Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1903-07-16
w. c. T. u. COLUMN.
For God, Home and Native Land,
This department Is under the management
and control OF the Bedding w. q, I. u

Vile, published in the BELDING
News last week, opens up as fol-
lows:
Another glorious Fourth of July
has come and gone and. in its pass
are, IL called To my mind many
things that are past and gone. Some
of them are worth considering In
past Years, the business men of this
little CITY paid their monev and
spent their time to make the Fourth
amusing to the Young and pleasan,
to the old. But how Different yes
terday."
Read the Declaration of Independ-
ence, then expect the American
citizens OF today to enthuse over the
overthrow of its letter and spirit?
How absurd
Seemingly, this Greenville CORES
pondent has been taking a rip
Van Wrinkle sleep, for surely the
glorious Independence Day no long
cr means anything to the average
over of liberty, who still hold that
our forefathers made no mistake
when they declared that, "All are
created equal that governments
derive their just powers from the
consent Of the governed, etc.
The insinuation that there was no
celebration in Greenville on accoun t
of the elimination of the open and
licensed saloon in Montcalm county,
it seems TO Us, is far fetched. As
above stated, the average American
citizens no longer enthuse over the
Fourth as day for the celebration
Vt the independence won by our fore
fathers. The good old celebrations
of few years ago, with its parades,
with its goddess of liberty, with it's
girls dressed in white representing
the different states, with Old Glory
floating in the breeze, with its read
ing of the Declaration of Independ.
ence and with its addresses that
stirred and thrilled every drop of
patriotic blood in their veins. is a
thing of the past, and, in its place,
has stepped the autocrat with his
millions, his automobile, fast horses,
fast lives, gambling and dissipation
on every hand, until our real, genu-
inc American citizens prefer to take
their families to some grove or lake
and there celebrate, in a quiet fash
ion, the letter and spirit of that
grand old document-the Declara-
ton of Independence.
Again the writer of the Green
vile communication further says:
"The writer hereof, after waiting
patientlyfor the salute of thirteen
guns, which didn't come, stepped
out upon the street about eight
O'Clock a. m. and the only person he
met was an officious detective, who
wore scared and anxious look upon
his face and had nervous twitching
in his voice when he asked me if /
had seen them. Seen wboY |
asked, and he replied, ''The ones
who have killed Greenville. | re-
piled, "Greenville is not dead, it
mly sleepeth." He said, 1T is
dead and the mourners 90 about the
streets and refuse to be comforted. "
| inquired, what are the names of
the assassins?" and the professor
replied, Local option.
Strange attire, it seems to us,
they array this ''officious detective"
in, who wore a scared and anxious
look on his face and had a nervous
twitching in his voice"-didn't put
upon him so much as detective S
badge. All such talk causes us to
believe the writer had been indulg-
ing too freely in Greenville's drug
store-invalid-tonic, for the author of
such a sickening wall must certainly
have had EN-, and had 'em bad.
What, Greenville streets deserted,
With but two citizens to be seen
wandering around town trying to
find out who had "killed Green
ville?" In our minds eye we see
two old advocates Of the open saloon
sprinkling ashes upon their heads,
rending their clothing and bemoan-
ing the exactions of the local OPP
ton law as some terrible catastro-
phe.
Then, too, the detective does not
seem to have a very high estimate of
the farmers surrounding that beau
tiful city when he says:
They have driven the farmers from
our town to Belding and Harvard for
their groceries and excursions are
being gotten up to get the people to
Grand Rapids cheap where they
can buy their dry goods, clothing,
etc, instead Of patronizing our home
dealers, who are paying their taxes
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