent and sells intoxicating
liquors will be spared. Mr.. Demorest prom
ises that the campaign in this city will be
opened in a truly startling manner.
"We will probably begin," said he, "by
commencing actions against the Hoffman
House, the Fifth Avenue Hotel and Del
monico's. This programme may be changed
Slightly, but We will select the most promi-
nent and respectable dealers. We don't pro-
pose to select isolated places and common
dives like Billy McGlory's and Tom Gould's;
the police can take care of them. We shall
assail the ranks of socalled respectability."
to the initial Anti-Nuisance League No
contributions are asked for but contribu-
tions of influence and zeal, and no collec-
tions are taken up: Every dollar l have,
said Mr.. Demorest, ''is laid on the altar"
He has sold his sewing machine business
and has gone into the business of prohibit
tion. He has started out to batter down
"the ramparts of Satan"
"Oh, sir" said Mr.. Demorest, "put these
facts in words, get them before the people,
and you will do service to your country,
your conscience, and your God. Do you
know how much money is spent for alcohol
every Year, One billion dollars, and it takes
a billion more to repair the evil of the first
billion, as far as we can. Think of what a
it will be when that vast sum is
turned into the channels of trade. We can't
begin to accommodate the business, we
won't have stores enough to hold the mer-
chandise, we won't have merchandise
enough to satisfy the wants of the people,
and we won't have railroads enough to carry
it. We will have such q boomI'