Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1893-07-18
A LETTER FROM DICKIE.
He Discusses the Dominant
Issue Plank of the Platform.
Is PROHIBITION THE CHIEF ISSUE
OLE TIE PROHIBITiON rARTy2

The National Chairman says Yes, Though
lie Tavors the Broad Platform Idea-
The Prohibition Party a Party 10
Agreed Only on n Question of Prohibi-
tion-whocyer Votes the Ticket Has
Given the Best Evidence of Allegiance
to the Party.
To THE EpIToR:-kindly permit mo
through your columns TO say a word,
purely personal, along a line of cur
rent discussion
The dominant Issue plank is receiving
large amount of attention these days,
a very considera BILE portion of the dis
cussion being of such trend as to be
productive of no possible good.
That earnest men and women should
differ as to the wisdom of n given pol
icy is not surprising, but that to their
fellow-workers who have given equal
evidence of devotion, and some of them
much longer service than themselves,
they should ascribe questionable mo-
tives or sinister purposes is withoutex-
cuse.
Two questions cover the case ~
Is Prohi bition the chief issue repre-
sented by the party? and (2) if SO, is it
wise to say so?
Personally, / answer both questions
in the affirmative The second is, per-
haps, de bata bic. Some are certain that
the 10Th plank costs us votes, and occa-
sionally jealous opponent OF the
plank undertakes to tell us just how
many votes were lost by the conven-
TONS folly, the statements ranging
from so, 900 to 100 000 Such estimates
are entitled to no respect, indeed they
are not estimates at all; they are the
sheerest nonsense compounded of guess
work and pique. If true, nobody
knows it. The chances are that there
Is nothing in them except the fact that
those who make them did not have
their way at Cincinnati
Since the election | have been about
the country considerably, but have
neither found the man, nor the man
who knows him, whose vote we lost on
account of the 18th plank. Quite likely
there are few, very few, and most
OF them would have found some other
excuse had the objectional plank been
wanting.
To dissent from the position taken
by the convention is undoubtedly
right of any individual The extent to
which such dissent may be urged and
the manner of pressing it upon the
public attention, each must decide for
himself
One thing, however, merits rebuke.
The individual may dissent from the ut
terance of properly constituted con-
vention, but to do so in the name and
with the assumption of a superior 10y
atty, comes perilously near being an ex-
hibition of impudence.
That prohi bition is chief among the
issues Of our platform there cannot be,
and ! am not sure that there u.s. any
ca, 10 nc
upon which we are unit The fact is
that an overwhelming majority of our
party, a majority including probably
every man and woman in favor of the
broad gauge policy, would instantly
and hopelessly abandon the whole move
ment were they not profoundly con
vinced that on this one great issue there
is among us harmony of sentiment,
unity of aim, n concentration of pur-
pose that does not now exist, and is not
likely to exist in our ranks upon any
other important measure.
For my own part | believe in the
broad platform as opposed to the one
plank idea. The people whose support
we seek are entitled to know the drift
of sentiment among us on other Ques-
tions. They have "a right to ask what
the ma jority of us think about issues
upon which everybody knows we can
not be united.
Our platform utteranccs on Prohibi-
ton voice the sentiments of every man
and woman in our ranks. No such
statement can be made concerning our
dcliverances upon any other issue.
Put the Prohi bition party in power to-
morrow and the country would expect
us at once to outlaw the liquor traffic
BeyOnd this the intelligent public
would expect us to do what? Carry
out in detail the policy indicated by
each plank of our platform? Yes, as
far as we could hold our men in line,
but no farther. We're our party in
power, aside from penny -a-line critics
and professional fault finders the great
mass of our citizens would know
enough to know that party cannot
unite its forces upon a number of
issues with any degree of certainty.
A sweeping victory for our party
would mean woman suffrage in Michi-
gan, but not in Mississippi 1t would
represent the triumph of a free coinage
sentiment in Colorado, but not in Mass
achusetts. 1t would mean the DONNA
ton of tariff reform tendency verg-
ing hard upon free trade in Minnesota,
but nothing of the kind in Pennsyl-
vania.
Prohibition is the one thing upon
which there would be no doubt as to
the party's action if placed in power
On every other reform the people
would expect, and I have no dou bt the
party would meet the expectation, that
legislation would be enacted approx
mating our platform deliverances and
fulfilling them, except in cases where
a dissenting minority of our own legis-
lators made such fulfillment impossi-
BILE
Tho true idea of a political party in
wolves the rallying around common
standard of individual citizens agreed
as to some issue of magnitude and i'm
portance. On that one great rallying
Issue they stand together. On other
questions they agree to disagree
To say that voting the ticket gives
endorsement to every plank in the
platform is nonsense. To affirm that
by so voting man does all he can to
erect into law every platform utter
ance of his party is equally bsurd He
does nothing of the kind. There are
thousands of men voting with us who
are not in accord with the utterances
of our platform on such subjects as
woman suffrage, the tariff, the finance,
but who consent to act with us for the
settlement of what they conceive to be
a vastly greater question. and who re-
serve to themselves the right of indi-
vidual judgment and action on ques-
tions deemed by them of secondary inn
portance
Nor can the charge of insincerity be
made against conventions for adopting
platforms under these circums tances,
xNs L l.