Blue-grass blade., 1892-02-20

wUuiG. destroy the saloon power, be-
cause it could not succeed without sa-
loon votes The democratic party
would not If IL could because very
many of its members are fond of pat
roniZinC the ra!oon. The prohibition
party is anxious to close the saloons,
and va if the people will only give II
their os
As thu saloons can only be abolished
by the will of the people expressed at
the polls, it would seem to be the clear
duty of every voter who desires to sec
the land free from that curse to vote
the prohibition ticket And it Is the
duty of every party prohibitionist so to
act that good men will not be kept out
of the ranks of the party.
The people mean well. They do not
hate to do what is right. They do not
vote spitefully and with the desire to
perpetuate that which is wrong. They
may be doing that which they ought
not to do; but they are only doing what
we prohibitionists did until our eyes
were opened and we saw "a more ex-
cellent way"
The good people of this country do
love the land of their nativity or adop-
ton. They do love their homes, their
wives and their children And they do
love God.
Old party ties may keep men from
facing new issues for a while; and what
is wanted is an applied plaster of truth,
saturated with love and common-sense
arguments. And the result sometimes
depends more upon the proper applica-
tion of the plaster than upon its com.
position. 1t is time that the members
OF the church of Christ should stop vot-
ing for political parties that draw their
inspiration and their candidates from
the saloons and their henchmen. No
man is likely, when elected, to prove
better than his party. When you vote
for John Smith you vote for the prin-
eiples Of his party. He was nominated
to represent his party, and if elected
will represent it.
There Is cut one party in this country
that represents the spirit of Christian
ity Surely, if Christ was on earth, He
would not vote to license, or to permit
the existence of business that pro-
duces such misery on earth and sends
so many souls to perditiOn- He had
no fellowship with the unfruitful works
of darkness, but always reproved them.
The prohibition party is not perfect,
but it is the nearest to perfection OF
any party in this country. 1t has the
prayers of many of the good and curses
of the bad This is one of the signs
that it is about right. 1t has a good
many preachers in its ranks and not a
| single saloon-keeper. 1t asks for moth
ing that is wrong and a good deal that
is good. 1t fosters spirit of love of
home and the protection of the weak
against the strong 1t knocks at
/ the doors of the hearts of the in
telligeut and God-fearing citizens and
/ says: please, for the sake of human
| ity. give us your vote! How long
will you, kind readers, withhold your
votes, which are so badly wanted, to
| keep the wolf from the door of the toll
ing masses? How long will you say
Nor to the appeals to aid in stopping
the filling up of hell and in making it
/ less difficult for men and women to
/ get to Heaven? How long will you
keep saying, "From such, good Lord,
deliver u.s." and yet refuse to cooper
ate with the Lord in His efforts to res
cue the perishing and deliver men from
temptation? How long will you keep
on singing Follow Jesus to the sim
ner, while you still persist in voting
directly or Indirectly for the liquor
traffic, that drives men and women
away from the Saviour?
Men and brethren, good republicans
! and democrats. when will you vote for
that which can do no harm, but which
you yourselves admit will do good il
enforced?
This brings to my mind an old
familiar hymn, beginning THE judg.
ment day is rolling round" Worth
thinking over on election days. as well
as on other occasions.