Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1892-03-17
SOME PLAIN TALK.

lives. IL breeds every social dlSoFder
and wars persistently on the home,
and all organized society. 1t wastes the
living of dependent women and chill
dren and destroys the productive ener-
gies of the people. It seeks to control
for corrupt purposes political parties.
It enslaves many public men, subverts
public justice, debaucheS the public
conscience, trains it's patrons to per
jury, and is the implacable enemy of
both church and State. We declare
that every effort to regulate the traffic
by license laws has been a failure.
That while the law forbids anyone to
engage in the traffic, who is not of a
good moral character, the business has
drifted into the hands of the very
worst class of men in the country,
mostly foreign born, and without love
for American institutions. And fur
Their: in the main, efforts to enforce
the provisions of the laws against the
traffic have failed for the reason that
the corrupting influences of the saloon
reaches the inner courts of justice and
subverts ali law. The license system
has built up great monopoly in our
midst which is stronger than law, con-
trary to sound principles of govern
ment and repugnant to the spirit of
free institutions. High license we
condemn as a snare and delusion. 1t
has had only one effect and that is to
make the traffic more powerful and
more dangerous. We declare it to be
the only wise policy for the State to
withdraw from all partnership with the
saloon. to put it under the ban of law
to turn the whole power of the State
against it as common enemy, not on
ly bad in itself. but the ally of all other
evils which atflict society; the habitat
CT the gambler, the thief, the thug, the
prostitute, and strong factor in all
corrupt combines. We declare that no
Christian or humanitarian or patriot
can consistently support the saloon by
word, vote or act, and that it is the
part of patriotism to hold public men
to strict account for their completely
with this great public enemy.
I'VE believe it is the right and duty
of the State to legislate against the
traffic in alcoholic beverages, and to
enforce laws duly enacted, and we I'M
hesitatingly affirm that good results
have always followed wise legislation
when faithfully enforced"
This is the official deliverance of the
Prohibitionists of Mississippi, uttered
by their last State Convention, and
the LEADER endorses, and, if it could,
would emphasize every sentence of it.
The same deliverance, in substance,
has been made by the Mississippi Bap-
fist State Convention, representing
of $4,000 members; by
the Mississippi Conference of the M.
f. Church South, representing a con-
of $4,000; by the North Mis-
sissippi Conference of the M. E. Church
South, representing a constituency of
$4,000; by the Woman's Christian Tenn
perance Union, representing thousands
of the best and purest women of the
State, and yet what do we behold? A
Legislature assembled in Mississippi
Capital, composed of men, a majority
of whom at least, profess to be Chris
tan patriots and guided by moral
principle, hating and Rigging, and
seriously discussing through days Of
valuable time-what "a license bill
for perpetuating the infamy thus de-
nounced- unable to agree as to it's de
tails, and contending above all for a
division of the ill-gotten gains pro-
posed to be coined from manhood's
shame, woman's sorrow and squallid
childhood's needs.
Can it be that intelligent Christian
statesmen, representing Christian
constituency, will shirk. and cringe and
crawl like whipped spaniels before this
gigantic evil-will cover like moral
and political cravens-rather than
stand erect and fearless in the courage
of righteous purpose, meet the issue
like men and dare settle the question
as it ought to be settled? Is the dis
pleasure of the foreign saloon keepers
of Mississippi and their political strik-
ers and heelers more to be dreaded
than that the combined Christian man
hood and womanhood of the State Is
1T thought that the saloon keepers and
their allies will hold the Legislature
and the Democratic party to account,
and that the Christian citizenship, rep
resented by the organizations we have
named, will not
The LEADER is in spired with fresh
hope by the introduction of Senator
Teunisson's bill for straightout pro-
hibitory statute, and trusts when that
measure is perfected and pressed to a
vote in both Houses, the result may be
altogether reassuring.
We warn the Legislature that the
moral and earnest Christian people of
Mississippi are in no mood for longer
dallying and trifing with this question.
I'M