The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-12-13
Prohibition and Politics


history. The Speaker of the House
of Representatives left his chair the
other day in order to take the floor
for the purpose of making an an
nouncement. This announcement
was "the Church must rule in Ala
bama" BY the church" he meant
particularly the Baptist and Metho-
dist brethren, who have been conduct
ing a vigorous fight for the most com
plete and radical prohibitive measure
yet enacted by any state. They have
that but they wish now to go further
and amend the state constitution, so
that it may be for all time to come
unconstitutional and consequently UNI
lawful. Apart from the real merits
of the question there is side TO this
prohibition activity. which is fire.
quently overlooked. There are still
serious doubts in the minds of
thoughtful people as to whether pro-
hibition prohibits. It's chief effect in
Kansas and in many of the Southern
states thus far has been to increase
the sale of bitters, patent medicines
and poisonous connections which the
people purchase in immense quaint
ties as a substitute for alcoholic slim
ulants. There are we'll known patent
medicines whose chief ingredient is
cheap rectifed whiskey and these to-
day are shipped by the carload into
the small towns and villages of the
West and South. The prohibition
question is not settled by any means,
and many thoughtful people in these
states believe high license under pro
per legal restrictions preferable to
| the Illicit sale of liquor and the pois-
onous nostrums, which are now being
retailed i'm all these states This,
! however. is not the side of the ques-
| ton to which we desired to draw at
! tention. 1t is the strange new force
| in American politics which has arisen
as a result of this antisaloon crusade
1t has interjected the preachers into
municipal, state and national affairs.
There was time when il was said
that the Catholic church was DESTROYS
of playing a part in national politics.
| These accusations are no longer
heard The Catholic priest leaves
politics severely alone. He is willing
to let the people conduct their own
affairs. Today the people of the
south are preacherridden to an
alarming extent No politician down
there can hope to succeed unless he
| has obtained the approval of the real
political leaders, namely. the clergy.
! These godly gentlemen are dominat-
| ing the small towns to such an extent
| that they have brought back the Pur-
| itan Sunday and the discarded blue
laws of New England. The anti-Sal-
Don League is perhaps the strongest
political organization in the country
today 1t has corps of well paid
lecturers in every state, most OF
whom are preachers. Its political
methods are copied after those of
Tammany hall. Its chief aim and
purpose is to make the church" the
dominant power in politics and to
make prohibition override all other
political issues. One of the results
has been to produce a new type of
politician sanity sort of a chap with
! the old fashioned traditional whine,
who can grow beautifully black in
face whenever the saloon is mention
ed. He campaigns in the churches
and generally gets religion before
election day rolls around. There is
another reason for the growth of this
one power in American politics. The
preachers have given up positive doc.
trine. Their people will not listen to
| it, They have turned to philanthropy
and social questions. Prohibition has
been a veritable God-send to them. 1t
| has given them new issue, a new
| field of activity and a consequent new
| lease of life 1t is the last stand of
the evangelicals and they are making
| the most of it, We venture the pre-
diction that the godly gentlemen who
| have obtained their first taste of pow.
| er as the result of this anti-saloon agi-
tatiop will in the near future turn
| their activities in other directions
They have left religion for politics
and the people of the United States
Catholics must keep up the campaign
for real temperance, which involves
the elimination of all abuses in con.
nection with the liquor traffic and its
proper restriction, but it is evident
from what appears above they will hav
have to avoid in future entangling al
liances with the reverend gentlemen
who are making prohibition the chief
tenet of the Christian religion, to the
exclusion of all else besides. To us
over here the great surprise is that
country which has been boasting so
much of its political liberty should
in this day and age tolerate the dom
nance of the church in state and
national tics-Toronto Catholic
Register.