Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1894-05-29
HEADQUARTERS PROHIBITlON }
NATIONAL COMMITTEE.
NLRIOS. Men, Nav II. ~. '

We're ! to assume the peculiar ian
guagc of those estimablc people known
rs Friends. this communication would
open with the assurance that the writ
er is moved 81 the spirit TO say few
earnest words to each of the many men
and women whom he addresses as fell
low workers.
My present purpose Is specific and
my aim single. FIRST. let me ask You
whose eye rests ON these lines TO con
slider them as d communication strict
ly personal
And second. let me come directly at
the pith of the matter in hand by ask
ing if you are doing all you ought to
do. i'm the way of sustaining PrOhibl-
ton papers. increasing their circula-
ton and widening their influence!
If In this direction you are doing all
YOU ought to do, with money and time
and influence. then you may as well
read 10 farther, as this eXhOrtation
has nothing for you. If there is in
your mind any doubt on the subject.
perhaps you had better give me the
benefit of the doubt and read on.
Do you take Prohibition paper? If
not. why not? Two cents a week will
pay for it, and among men who have
sense enough to vote the Prohibition
ticket it would be difficult to find one
who cannot afford this expenditure.
OF all your spending and all your Civ
ing for Prohibition, let your first dol
lar 90 to pay your own subscription TO
Prohibition paper.
For each of the last six years 1t has
fallen to my lot to raise thousands of
dollars for Prohibition work. We need
money all the time; we need it now;
we never needed it more. If you could
give us ten dollars where you now give
one, We would use it with economy.
The appeals for help that come to us
are almost enough to break our hearts.
We greatly need five, ten, twenty times
the amount now at our command, but
with all this need | give it as my de
liberate opinion that 40 party commit
tee can eXpend your first Prohibition
dollar more iudiciously than you can
eXpend it yourself in paying years
subscription to a Prohibition paper to
come into your own home, to be read
by yourself, your family, and, if posi-
BILE. by your neighbOrs. We have sew
cral hundred regular, and ten thOus-
and occasional contributors to the
funds of the national committee.
honor them all and respect them
all, but exhort them all that they do
this one thing even if committees 30
licit in vain. This is an eXhortation,
not an argument, and | must study
brevity.
You ought to take and read Prohi-
bition paper
a. For your own good and the good
of your family.
You probably subscribe for an anti
Prohibition daily because you must
have the news. You need an antidOte.
You ought to have at least one paper
to advocate your own views. give you
information from the field Of action
and keep you in touch with your fellow
workers.
He must be rare man who can stand
against the sOphistries of the average
daily without the bracing influence of
a paper sound on the great progressive
movements of the day.
l2.l For the sake of the publishers.
No men are doing so much work and
rendering so important service for such
meager compensation as are the pub
fishers and editors Of cur Prohibition
papers.
Many of them are compelled to prac
tice the severest economy and to labor
at great disadvantage because of linn
tied support given them.
Advertisers frequently boycott them.
As a matter of conscience. they refuse
to admit a class of Objectionable ad
vertisements commonly seen in other
papers, They toll early and late amid
diScOuragementS that would diSmay
less heroic souls. They expect the OPP
position of their political enemies; they
ought not to be required to suffer the
Indifference and neglect of their
friends.
To pass them by and subscribe for
the opposition papers is to paralyze
our most efficient allies and give aid
and comfort to the enemy.
The devoted labors of the men and
women who furnish this branch of ser
vice merit a better recognition than
they receive.
(3.) For the sake of the party, most
of all. Weak papers do us but little
good. We can make them all strong.
Every paper that succumbs works us
injury. We can save them all if We
will.
Without depreciating any other line
of work. 1t is not too much to say that
no other service being rendered the
Prohibition party is comparable in
value with the service rendered by our
press. It ought to receive our loyal
and liberal support.
But, after all, this exhortation will
be of little avail unless you pass it
along. You who read it are already
subscribers to one or more papers.
May | not ask every one of you for Il
half hours service? Will you not Sc
lect some friend Prohibition friend
who does not take Prohibition paper?
They are unfortunately not difficult to
find. Having selected your man will
you not call upon him? If necessary
spend an evening with him. Lay siege
to him. Take this eXhOrtation along.
Show him his duty. Press your case.
Take his subscription, collect his dol
lar and forward his name to the paper
of his choice. You can do this with
ease in one case at least. 1t is a small
service for the individual, but will
yield important and enduring results.
Will you not try it?
SAMUEL DICKIE, Chairman.