Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1892-07-07
(Communicated.)
TEMPERANCE
And the Toledo Blade, as
Viewed by a Prohib.

an article unuef tue cAptiou vi Ahc
Churches and the Liquor Question:"
In which the General Conference Of
the M. Z. Church, and the Presbyter-
ian General Assembly are commend
ed for their advanced stand on the
liquor question, in the following lam
guage:
1--WE rejoice that so outspoken a
stand has been taken by these church
es of the people and most heartily
wish that every church In the land
would take and maintain the same
position"
In order that all may see the con-
slstency Of this sheet, We desire to pre-
sent an extract from the report of the
committee on temperance at the NJ.
E. Conferences:
1--WE do not presume to dictate the
political conduct Of our people, but
we do record our deliberate judgment
that no political party has right to
expect, nor aughL it to receive, the
support of Christian men so long as it
stands committed to the license pol
lev or refuses to put itself on record In
an attitude of open hostility to the sa-
LOOM"
This language is as strong as any
party prohibitionist can desire, and is
in direct conflict with the whole
teaching of the Blade, which supports
party directly committed to the Ii
cense policy-a party which never an
tagonizes the saloon. The foregoing
resolution was adopted by hundred
and fifty majority and no man who
voted for it can support either OF the
great parties In the coming contest,
without being guilty of the most con-
summate hypocrisy, be he bishop or
layman.
Again, the Blade says: "Legisla
tion cannot make men sober and pure
against their will" This is an old
chestnut and as silly as it is old. The
Blade knows very we'll that the U. 8.
Government and every state govern
ment has the power within its own
domain to suppress the sale of liquor
as completely as it can suppress muir
der, stealing, lotteries, ETC., and that,
In this way, men may be made sober
even against their will, and that if all
the people in this country opposed to
the nefarious business could he mass
ed into one party, it could be wiped
out of existence In five years.
The Blade by its temperance profess
sions, and its contradictory practice
is doing as much or more than any one
agency to prevent this desired con-
summation.
The Blade further says: "The effort,
the money, the time spent to create q
new party, should have all been
spent In educating the people; there
is the true line of labor" lii reply to-
this we desire to say that in the work
of educating the people party prohibl-
tionists have been more active than
any other class of people, even in a
non partisan way.
Let us for moment see what the
effect of nom partisan work has been.
If, by educating the people, we are to
achieve our ultimatum, then it would
certainly seem as If there aught to be
decrease in the use of intoxicants
and the resulting evils, inasmuch as
non-partisan work for the education
OF the people has been going on con-
stantly for the past fifty years.
But such is not the fact. By refer
ence to the U. s.. bureau of statistics,
we learn that the consumption of liq-
uor in the U. s. has steadily increased
since 1S40. The amount consumed
during the year ending June 80, 1888,
for beverage purposes was more than
IL times as much per capita as In
1910. At this rate, will the Blade
man tell us how soon we shall be rid
of the curse? That the work of edI-
cation should continue to go on In all
the ways suggested by the Blade, all
prohibitionists will most heartily con-
cede, but no educative process is as
potent as the ballot, (which executes
a freeman's will, as lightning does the
will of God"
Again, the Blade says: sit is so ca
sy To abuse everybody, SO easy to
work ones self up into state of
righteous Indignation and hurl paper
bolts, not at the rum traffic, but at the
people who find other issues in poll
tics than the single one of prohibi-
tion But 1t never converted one
man who believes he has right to
drink into, one total abstinence
man,
In this extract there are no less than
five false insnuations, and which the
Blade knows to be false. OF course it
refers here to party prohibitionists, as
it Is against them it is leveIing its
shafts.
i In the first place, 1t falsely intimates
that they abuse everybody and do not
fight directly the rum traffic. This is
so ridiculously false that it must cause
a broad smile on the faces of all who
read it. Prohibitionists have thrown
a hundred fold more hot shot into the
rum traffic than all others combined.
AS to abuse, If to disagree with re-
publican or democratic methods of
dealing with the liquor business ia
4 abuse, then we plead guilty. But the
charge comes with i'll grace from a
party that during the st John cam
paign was guilty of the most con-
temptible species Of SANDER, hanging
and burning in effigy and mobbing
, prohibition meetings, and whose
! abuse of Grover Cleveland could not
have been worse had 1t eminated
from the bottomless pit. Indeed, In
| the very same issue of the Blade In
. which this article appears, is the fol
lowing commentator of Pressden,
Harrison:
"The President sat like stone wal
} to veto aud condemn any viciou,
legislation which might be passed by
the present congress composed of !,
mercenary and inscriptions mob o
: Democrats"
q No abuse In this of course, eminat
!. ing as It does from the party of grea
| moral ideas.
/ The aforesaid asinine sheet furthe
intimates that the Prohibition part,