The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1902-12-24
MAJOR VARDAMAN AND PRO
HIBITION.

MAJOR VARDAMAN AND PRO
HIBITION.
The Leader publishes in anoth-
or column an article by Maj.
James K. Vardaman, one of the
leading candidates for Governor,
defining, with characteristic frank
ness, his attitude on the liquor
question. Major Vardaman re-
quests his brother editors of the
State press to copy his article in
full for the information of the
people, and The Leader takes
pleasure in complying. The ar
ticle is good temperance reading
and contains some bold, terse SEN
fences against the use of strong
drink, which we hope will be
needed by Mississippians, young
and old. While it is clear, from
his utterances, that Maj. Varda-
man is strongly opposed to the
sale of alcoholic liquors as a bever-
age, and that, individually, he
holds that the best way to deal
with the evil is by the local OPP
ton method, we do not under
stand that he is so uncompromis-
ing in this opinion that he will not
yield to the will of the majority
of Prohibitionists, if it should be
made clear to him that they favor
statutory prohibition. If The
Leader is in error as to this, and
Major Vardaman, if elected Gov
ernor, would veto State prohibi-
ton bill passed by the Legisla-
ture, rather than suffer it to be-
come a law, he owes it to his repu-
tation for candor aud to the Pro-
hibitionists as well, to let this fact
be known in advance.
The Leader bears cheerful tes-
timony to the valiant and fearless
part Maj. Vardaman bore in ban
ishing the dramshop evil from Lee
fore county under the local OPP
tion law, and to the strong blows
he has struck for the temperance
cause many times since. We
must except, however, to his
proposition of making local OPP
ton law finality of anti-liquor
legislation in Mississippi. Any
one who does this ignores the
fundamental principle upon which
prohibition of the liquor traffic,
for Beverage purposes, is predi-
Gated, whether this prohibition is
obtained by local option, statutory
or constitutional method. To H.
cense the liquor traffic is either
right or wrong; if it is right, all
the barriers whic h hedge it about
and seek to destroy it should be
torn down and the traffic given
the same chance as other mer-
chandise. If it is wrong and a
curse, as Major Vardaman
holds, it should be outlawed on
every foot of Mississippi soil;
and the whole power of the State,
moral and legal, arrayed against
it. The Leader heartily endorses
the sentiment expressed by Major
Vardaman in favor of the princi-
pie of local self government.
The trouble is, he gives it the
wrong application when he in
vokes it as finality in dealing
with the liquor question. If the
liquor traffic is what he character
ICES it as being-and it is-it
would be just as sound and right
eous in principle for the State
to have local option, by counties,
on polygamy, gambling, brothels,
Sunday observance, etc. Judging
from some literature lately read
in some of our exchanges, Vicks-
burg would vote for nearly all of
these with a whoop, were the
question submitted to a local de-
cision; yet Maj. Vardaman, we
are sure, would not argue that
therefore the whole State should
have local option on these matters,
because public sentiment in Vicks-
burg is not what it ought to be.
Moreover, Judge Anderson has
shown that a little vigorous appli-
citation of State law will improve
even such places as Vicksburg.