Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-07-30
no Won nrofess TO believe that gold


poverty stricken nation like Spainf
Touch the nations pocketbook and In
many parts Of this land you will make
the word patriotism" written In let
tiers Of gold, turn as black as the heart
of selfishness and deceit. One of the
great dangers threatening the welfare
Of our land Is the power Of the great
money combinations. 1t Is rapidly
developing power, and it is ever aim
ing to seat in the presidential chair Of
this free nation its bramble king, gold,
as the supreme ruler Of this great peo-
pie. When the great railroad trusts
and the oil trusts and the tin can trusts
and the beef trusts and the sugar
trusts and the steel trusts can dictate
who is to be president of the United
States let us beware! Take thy cloven
foot. O yellow and would be King
Bramble, from off the front doorstep
Of the White House. Thou didst de-
stroy the Roman and the Grecian gov
ernments when their national power
passed into the hands of the few cap
italists. Thy foul breath is now hot
upon our cheeks, but by Gods help
thou shalt not be allowed to destroy us.
King Alcohol as BrambIe.
But again we find the destroying
bramble canvassing for supremacy in
American politics in another way. He
now appeals to the diseased and In
famed appetite of man for strong
drink. But, though, II a man may
look at this bramble long enough, he
can see him changed into the wrlggling
coil Of q snake; yet, like Melusina, the
most famous Of all the French fairies,
when first he appears he looks like
beautiful god, instead Of like devil.
His hair is a cluster Of luscious grapes.
rich as those Of EshcOl, which the spies
carried back from the promised land
to the Hebrew encampment. HIS
cheek has not upon it the pale look
Of a corpse, but it is flushed with what
looks like the redness Of health. lie
comes to us not as pauper. In his
pocket he jingles the coin OF his taxes
as he says: You cannot, you dare not
do without me. am King Alcohol.
There is not political convention In
all this land except one that has dared
hurl defiance at my scepter. My den
NAV seem TO be the saloon, but my
throne will yet be built under the great
dome in the rOtunda Of our national
capitol. l shall yet be publicly recog-
nized as king in American politics as
l am everywhere in secret recognized
as King Alcohol now"
Is not the defiant assertion true?
What political convention, with the ex-
ception Of the Prohibition convention.
dared double up its fist and smite this
bramhle alcohol staggering blow!
Some wears ago the head of the in
famous Mormon church spake thus
for the encouragement of his follow
ers: II do not anticipate that there
will come day in the near future
, when we shall elect a follower OF
Brigham Young to the presidency OF
the United States, but | do look for
ward to the time in the near future
when our church will grow so large
that as q political institution one or
the great political parties Will be COM
pelled to bid for our vote. Then we
can have in American politics what
we would" Thank God, the dream or
the Mormon hierarchy is shattered
even as an inconoclastic bludseon
could break heather idol into DTS.
But though the dream Of Mormon
president has faded that OF the would
! be King Alcohol is a sad. realistic fact.
Not one alone but all of the great polit-
ical parties, with but one exception, are
bidding for the alcoholic vote today.
There may be silver planks, antitrust
planks, anti-imperialistic planks, woman
suffraglst planks, high tariff planks
and low tariff planks found in the diff
ferent convention platforms upon
which the various candidates for the
presidency stand, but with the excep-
ton Of the Prohibition party not one
assembly of delegates to national
convention called to nominate candi-
date for the presidency of the United
States has dared say to the saloon
keeper, to the brewer and to the wine
merchant: "Get out Of this convention
hall Be off! We defy you and your
Satanic hirelings. You are destroying
our youth and our strong manhood
with your liquid poison. Out agents
of darkness, Out.' Outw No, that is
not the way the different conventions
spoke. In their suggestive silence they
say: "Bramble alcohol, we may yet
elect you king-but not now. However,
IL you promise to help us now we will
promise not to hurt your trade here
after" Am l wrong in stating that
bramble alcohol is one Of the threaten
ing dangers confronting the future
sovereignty Of this land?
Evils of Licentiousness.
l would like, If there had been time
enough, to have spoken Of another
form Of evil threatening this land and
bidding for kingship. l allude to the
bramble of Righteousness or Of immor-
atty. 1 know that most people will
lift their hands in horror as l speak
and say, why, there is no danger like
that threatening u.s." Yes. there is, my
friends. When an honest man is elect
ed to the highest executive office Of a
city he finds out, much to his surprise,
he cannot shut up the brothels as he
would. He cannot stop the immoral
evils Of the low dance halls. Every
where our cities are honeycOmbed with
vice, merely because the voters at the
polls back up dishonest officials in their
willingness to allow these evil resorts
to exist l have spoken only the sober
truth when l have warned you that
bramble atheism, bramble gold, bram-
BILE alcoholism and bramble licentious-
ness, the four great evil forms of the
would be bramble king, are trying to
take possession Of our American liber-