Blue-grass blade., 1891-12-05
A Curtain Lecture to Some Pro.
hibitiOn Papers.

A Curtain Lecture to Some Pro.
bibitiOn Papers.
/ reckon | have been afflicted
with more good advice than any
newspaper editor in the United
States, in proportion to the size
of my paper aud Of myself; and
now L am going to retaliate by
giving some "good advice" to
somebody else, and | select as the
victim of my good advice" the
New Era; Prohibition paper
published at Springfield, Ohio. l
preface my remarks just as they
generally do to me, by saying l
like the loyalty of that paper to
Prohibition, and then [ get in my
objections.
In the editorial department of
the issue of Nov. 20, the one that
now lies before me, there is a lot
of editorial squiblets varying in
length from one line up to nine
teen lines. l think half of the
space occupied by these is taken
up with advice to the people to
subsc, iJe for the New Era. Then
there is an editorial of a little
more than a column and a half
solid, and the conclusion it arrives
is that people ought to take The
Mcw b a, and yet in that editorial
it speaks of itself as being most
serenely solid on the question OF
finance.
Some people say that ifI claim
to be heather 1 ought not to
quote scripture, but | will suggest
to the New Era, "Let another
praise the and not thine own lips
That paper is sometimes chock
, full of Boosting of its own excel
/, lence.
l don't see how any modes
man can write that way about hi
t own newspaper, in hard earnest
} | brag very frequently, but | pill
it on so heavy that | suppose any
man of sense will understand tina
4 l am simply talking tor buncomb
1 have lately claimed, for in
;, stance. that l know more theOlog.
than Pope Leo XIII, but it neve
struck me that any man in tn
State of Kentucky, or anywher
else, thought l was fool enough t.
. believe that in earnest; and yet Q
: course / really think the old gen
tleman is a kind ola back numbe
:, in some of his religious ideas.
:, The next editorial item in tn
! New Era is something more tina
;; column, kicking against what
, known as "the million pledg
|" !" plan," suggested by the New Yor
y Voice. The very worst that an
~ sensible man can justly sa
! against that plan. is that it ma
mot do any eeeed.
y lam in favor of it and intend
- do all that | reasonably can t
y assist it, and yet | am free to ad
. nit that it may not do any gooo
:, and have no dOub. that the Voit
r. would do the same thing. Br
&c there certainly does seem to /
- - some ground for supposing that
~ nay do some good, and as W
9 have fearful odds with which
~ contend we must exhaust ever
! resource at our command
~ The attitude of the New Era G
.e :. this point. in connection with i
az distinguished opposition to Il
- =, recent editorials of the Vol
- charging the churches with con
i plicity with the saloons, to be cal
- did and plain with my EDITOR
!, brother IF the New Era, soun'
az like little piece of journalist
IL S jealousy, and it sounds little b
~ like a lightning bugs jealousy
W the moon, i'll the illuminatlr
~ business.
~ | believe in fair emulation, al
~ if | could make paper twice
good as the New York Voice
=. would do il, and then try my be
20 to make one three times as goo
:; But as long as | can't make n
=. paper any better than it is, | a
y, ~ glad the Voice can make one mu'
:" better than mine.
The Voice has the brain al
- heart, money and energy to p
&. into big newspaper, and it
,a doing it; and we should give the
- all honor for doing so; and if eth
'.' and much smaller and less Unfit
~ entail Prohibition newspapers
~ as all Of them are-do not ayr
~ with the Voice in some position
~ takes, the other Prohlb
y. ton paper must not jun
'' on it with both feet iii
they were trying to stamp out Il
u whole paper.
;" Pen up big Tom cat with
.. dozen rats and he will Kill all
- :. them, but put him in the sewers
10 Paris where there are millions
~ rats, and the rats will kill the C
." and eat him up.
~ The Voice can defend its(
- against the most formidable of
" adversaries in its position on Il
:" "Ungodly League business, b'
III cause it has the argument and Il
- brains 10 drive it home, but Il
- concerted action of smaller paper
~ like the New Era and the Chicae
=, Ne Lever, might do the Voice in
- mense harm; and if they were
). succeed in breaking down II
p Voice the whole of us "rur
~ roosters" wonld be in a--of
- fix.
"a Each of us could get some id'
10 of what the party is doing in 81
1 own state, but none of us won
\, know what the Prohibition part
r.. is doing AL over the Unite