Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1894-01-30
OOKHAVEN, MISSISSIPPI, TUESDAY, JANUARY 30 1894

party, so as to prevent any competi-
ton between political parties, the
non partisan plan of dealing with the
liquor traffic might do pretty well. II
the Republicans of Iowa had disfran-
chised the Democrats of Iowa, and
the latter had acquiesced in it, every
thing there would have been going on
lovely; and their Bishops might have
been saying as Bishop Galloway said
in his late published interview, awe
are not afraid of the qualified cleo
tors" But for the want of this dis
franchising process, or something else,
Iowa is in a stew. But few years
ago designing politicians passed an
act under which the people voted
thirty thousand majority TOR Constitu-
tiOnal Prohibitions; but the courts de-
cided that the politicians had played
a trick, as they nearly always try to
do i'll such legislation, and the act au-
thorizing the vote was declared inva-
lid. The people then came together
and in Il nOn-partisan way and elected
a legislature that gave them Statutory
Prohibition. The Republican party
was then the dominant party in the
State and pledged itselftO the faith
ful execution of the Prohibition law.
| Everything went well for n season.
But there was q good large cOntin-
gent of liquor men IN the Republican
party, and they began at once to un-
dcrmine both the law, and their party
for upholding the law. These liquor
Republicans said to the Democrats,
espouse the cause of liquor license
with local option and any sort of re-
strictions and we will vote with you,
and the Democrats did it. Then fol-
lowed, side by side, o significant test,
in two classes of people, of loyalty to
principle and loyalty to party. The
liquor Republicans would desert their
party and go over and vote for the
| Democrat because he represented
their principles; but the Prohibition
Democrats, and there are many of
them, would not desert their party
and vote for the Republican even for
the sake of their principles. Here,
"the children of this world" showed
that, "in their generation, tEey are
wiser than the children of light" and
the result was the election, twice, of a
straight-out liquor licensing Demo-
cratic Governor in a strong Republi-
can State, and in a strong Prohibition
State; and as result of all this, the
Republicans incorporated restric-
tive license and local option plank in
their last State platform, the liquor
Republicans returned to their old
fold, and the Republican party elect
ed both Governor and Legislature.
Now what follows? Prohibitionists
of all parties are getting up petitions
all over the State begging the very
men they have helped to elect on Ii
censing platforms not to repeal any
part of the prohibitory law. Did any
body ever see such fool nonsense ex-
hibited on any other question? The
liquor men have all along demanded
Of those for whom they voted pledge
that they would legislate in the inter
est of the liquor traffic; while nom
partisan ProhibitiOnists have stood by
and voted with party, pledge or no
pledge; and now that they have thus
played the fool and gotten themselves
into trouble they go like sychOphants
and plead with their masters to disre-
gard the pledges they have made to
other men. And this is what non
partisan nonsense, based upon loyalty
to party rather than to principle, will
lead us to as long as we are idiotic
enough to continue to try to reverse
all of the well established principles
of Christianity, civil government, and
political methods in dealing with the
| rn,1l,- or1 i,,tnncn1x- nn1itinol nSnnat
of this liquor question.
South Carolina elected il -parti-
san Prohibition Legislature; but when
it pulled itself together Peoples
party Governor influenced its mem
bers to adapt their liquor legislation
to the probable coming policy of that
party, and State control instead OF
Prohibition was the result. And the
very next move of that governor
was to advocate the encouragement
of wine growing in the State, and Ii
censed beer shops; the best schools
ever invented on earth to encourage
liquor drinking. Why all of this non
sense, timidity and pertidy in dealing
with the liquor traffic, when the high
est Court in the Nation, leading on
the advance guard of ProhibitiOnists,
beckons back to the churches and
says, Come on! Come on. Come On!!!
"No citizen of State or of the Unit
ed States has any inherent right to
engage in this business" and through
it to damn your posterity! No license
necessary, Bishop; you just create
that sort of privilege and give it to
liquor men of your own accord; and
if you, through such an instrumental
ity, debauch and damn just one of
your own sons or just one of some
body else's, his blood will be upon
your own skirts!
Why all of this nonsense, timidity
and pertidy in dealing with the traffic
when by just raising our heads and
opening our eyes we can behold an
avalanche of statistics showing that
the. liquor vote of this entire Nation
is in the minority9 That taking the
results of local option elections and
constitutional amendment elections as
a basis, there are more who have vOt
ed for Prohibition or remained away
from the polls through indifference
than the liquor men could influence
through love or money to vote against
it. Hence it is not necessary to con-
vert single straight-Out liquor man
in order to sweep the business from
| e fl.af 20 ,s