The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1904-01-07
e SidNK W. GOWEN.

III Thpw an open letter to the
in. 'ss -. kpths,nge by Frank W. Gowen
Wig g'aaarviA no is the secretary and
heavfurer o. legislature temperance
.hod, d,nittee fhe Maine Good 'Templars,
tho us doing efnest work in behalf of pro-
lion arlgainst resubmission. Mr..
''i''i' EN- was snerly of Waldo County and
eloulown alA4r Maine as one of the alb
earti and stkchest of temperance leaders
by stas heIdeh Office in the order of Good
wernplars, ,h;a aeen International Lecturer of
fou, Waldo DIR, aud in 1900 was sent to
ma, rope by Horder in Maine to attend the
,,rld's Cdention of Good Templars in
=. ckholm, yeden. He is a successful
"itsiness md lso, and is one of the manag-
trss OF the Z b. Mutul Life Insurance Co. of
Shorthand. tlowing is the letter:
quo the Memlr of the State Grange:
-, Permit min behalf of the legislative
.'N importance pmmttee of the Maine Good
K -Femplars THANK you for the noble stand
sh 'hich you bk on the question of prohibi-
De on and re admission at your annual ses-
Of on in our ty so very recently.
This pos IN by your powerful organiZa-
;, ion III can: iuch for the temperance cause
! n tne Stdt DI Maine Your position, not
: : anly on The nestion of prohibition but on
. the issue @ toman suffrage, will raise your
,, Excellent er to higher level than it has
Eet obtain, jim our commonwealth. l be-
Ileve that the enfranchisement of the
I"omen of Mime would be just and right
eous measJe for our next legislature to
adopt | b not mean to say, however,
| that ii all t6 women of our State should be
enfranchisa by the legislature of 1905,
that every 3nm hole yNonl6 hp c1OSa6 at
once in out cities, but | will say that we
would be lfarer that goal than we are to-
day, in my opinion. The ballot in the hand
OF woman gould be a powerful weapon in
Iour fight against the wicked rum traffic
They are tie ones who suffer terribly as
result of tbs mighty evil, and if they could
only WELD that magical weapon, the ballot
which m kes and unmakes Presidents,
Congress and Legislatures, they would be a
mighty power against the Strongholds of
Satan.
l thoroughly believe that the solution of
these tvs great and far-reaching issues,
prohibition and woman suffrage, would do
more for the stability, the welfare and the
chllch o. the living God than all other is
sues combined. Their success means the
salvation of the American nation and the
Church of Christ.
| admire your position on the question of
just taxation. your efforts in behalf of the
No great, civilized nation in the world has
such poor highways as the United States
In fact, this was very forcibly impressed
upon my mind as | rode over the magni-
hceilt macadamiZed highways in the English
Empire and other nations of Europe. while
abroad during the summer OF 1902, and
white we prohibition people do not expect
the Grange to turn itself into a temperance
organization or woman suffrage society,
still L do desire to earnestly impress upon
your minds that high above all questions of
taxation. tariffs and protection stands the
great question of the overthrow of the liquor
traffic.
God wants this awful sin destroyed. He
is calling upon us as Christian and moral
citizens at the beginning of a new and
wonderful century to accomplish this great
task. 1t scatters nothing but misery, sor-
row and ruin throughout our beautiful
country 1t takes from the pockets of our
people directly ST. 800, 100000 annually and
adds not a penny of value to the wealth of
our land. This is a stupendouS sum of
money which is worse than wasted each
year by our people. This sum is more than
the entire value of the wheat, oat, barley,
rye, buckwheat, corn and potato crops of
the farmers of the United States.
We shall have paid our laboring people
in wages at the close of this prosperous
year something like the great sum of 81 ,2OO-
100000 and we will have expended 81, ,5o0,-
oO0,o0O for liquor. Our protective laws
from the days of the Mckinley law down
to the present time have never brought
revenue enough to our national treasury in
q. years time to pay the liquor bill of our
people for more than sixty days. Cobden's
lies at the foundation OF all true social and
political reform is as true to-day as when it
was first uttered by that great English
statesman and refOrmer. But happy are
we who live in the State of Maine. 1t may
be far away in the eastern part of our great
continent but it has a record to be proud Of
1t was here that the earliest liquor laws in
the Western Hemisphere were adopted in
1886 and the white banner of prohibition
first saw the light of day in all the world.
1t is here where rest the ashes of Hon.
Neal Dow who won great name as the
Father OF Prohibition. His memory will
live forever in the hearts and minds of men,
as a sweet SAVIOR wherever happy homes are
recognized as the citidel of national virtue
and the hope of the world.
SHOW happy is he born or taught,
Who serveth not another's will,
Whose armOr is his honest thought.
And simple truth his highest skill"
Upon your firm stand for prohibition and
against reSubmission rests the approving
smile of heaven, and methnkS that the
"Father of Prohibition" must have looked
down from the starry heavens above IN
your deliberations in your great meetings
and rejoiced with the rest of us on earth in
your devotion to the great principles which
have made our State so long famous as the
home of prohibition. There can be no
doubt but what congressman Littletield was
right when he stated in his great speech at
Old Orchard last summer, "That Maine
would never retreat from prohibitions, or
that Hon. Joseph II. Manley voiced the SEN
tment of our people in general when he
stated in the public press last August.
That the principles of prohibition had
come to stay in Maine" Whoever WJm NAV n1a ha
our next Governor and our sheriffs and at,
tOrneys in our different counties, trust
that you will aid us in electing men, ire
spectlve Of party, who will not go with
their hands behind them to catch sseagles. -
or wink at the violations of our prohibitory
law.
l understand of course that the grange is
not a pollticai organization, neither is the
Maine Good Templars or the Civic League
of which l am member, but | believe Won
to be brOad-minded class of citizens and
ready to say with us, that you will be will
ing to support in the coming campaign only
candidates for the Legislature, whether
they be republicans, democrats or prohibi.
tlonlsts, who will stand firm for prohibition
But here L must close, but before layine
down my pen allow me to say that the
grangers OF Maine have my most affection.
ate regard and my heartfelt gratitude fol
your excellent position on the temperance
question. May God bless and prosper YOU
in your noble work.
FRANK W. GowEN.
Waterville, Dec. "a, 1893.