The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1902-02-21
ARP AND THE ARDENT
Bill Says It Is Difficult to Keep
People from Drinking.
Alludcs to Row at Rome over
Question of the Liquor Traffic
Scripture Quoted by Arp
in His Letter.

| Pleasahtness that is going on amongst
our neighbors at Rome. My comforts
that it is not as big a thing as they
think it is and will soon pass away
After the election is over the leaders
will apologize all round and make
friends and the dear people will have
time to reflect and wonder what fools
the leaders made of them A friend
writes me that there is nothingin it but
ring politics-who shall run the ma
chine, who shall have the offices.
Whisky is in the background, but the
main thing is office. AS Leonard Nor
row once said at public speaking:
Boys, don't let 'em fool you. They are
just side wipin' round huntin' the or
biography of little office" Carlisle
said: England has a population of
10000, Ooo-mostly fools" and just so
there are enough fools in every county
or community to elect man if he can
get them all. He is pretty safe if he can
get majority of them. "Dispensary
or no dispensary," that is the question
that is now stirring Rome and Floyd
counties. Well, we know all about it
here in Gainesville, for we tried the sa-
looms for years and they did so much
harm we abolished them and they will
never come back here again-neyer.
Now we are trying the dispensary; in
fact, we have two of them, one in Rome
and the other in Atlanta. We wouldn't
have one in our town or county for
anything. The farther off the better
The easier whisky is to get the more
viii be drank. Dawson, in Terrell coun-
ty, had dispensary for nearly four
years. The sales for the first year were
$4,000 The second year were $50, 900.
the third year $4,000 and the present
year will probably run to $4,000. You
see, it takes the boys some time to find
out how easy it is to get, but the con-
sumption goes on and on increasing,
and the people take comfort in that
the profits increase their school fund
and lessen their taxes. No matter il it
impoverishes the poor and makes
drunkards of their young men. That
is of no consequence.
Now. our dispensaries are most too
near. l wish that fhe consumers had
to get their supplies from Cincinnati
or Baltimore. That would cut the jug,
business down one-half at least. The
common people couldn't wait so long
and so nobody but uncommon people
would get any hardly. 1t would be a
long time between drinks, as the gov
ernor of North Carolina said to the gov
ernor of South Carolina. There is
bound to be some drinking going on if
they knew that the world was going to
be burned up tomorrow. ..'All you can
do" said a good man to me yesterday,
lis to make it hard to get and regulate
its sale and consumption" This man
had an experience with young men who
drank on the sly. Housed to drink hab-
itually himself, but found the habit was
growing on him. He wanted it oftener
and more of it, and so he quit short off
two years ago. He said "that there
was but little difference between the
open bar rooms and the dispensary, so
far as the better class of young men
were concerned. A dollar bottle in
room with three or four friends was
about as bad as the dollar spent for |
drinks in bar room"
But the bar rooms are nuisance in |
any town and a disgrace to its refine
nent. If they are allowed at all they
should be on side streets where ladies
10 not frequent or have to pass. Keep |
hem out of sight and out of smell. OF
course, the drinking habit cannot be
stopped by law, nor can the sale of
whisky be stopped as long as the gov
allows its manufacture. Our
people can drive over to Cherokee and
,uy what they want from the govern
nent distillery. There is no such thing
IS prohibition and never will be until
he dawn of the millennium. This thing
,egan with old Noah and had its ups
nd downs all through the Bible his
ory. 1t never was sanctioned. 1t never
vas prohibited except to the priests in
he tabernacle. Drink not in the tab
rnacle, lest We die saith Moses. All
# these old-time people kept some on
he sideboard. Joseph and his breth-
en- drank together and were merry.
David speaks of wine that maketh glad
he Heart of man. Solomon says: ''Give
trong drink to him that is ready to
erish and wine to those that be of
eavy heart" But whe nhe was sober
lg up from spree he said: swine is
mocker, strong drink is raging. for at
lst il biteth like a serpent and sting
tn like an adder" heard judge of
ur circuit say that the wind up ola
pree was the most wretched and for
,rn mental condition that could befall