Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1893-05-23


ID. Smith, NJ. D., for the Tennessee Methodist
closed my last by reference to the
predicament in which an effort to re-
main and act with maiorities, simply
because they are majorities, will gener
ally place men. In this article / pro-
pose to notice briefly the inconsistent
cy, not to say utter folly, of another
position taken by so-called Prohibi-
bitionists-that of remaining in and
voting with liquor licensing parties
while we are trying to educate the peo
pie to the importance of Prohibition.
l believe that in almost if not quite
everything else, men undertake to ed
ucate the people by first practicing
themselves what is intended to be
taught others; and just in proportion
as they depart from this rule the world
calls them hypocritical. and discounts
their efforts. But when it comes to the
liquor buSiness-the DEVILS best agen-
cy- three -fourths of them reverse the
order of things and adopt plan that
would be universally condemned in
anything else. Just how men expect
to educate others to eventually do what
they themselves refuse now to do, is
hard to be understood. For man to
resolute in Church Conferences that
the licensed beverage liquor traffic is
the humanity killing, soul-destroying
infamy of the age, and that the bust
ness ought to be abolished by our own
voluntarily chosen law makers, and
then walk up to the ballot-box and
vote for men to become their law
makers who they know, or can easily
know, will not abolish it, educates
more for the traffic than against it; be-
cause, after all, it is the voting rather
than the resoluting that is to de-
strOy 1T.
But to illustrate practically the fol
ly of such METEOROLOGICAL teaching, |
will notice briefly the history of the
Prohibition movement in Tennessee.
Less than seven years ago III, 600 votes
were not only cast but actually count
ed i'll that State for Prohibition, or the
abolition of the licensed beverage
liquor traffic, and $4,000 against it.
This result was obtained without a
daily paper in the State advocating the
measure, and only a portion of the
weekly press. From that day till
very recent period in the past but one
paper in the State outside the religious
press, has been advocating Prohibition,
and until very recently it was hard to
tell whether most of the religious press
was on the one side or the other. With
this one exception, the entire secular
press of the State has been either
fighting Prohibition outright, or trying
to suppress its discussions; and yet we
are told by protesting Christians that
we must wait and be contented until
by such process the masses can be
educated up to Prohibition ideas Now,
lNRsSf hny.
two-column explanatory article. You
can show your ingenuity, whether there
is logic in it or not. Suppose you try
it.
But look here: When the Amend
ment campaign ended in Tennessee, if
the 117,0OO men who voted to abolish
the licensed beverage liquor traffic had
remained together politically, they
would have had three-fifths of the
wealth, two-thirds of the reading pop
ulation, and large preponderance of
the intelligence and moral worth of the
State within their ranks, and could
easily have bought out the entire sec
ular press of the State and turned its
batteries upon the liquor traffic instead
of having them defend it as has been
the case. If this had been done it is
hardly necessary to 90 outside the
walls of iunatic asylums for a reason
ably correct answer to the question of
probable results. Two years would
have given to the people of the State
more educational training on the sub
ject than fifty years of what has been
going on, and would have been suffici-
ent to melt away the $4,000 purchased
and stolen majority that has held the
yaN,,Ia IN, hnn1a 70 IL. Oh
ever since. Yes, change of 1900 of
the negative votes cast, or the arous-
ing and bringing out 10000 of the 41.OOO
reserve votes that were not cast at all,
would have redeemed the State from
the liquor domination and put it in
the hands and under control of polit-
ical organization that would have
made and then enforced laws. And
who can doubt the ability of such a
newspaper press to have done this in
just one campaign. Why was it not
done? Political partisan idOlatry.
Whenever we get ready to destroy
that idol, the licensing beverage liquor
traffic is gone; but until that times
comes, our people, yes, our children
probably, like the wandering Israelites
in the wilderness, will continue to be
bitten by the fiery serpent. | do not
care cent whether you join the exist
ing Prohibition party organization or
not, if you will just get out of your old
liquor soaked, liquor ruled and liquor
cursed party and organize an anti-H-
quor party of your own. l do not care
If there are thousand anti liquor par
ties organized. The harmonizing of
such organizations in the future will
be small affair as compared with the |
evangelistic work of getting men to
give up their old idolatrous worship of
the liquor ruled parties in which they
have been raised. Once men determine |
that they will no longer vote for men
as lawmakers who will not openly ad- |
vOcate the abolition of the licensing
beverage liquor traffic, they will natur-
ally drift together and begin at once to |
harmonize other differences. Instead !
of the abolition of the liquor traffic |
being made subordinate question as |
is now done bythem while they remain
in and loyal to liquor licensing parties.
it will be made the leading question
and other things subordinate. When |
such becomes the rule, instead of the |
exception as is now the case, the Pro
hibition Chariot will move forward as
never before. The hearts of a half |
million of oppressed mothers and wives !
will pulsate with renewed vigor and |
leap with the inspiration of new hope
and cheer. The step of the lover of |