Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1896-04-04
Pen Pictures of netompkln People

| aDle pldce-'UO eIuiPTdIe from IL
half he paints is true. Metompkin-
ties, look at your pictures under
'flocal option"-by which, he means
mo license,n for local option pre-
walls, whether a district goes dry, J"
or wet"
Photograph 1:-Behold among 9th
ers, 'some good people," who voted
against license, "among the first to
cry out for stimulants. Why did
you cry out. good people? If you
had "seyen" chances to get drink,
for every lone" chance you had be
fore, and "more was sold then than
now" why did you not stop crying
and quench the thirst of your burn
ing threats? We're you too good"
TO join the other drinkers If SO, was
whiskey closed against your purchase
abroad? Or way lacking to get it
here? All you now drink, comes
from other counties, or states. Good
people, if whiskey overlooked your
community at that very time, was it
not the dear bar-room for which you
were crying, instead of the "stimu-
liant 2"
Photograph 2:-Behold the mer
chants. of our district, with but few
exceptions" as class of deceiving
law breakers. Are you the merchants
of to-day, or do we deal with honest
men, who have rightly succeeded
those who unbIushingly labeled false
hoods on their goods? We are in
terested in knowing. For the "mer
chant who will cheat and defy his
State, will cheat his customers, if
opportunity offers:
Photograph 3:-Behold "boys and
young men, carrying TASKS, who
never did before" Proof against bar
rooms, they succumb to-"local OPP
ton"
Photograph 4:-See Liquor sold''
at social, political festive, religious
in fact, Liquor sold at all gather
ings."
Photograph :-Behold,-but "tell
it not in Gath" liquor sold in all
church meetings. No line, no limit
is drawn. The bald, bold statement
is, that it was sold at all gatherings
and church meetings, as never be-
fore" Episcopalians, Presbyterians,
Baptists, Methodists of Metompkin
district, how do you like your pic
lures, as drawn by this advocate of
the bar room?
Photograph 6, is a great composite
picture of the bar.room as the mighty,
moral agency of Metompkin district
Our friend charges the decadence of
morals and increase of evils til he
pictures to the lack of licensed bar
rooms. He attributes the present
tn thn rn. "a h..
lishment of bar rooms. He makes
this plea for their continuance. If
his logic is sound, and he proves it
to his own satisfaction-then, the
more we multiply the bar room, the
better for character, conduct, and
communities. Behold, people of
Metompkin, the moral agency that
reformed you! Your gatherings"
"church meetings, " "boys and young
men, your good people, and bad
merchants" all and everything, up
lifted on the great wave of moral
reform blythe bar room! And down
you will drop again, if the bar room
falls by mo license.n So he warns
you.
The people of this district deny the
prevalence of such ungovernable out
crying, law breaking spirit and APP
petite as our friend pictures during
local optionn-as he terms it. But,
if so, he only pictures the fruit grow
ing on tree that rooted itself in the
bar-room, before local option pre-
vailed against the saloon. Into its
patrons. it educates and fosters the
drinking habit. Do not point to the
fruit of the bar-room and call it the
fruit of local option When the
mother is shut up, the weanlings
squeal. But shutting up the mother
did not cause the appetite, nor spirit
that possesses them. And this is
true Of us, as human beings. Cutting
off a source of evil, does not implant
the seeds OF that evil in human
hearts, nor infuse its characteristics
into human deeds.
Our friend asks, among other direct
questions, sis it not fact that local
option causes people to lie more and
commit perjury" OF course he means
the absence of licensed bar rooms. l
answer, no, except as it may relate to
a small depraved class Of the people.
The liar may "lie" more, perhaps,
and the already perjured heart find
new outward expression in spoken.
or acted perjury. But those already
sound at the core of veraclous In
tegrity, can never be made rotten at
the core by local option" 1t is still
true that, "out Of the abundance OF
the heart, the mouth speaketh'' its
truths, or falseboods.
docs local option stop the sale of
liquor ?" No. my friend, not abso
lutely. Nor can we stop stealing by
the laws against theft. Nor murders
bv the laws against taking human
life. To regard a law as useless. or
imperative in it's benefits, because
of it's violations, would neutralize
and expunge every law on our statute
books. Men who have no self respect,
care nothing for the respect of
Others, care nothing for laws-human
or divine. can be found to sell it.
From what you say, such men swarm
in Metompkin district. But here are
the advantages. morally:
1st,-Its illicit sale is exclusively in
the hands of bad men who defy the
law. Now, the worse the man is
who sells it, the less is his influence.
The better the man, the greater Is
his influence over his patrons, espe-
cially the young. The young man
that buys Of the law-breaker, holds
him in contempt, as he buys. Under
license, there are many worthy, self
respecting men that sell it. Some
are blind to the evil. Some see it,
and feel it's burden on their con-
sciences Their influence is trr'nen-
dous. But all such men will stop
selling it. l know one to day, that
would not attend meeting, nor
contribute to the fund his colleagues
are raising to defeat the dry vote, in
April next He says, "if the majority
are for continuing license, shall
continue to sell If otherwise, | shall
stop selling" That is what every
law. abiding, honest man in the bust