Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1900-04-04

| in language more forcible than words the
| success of prohibitions Does 1t not also
tend to disproye our opponents statement
Of the universal corruption that pervades
the city Of Lewiston under whose shadow
/ he has lived for twenty yesrsf
Prohibition should continue because OF
| its moral effect upon the community, II
for no other reason. Shall we then, as our
opponents suggest, for a monetary con-
sideration, abandon the noble struggle in
which we are engaged? Is America de-
generating, or have the deeds OF our fore
fat hers lost their incentive to right that we
should sacrifice virtue and honor for the
greed OF gold? Shall the memory of such
an infamous transaction descend as an
unwelcome legacy to future generations?
Shall we shirk our own responsibilities
upon the already overburdened shoulders
OF posteritys
The day is near at hand when we must
decide whether right and justice shall pre-
vail, or the glory and prestige OF our State
shall be tramplcd la the dust OF iniquity.
iii you pass law that shall place the
man who deliberately entices his fellow
men TO destruction, upon an equal level
with all honest lsborersf
My opponent may declare that the
license law Will drive mnny smaller rum
shops out OF existence and estab lish the
traffic In the hands of a few. Thus by
improving the quality of rum and its VEN
ders, will indirectly affect the people.
But II this Is the way TO improve the
morals OF a people. II this improvement
rests in the hands OF rum seller, then all
the great and good men of past ages have
lived in vain. Does not the very face OF
this proposition bear the stamp OF self
interest, or the statement in itself seem to
emanate from a man who regards the
qualification OF an unholy appetite above
the common welfare of humanityg Well
may We question the sincerity OF such a
OF such law.
A decrease in the number of rum shops
will not retard the traffic. Under the
smile of popular approval, and with in
creased facilities for obtaining it. the same
men who drink to-day Will then drink
selling elevated to an honorable calling,
will come forth in all its strength Cor
geously bedecked bar rooms will spring
up on every street corner, crsfiily fur
nished with an iridcseent splendor calcu-
lated to dazzieand entice the young. Thus
as may be seen, the tenn eranee work of
agesswouid come TO uaught.
lei my adversary argues i.s1ssf the revenue
resulting from such law would greatly
increase the wealth and popularity OF our
State. The wages OF sin Is death, and the
state or the nation that makes merchan-
disc OF the lives and happiness Of its PEG.
pie, will eventually come to a dishonored
end. Rum is a serpent, and one moreover
that stingeth chiefly It's friends All his
tory is filled with its records OF misery and
woe. Nations, principalities and great
men have Ia len before the ravages of
wantonness and dissipation. Under the
curse OF drink many bright genius OF
bygone days has closed glorious career
in ignominy and shame.
Think of the untold millions la ages
past who have stepped over the threshold
OF eternity with ITS daDning odor upon
their dying lips Think of the devastation
IL has wrought, the desoiated homes; the
lonely tircside.; the mothers forced into
an untimely grava nv brutal bands or
slow and silent starvation.
Should the Eum demon ever gain flap
his dark wings and orer-hado& our people, |
the orphans dlsconsoiate wall and the
anguish OF the mothers heart shall pro-
claim TO plying heaven that virtue has
been at last dethroned. Should that I'M
lucky day ever arrive when such as this
becomes law, the same legislature at the
same time should pass bill providing for
the enlargement Of our penitentiaries and
asylums that they may be able to shelter
the increased victims OF the bane OF
humanity-rum.