Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1894-01-16
LOCAL OPTION AND PROHIBITION
Rev. J. ii. Gambrcll Reviews
Bishop Galloway.
Father Mathews Monumental
Mistake Repeated.
n Notable Editorial Warming
That Hasn't Been Lived
up to by the Bishop.
Sixteen Serious Objections to
the Local Option Hobby.
The NOn-Partisan Prohibition
Fallacy Dissected.
Editor Of Tie MisSissipni Leader:

Editor of The Mississippi Leader:
Before you published Bishop
Galloway's interview, with cdito-
rial comment, had prepared in
part the following review of it
and as it touches on some points
not included in your criticism, |
ask You to give it place in your
columns:
| see that Bishop Galloway,
pursuing what seems to be GUS
tom with him just about the as
scmbling of the Legislature, is
out in an interview on the liquor
question. To some things he says
| wish to make reply. Before
doing so, however, | will state
that | shall deal with the opinions
of this distinguished citizen as
with those of any other citl-
zen who chooses to 90 into
the papers to find an audi
ence to which he may deliver his
own opinions and peculiar views
on a great moral and political
question. Ipresume the author of
the Interview in question intend
ed to speak simply as Il citizen
and not as an ecclesiastical digni-
tary. 1t would certainly be the
very acme of presumption for
any man to undertake to infu
ence and control citizens of vari-
ant religious views, in the per
formancc of duty to the State, by
the use of any ecclesiastical au-
thority or prestige with which he
may chance to be clothed. Such
an effort would be Immediately
resented by many of ones own
denomination, and all of other de-
nominations. In the movement
to suppress the liquor traffic al
most all religious denominations,
and many of no denomination, are
enlisted and united, but the very
moment it shall be discovered that
Methodist, or Baptist bishops, are
undertaking to control and direct
the movement, because they are
bishops, there will begin seri-
Gus disintegration. In matters
of citizenship there is no place
for ecclesiastical distinctions or
dictum. | therefore, respectful
ly, say this paper has to do with
the views of DR.. Chas. b. Gallo
way the citizen, and gives no
thought to DR.. Galloway, the
bishop.
With much contained in the in
terview | heartily agree. | am
more than glad that most of the
territory of our State is now cX-
cmpt from the saloon curse. |
think the present dram shop law
is the best State liquor law we
have ever had. But | KNOW it is
not the law we need, ought to
have, and might have had. | can
not participate in any laudation
of our dram shop law, because it
is Il compromise with the evil
forces in the State, for which
there is absolutely no excuse in
the sight of God or thinking peo-
pie. The Legislature that enact
ed that law, and thereby shifted
its own responsibility to the shoul-
ders of the voters, could have en-
acted much briefer statute, that
would have put an end to every
saloon in this State. Why did it
not do it! This is the why: Cit
izen G. B. Galloway, and some
other Prohibitionists, were willing
to stick to "local option and
leave the question open for bien-
nial contests in every county in
the State, rather than settle the
perplexing question for all time.
So to laud our "local option
law comes as natural to DR.. Gal
loway as it does to man to
praise his own child. He is in
large measure responsible for its
existence.
| have never been able to con-
ceive that it is possible for a
thoughtful Christian man to be-
lieve that ''local option is the