Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1894-04-10

line at gin.
Yet the appetite, when created, Is a
terrible thing. saw it in Boston on a
street corner-a father and mother plead
ing with their boy to go home with
them, and not to go to the saloon. They
wept and implored. The father fell ON
his knees on the muddy sidewalk before
his boy, the mother threw her arms
about him. He tore away from them
and dashed into the saloon, and the old
couple went away together, bitterly
weeping.
#*x
Fourth-We must also move along le-
gal lines. In this department the chief
progress has been in the wrong direction.
Under the fostering influence Of protect
i've excise and license laws the saloon
has multiplied its numbers, power and
political influence. 1t has become, as
you know, the greatest power in this
city.
A short time ago there was released
from Sing Sing state prison a man who
had been incarcerated there for 33 years.
He was amazed at the new world in
which he found himself. New York had
grown from a struggling town along the
lower edge of the island to a city of two
millions of people. Brooklyn bridge
had been built, the Atlantic cables laid
the war for the Union fought, slavery
bolished-wonderfu advance along all
lines of national prosperity and power.
But in one thing there had been no ad-
vance. In 1866, in drunken brawl, he
killed man. Now, as he walks the
streets, that same red light of ruin
throws its baleful glare across his broken
life.
But am told minister has no busi-
ness to meddle with politics. Coming
in awhile ago from the seashore there
was a sharp whistle, and the train was
stopped and then run back toward the
station. saw crowd gathering. l
leaped from the cars and joined them,
and there lay, on one side of the rail, the
trunk of little 9-yearold girl, and the
head on the other side In a moment or
two our train started again. Just then
the mother came up, and louder than the
roar of the train l heard her shrek of
agony as she found her child. Now, in
one sense it was none of my business.
It was not my child. But it was my right
to weep. The cry of humanity is always
the trumpet call of God! And hereafter
it will be my business to use all my in
fluence to abolish crossings at grade.
But we are told we should use moral
suasion. Yes, but the question is, when
moral suasion should be applied. The
tiger springs from the jungle, strikes
down man, begins crunching his arm
and drinking the lifeblood from his very
heart. Shall he then begin to stroke that
tigers head, to fondle him and to reason
with him-"Now, tiger, it's very unkind,
very ungentlemanly, very unreasonable
for you to chew my arm i'll that way?
Suppose his friend comes out and sees
what is going ON, shall he lecture the
man who is down and say: "Now, you
ought to have known better than to get
into such position. You ought to have
watched and taken more care" No, let
him snatch out his dagger and strike it
to the hilt in the heart of the destroyer.
Then there will be time for talk and
warning.
l arraign the saloon as the wild beast
of our civilization, with blood stained
teeth and claws, still raging unchecked
through our land. bring against it an
indictment of five counts.
x*x
First-It is the manufactory of GRIM
inals. Hence it can never be legalized
by the state without suicide. The police
man meets the drunkard staggering down
the street. Does he begin to reason with
him? Does he rub him with st. Jacobs
Oil for rheumatism? No, he imprisons
him to answer before the court. Now,
the state which Furnishes the drunkard
has no right to offer premium on the
institution which turns out this very
fruit. When it taxes its full police pow
er to take care of the fruits, the state can
not legalize the institution which pro-
duces them without suicide.
Not long ago there was wonderful
excitement in New York over the discov-
cry that a police justice was also sa-
loon keeper. The papers were full of
complaints regarding it, and fifty. What
could be greater shame than for Mr..
Welde as saloon keeper to sell man
liquor at night to make him drunk and
next morning for Mr.. Welde as magis-
trate to send the same man to the island
for being drunk? But that is high Ii
cense. That is just what the state is
doing. AS an individual Mr.. Welde does
not Sit on the bench AS an indivi,111a1
he is not known there. AS an individ-
ual he has no right to open his mouth
there He is not addressed as Mr.
Welde. He is ''the court" He is ''your
honor" He represents the state of New
York.
On the other hand, Mr.. Welde does
not open his saloon or sell liquor as an
individual. Iwould like to see him try
it for one hour. He sells as the repre-
sentative of the state of New York. AS
a saloon keeper he has the flag of the
Union and the flag of the state of New
York wrapped around his bar. He acts
as judge in precisely the same way. He
is simply doing what the state is doing
all the time. Why do the people lift up
their hands in holy horror? Simply be-
cause they have presented to them a con-
crete illustration of the monstrous injus-
tice of high license which they had over
looked heretofore. At heart the people
are right. They need but to see this
thing as it is to put under it the dyna-
mite of righteous public indignation and
blow it up forever.