Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1894-01-23
THE RIGHT STAND.
A Temperance Report That
Covers the Ground.

Temperance, in its broader and
more comprehensive sense, means
the use or exercise in moderation
of those things which are necessa-
ry or in themselves harmless. A
better definition, which we accept,
Is, "a moderate use of things
which are lawful, and total Austen
tion from such as are injurious. ~
But so stupendous and overshad-
owing has grown the great evil of
intemperance in the use of alco-
holic drinks as beverage, that
whenever the subject of Temper
ance is mentioned the popular
mind instinctively associates it
with the suppression of the drink
evil. Hence, in our own Associ-
ational territory and State, and
we might say throughout the ma
ton, the words Temperance and
Prohibition have well-nigh become
synonymous terms.
According to tho most reliable
statistics obtainable, the people of
this Christian Nation spend every
year, for bread, S5O5, 900, 900;
for meat, $315, 600, 900; for sugar
and molasses, $3.50, 900, 900; for
cotton goods, 1920, 600, 900; boots
and shoes, $3.50, 600, 900; for ed
ucation, SS5, 600, 600; for missions
Home and Foreign S5, 500, 900,
and for liquor, direct cost, ST. :
200, 600, 600. The liquor traffic
costs every year more than our
whole civil service, our army, our
navy, our Congress, including in
tcrnal improvement and pension
bills, our wastcful local govern
ments, and all National, State,
county and municipal debts. In
fact, this country pays more 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 i'm
ported into the United States for
the fiscal year 1891, was SITS, :
674, S44; the total amount of Gus
toms duties collected under the
tariff system (McKinley bilD for
same year was 1919, 522, 2O5. 23.
In other words, our annual liquor
bill is greater by 81, sol, 500, ,951
than all the dutiable merchandise
and tariff taxation of one year put
together.
The liquor traffic is the natural
and implacable enemy of morality,
of Christianity, virtue and all that
tends to build men up into better
lives. 1t is the citadel of the
forces that inspire lawlessness,
corrupt politics, promote poverty
and crime, degrade the nation S
home life, thwart the will of the
people, and deliver our country
into the hands of rapacious class
interests. All laws that, under
the guise of regulation, legalize
and protect this traffic, or make
the Government share in it's ILL
gotten gains, are "vicious in prin-
ciple and powerless as a remedy"
We therefore declare anew for
the entire suppression of the man
ufacture, sale, importation, ex-
portation, and transportation OF
alcoholic liquors as beverage by
Federal and State legislation. The
full powers of Government and
individual Christian voters should
be eXerted to secure this result.
We here reiterate and desire to
emphasize the position heretofore
taken by this Association, that it
is utterly inconsistent for profess
ed Christians to patronize, aid or
abet this oul-destroying traffic in
any way, or give their votes to
men, measures or parties that ad
NIT their willingness to perpetu-
ate the gigantic evil. We would
earnestly and kindly plead with
the Christian voters of our church
es and impress upon them the fact
that, as individuals, and as Chris
tian Nation, we cannot morally or
logically escape guilty completely
before God for all the crimes and
evils that flow from this bloody
traffic, unless we vote as we pray
and exhaust every other means in
our power for its complete ami
hilation.
! The Rrnwar's JOurnaI reiaiceS