Backbone. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. ;) 1897-1906, 1897-04-01

compulsion of simple honesty, took the field and
polled about 6, 600 votes at the national election
The saloon went right on. But the Christian ia
people had begun to vote But the man in the
gallery is asking: "Well, what's the good"
He does not care what work we have done, but
he wants to know what we have to show for it.
First, we have the Prohibition party, which
is the head of navigation in Christian citizen
ship, holding the position that the first concern
OF good government is to do right; that the
beverage liquor traffic as recognized business
is governmentaly wrong. To the objection,
What can we do about the revenue?" my reply
u.s. if the revenue offend thee cut it off, for it is
profitable for thee to do right with deficit
rather than 60 to hell with surplus. To the
objection that men cannot be moral by law, we
answer "the only way for moral men to make
government moral is by law" To the objection
that prohibition cannot be enforced, answer,
true, it cannot be enforced by cowardly or
corrupt executive or a debauched judiciary. To
the objection that public sentiment is not ready,
we answer we shall get it ready.
We have the Woman's Christian Temperance
Union-25O, 900 women, voteless, and therefore
eligible to audience with the King by their
noontide prayers. We have the Good Templars
and Sons of Temperance, practically unanimous
for prohibition. We have hundred Prohibition
newspapers. We have our party organization in
every state of the Union. We have along our
dominion prohibition. We have the formal
adherence of the church. We have the supreme
court of the United States. We have the pub
lie school.
The principle of prohibition is accepted in
every state in the Jnion and confirmed by the
federal supreme court; but it is used by Amer
lean craftsmanship as yet only as a threat to
extort money with from saloon keepers. In six
of the states prohibition is the law, but most of
the voters of those six states support and defend
the liquor traffic in their national citizenship.
In some hundreds of counties and other NUM-
Cipal corporations local prohibition for local
advantages obtains; but in abject vassalage to
the liquor traffic at large, for the of the two
great parties.
I am not going to say that in all this there
is no good, but I am going to say that no pro-
hibitory movement that is tributary to the
any large or rapid hope to offer to this nation.
Worst of ALL the state and local prohibitory
efforts have ignored God. I am weighing my
words. I know very we'll that in the local cam
name, and any of those who vote do so ''for
His sake, but [ also know that many-most-
of such are stanch, invariabe supporters of the
Republican or the Democratic party both of
which are rel-hot rivals for the favor of the
saloon.
Show me Christian man who votes mo-
in Roxbury, and ''straight Republican, in the
state and federal election, and I will show you
man whose faith in God and his country and his
fellow men, and whose pastoral value grow
leaner daily; but the man who votes ''No'
everywhere, grows in grace and faith and power
and value hour by hour.
Prohibition for righteousness sake has not
yet been tried in America, and the mission of
the Prohibition party is not so much even to
get prohibition as to get God into American
politics. First, because that is right; second
because that is power.
am talking too long. There is hope in it
and music; but this veracious performance must
close with a minor chord Fifty years ago Neal
Dow saw the saloon and said: by the grace of
God we will stop all this, but up to this hour
no political organization stands for that, except
the Prohibition party But it does, and will
stand for it, straight as pine tree, until it
wins this fight or makes some other win it. Its
platform may be accurately paraphrased THE
liquor traffic can never be licensed without sin.
nd nntical is entitled to