Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1893-09-19
PERSONAL AND OTHERWISE.

the Signal, we find, among other per
sonal references, the following
The editor of The LEADER will not
listen to the preaching of minister
who will vote the Democratic ticket,
but he publishes clubbing rates with
the leading Democratic paper of Mis-
sissippi."
The editor of THE LEADER has been
aware for some time that such a
charge as that embraced in the first
clause of the Signals paragraph was
being whispered about, manifestly for
the purpose of arousing prejudice
against him personally and politically,
but hitherto we have passed it by in
silence. Now that it is made publicly
and stated as fact we will speak.
We cheerfully acquit the editor OF the
Signal of any wilful or deliberate in
tention to misrepresent, but the state
ment referred to is of itself as false as
any lie ever invented by the devil and
uttered from the bottom most pit. 1t
is lie strait and simple, and as such
we brand it.
1t is true that one or two preachers
of our extensive acquaintance among
the ministry, have been guilty of such
unmistakable duplicity and two-faced-
ness on the Prohibition question, that
we could not go to hear them preach
and appear to be edited, without our
self playing false part, which we will
will not do; and it is further true that
party politics caused this duplicity to
expose itself, but in no true or cor
rect sense can it be said that our ac-
ton is influenced by their voting one
party ticket or another. The fact that
we have repeatedly gone to hear min
listers preach during the last Il months
who gave their influence and support
to the Democratic party III the last
campaign is of itself an unanswerable
refutation of the false statement
above quoted. We think that every
preacher in Mississippi or elsewhere
who gave his support to either of the
old political parties last fall i'll prefer
ence to the Prohibition party, acted
inconsistency and made mistake, but
we do not impugn the motives or call
in question the sincerity of such men.
Much as some people would like for
it to appear otherwise, the editor OF
The LEADER is neither an intOlerant
fanatic, fool nor demagogue. No
one has higher estimate of the
worth, loyalty and power for good of
preachers in general than he. We
consider them, of truth, the salt of
the earth, the light of the world, the
leaven that is to leaven the whole
lump. For the labor they perform
and the good they do, they are the
poorest paid of all men in the world.
They have been the moral heroes and
leaders in every great moral reform
which has blest the civilized world.
There are, comparatively, few Judases
and Benedict Arnolds among them.
We recognize the fact that the minis
try has done more than every other
class of men to arouse public senti-
ment against the liquor traffic, and that
in this State and others, it is mainly
due to their courage, self-sacritice and
influence, combined with the noble eff
forts of the w. c. L. u, that prohibi-
ton has obtained to the extent that it
has. We also recognize the fact that if
the prohibition party ever succeeds
and the legalized liquor traffic is final
ly suppressed in the United States. it
must be mainly by the votes and
influence of the preachers of the coun-
try and the prohibition voters now in
the old parties. We have no abuse
and no condemnation for the
man who honestly differs with us as to
the best method of accomplishing the
desired end We know the time is
coming and now is when we will need
him and he will need us in carrying
the contest to successful issue.
Moreover, we have not forgotten that
we ourself came slowly and we may
add reluctantly, to the conclusion that
a new party. committed to prohibition
is the only sure solution of the liquor
curse. In "a word, we have respect and
the utmost federation for every man
who honestly differs with us on this or
any other subject.
But while we recognize all this and
feel thus about it, we cannot and will
not close our eyes to the aggregated
and individual responsibility of min
listers and Christian voters in
general on this question. In this
proud Republic, every male citizen en-
dowed with the right of suffrage is as
truly sovereign as any crowned and
sceptred potentate of Europe. AS
such he is individually responsible for
his vote and political influence, and
for the acts Of those he elects to repre-
sent him. 1t is because we appreciate
the power and influence of the minis
try and Christian men of this country
that we are so much concerned to see
them united i'll one party and turned
against the liquor traffic. We are not
particular about which party it is, so it
is PARTY that is pledged to its destruc-