Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1894-07-17

ers of the State, at the next general
election, without extra expense, to say
for themselves, whether they want
constitutional and statutory Prohibi-
ton or not. On the last day of the
session. Hon. T. II. Underwood, of
/ Acorn. chairman of the House Com
mittee on Liquor Traffic, told the edi-
tor of The LEADER. when inquiring af-
ter the fate of this amendment, that
though he made several efforts, he
had never been able to even get
quorum of his committee together to
consider it. and that it had finally died
quiet death on the clerks desk with
out having been passed upon by
either the House or the committee.
Mr. Underwood further gave it as his
opinion and belief, that if it had been
brought to vote, the action of both
committee and House would have been
decidedly adverse to it.
This, in brief. is the manner in
which Prohibition has been treated by
the Democratic law makers of Missis-
sippi, and, standing on the record and
the facts, The LEADER challenges Mr..
Henry or any one else to disprove it.
Nor is this all. A majority of her
Congressman in 1890 voted against
bill to prohibit the Opening of origin
al package saloons" in all the local
prohibition territory in the State. 1t is
reasonable to assume. therefore, that
Mr.. Williams and other Democratic
Congressman Mr. Henry supports will
be consistent with their own and their
party's record on the Prohibition ques-
ton in any shape it may hereafter
come up.
But Mr. Henry and thousands of
others like him are probably ready to
say. this is not an issue this year in the
election of Congressman, but that it
is silver, the tariff or something else.
Then. in the name of Almighty God
aud humanity, why don't you gentle
men who profess to be true Prohibi-
tionists and Christian patriots make it
an issue? Hear a few facts as to the
size of this question as an issue, which
have been given in these columns be-
fore:
According to the most reliable sta
tistics Obtainable, the people of this
Christian nation spend every year. for
bread, $505 900 900; for meat, 1915,
600 900; for sugar and molasses, $780,
600 900; for cotton goods, 1920, 000,-
600; boots and shoes, $3.50, 900 900; for
education, $50 900, 900; for missions,
(Homc and Foreign $5,500,000; and
for liquor, direct cost, 81, 200, 900, 900
The liquor traffic costs every year
more than our whole civil service, our
army, our navy, our Congress, includ-
ing internal improvements and
pension bills, together with our costly
local governments, State, county and
municipal. In fact, this country pays
more annually for liquor than for every
function of every kind of government.
The two leading political parties in
the last National campaign made the
tariff the chief issue. The total value
of dutiable merchandise imported into
the United States for the fiscal year
1891, was $47S,674,S44; the total
amount of customs duties collected
under the tariff system (McKinley
billy for same year was $219, 522 POO
Is. In other words, our annual liquor
bill is greater by 81 ,501 1902, 951 than
all the dutiable merchandise and tar
if taxation of one year put together.
The prodigious corrupting power of
the liquor traffic in politics-its vast
destructiveness to the lives and hap
piness of the people-the disorder,
crimes, insanity. idleness and pauper-
ism it produces cannot be more than
mentioned here.
Yea, THE LEADER not only reiterates
the words the Sentinel quotes, but
we fain would write them in letters
of glaring fire across the vault of
heaven and brrn them as with red hot
iron into the very conscience of every
professed Christian and Prohibition
ist of Mississippi, until they are arous-
ed to a just sense of their duty and re-
sponsibility and lock shields against
every candidate and every political
party in league with this bloody, &C
cursed, life and soul-destroying traffic.