Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1894-04-03
The Saloon Has Long Carried
1.-THE Church and Her Al
lies Must Carry 1t Too.
A DESPERATE FIGHT AHEAD!
The Field Of Battle Must be the
Field of Politics.
BY BISHOP j. ". FITZGERALD, OF THE METH
ODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

1t is the arch destroyer of all that
is dear to man. 1t is slcepless,
relentless, Unsuitable, mighty.
There is but one power in the
land that is stronger, and that is
the church. If the saloon must
be overthrown the church must
overthrow it. Will she! The
question is one of purpose, not
ability. She can do whatsoever
she will in this important work.
The service which the church
has already rendered in antagon-
ism to the saloon is not, by any
means, to be disparaged. On the
contrary, it is to be acknowledge
ed as well-nigh invaluable.
Nevertheless, we are persuaded
that before she can fully accom-
plish the great mission to which
we believe God has called her she
must take much longer step in
advance and strike far heavier
blows. Her forces must be thor
oroughly and permanently organ
lied, and combined with kindred
forces, must constitute the oppo-
sitiOn.
The foes OF the saloon must
unite against its friends.
The issue must be fairly joined.
The saloon has long carried the
black flag.
Henceforth the church and her
allies in this particular warfare
must carry it too.
The battle must be desperately
fought, and THE FIELD OF BATTLE
MUST BE THE FIELD OF POLITICS.
This opposition must enter that
field, just as did the opposition tc
the extension of slavery, and il
must remain therein until Prohi-
bition, like freedom, shall become
an accepted doctrine against which
no party shall dare to speak.
From every organization that
sympathizes or compromises with
the rum traffic Christian men
must separate themselves and
unite in an organization every
member Of which shall at all
times, including election days,
and in all places, including the
polls, and with all powers, includ-
ing the ballot, stand against the
giant evil of the day.
The voting clergymen and lay
men of the church must become
a unit on this great subject at the
ballot box-the point at which
they have been divided in the past
and are divided now.
Here is difficult problem.
But it could be solved and ii
would be solved were it not for
the strength of old political party
ties, than which nothing on earth
seems to be stronger.
In 1S60-65 many man who
thought himself to be loyal to the
nation to the last degree became
a sympathizer with the rebellion
solely because of his love for a
political party.
And so today many a man who
thinks himself to be a true friend
of Prohibition becomes an apollo
gist for the license system simply
because he fears that the political
party of his love may be harmed
if Prohibition be insisted upon.
Bishop Foster forcibly and
truthfully says: "The church
of today, much more the church
of the future, must take to its
heart the duty of combining and
massing its forces against that gi
gantic atrocity, that diabolical
conspiracy, that nameless mon
strum horrendum of Christian
civilization that mothers nine
tenths of the woes and sorrows
which blight and curse our mod
ern age-the traffic in intoxicants,
which hides its deformity under
forms of law. How long shall
the face of our Christian age bis
ter with this worse than pagan
shame? Has the virtue of our
time degenerated so low that we
do not even blush at the legisla-
tive traffic in the souls of our own
childrens That by the very doors
of our own homes and our tenn