The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-10-30

one Of the largest audiences Of this
years local option campaign, attended
the Sunday afternoon meeting at the
dry" tent, when Emerson Ballard, a
temperance lecturer from Crawford
sville Indiana, delivered one of the
most interesting and enthusiastic lee
lures heard during the last two
years.
MIR. Ballard began his address by
saying. Before uAe people of very
nation there always stands a solemn
problem for solution. The past may
Instruct us, the future inspire and en-
terrain us, but the solution of the
problem rests upon the present. The
great problem In the United states to-
uay is the question What shall we do
with the American saloony" The
old -tainioned way OF dealing WITH
this question, was TO abuse the saloon
Keeper
II remember the time when the
temperance lecturer used to march up
on the platform, stride over TO TINS
side of the rostrum, and give the sa-
n-keeper Kick and then stride
over To tnat side and kick MIN again.
I'm not in that kind of business. God
knows the saloon keeper has enough
burdens to carry without the abuse of
men VINO are trying to put MIN out OF
business. lie deserves the pity of
some of us and not all the cnastise-
ment. The ones VINO should rightly
receive the abuse are the men who
are willing to sit back and allow him
ITO keep up this business. 30, while /
talk ON TINS question, / shall speak
kindly of the saloon-keeper.
tln approaching this question, l
want to appeal to the heads and tho
hearts of you men. If the American
saloon is right, then 1t Will survive,
IL It is wrong it viii die. Now. I'm
not an old man, and I'm not casting
aspcryion on the parents who made
me all that / am, when 1 carry you
back to the old country life as 1t was
in my boy-hood.
"Mr. Ballard spoke of the condi-
tions as they existed then, when the
use of liquor was common in every
home. lie told of the custom of
preparing a drink for an honored
guest, minister, lawyer justice of the
-
when the old drug was taken down
from the wall-cup-Doard and set be-
fore the guest.
Now my father was never in Il
saloon, and he hated one Hike he did
snake declared the speaker,
Preparing a drink for the honored
guest was only hospitality. That
hospitality we have allowed To be
eommercialized and turned into a
business. We have allowed stores to
be opened TO create an appetite for
that which was once used only In
moderation Now, the question is,
what are you going to do? You did a
great thing here three years ago. but
you only began the fight, you did not
end it, You only cleared off "A little
space where you could mobilize your
army, ana got ready for the big
fight,
''The traffic in liquor wastes more
wealth, causes more crime and misery
than any other existing evil. The
question is what are you going TO do ?
Some say. LET it alone" some"Re-
gulate it,, and Others say Destroy
it,. The question is up to the peo-
pie. The responsibility rests on each
one of you, and you can't get away
| from It, Some man may walk down
to the polls next Wednesday and go
in and vote wet and come out and
not even his Wife, his most intimate
| lodge brother or his partner in busi-
ness be able TO find out how he voted,
| But he can't forget 1t. And some
time. when his son falls In the open
| door of that saloon, he viii remember
that ballot that he cast The mar
who votes wet, has placed his stamI
OF approval ON the saloon and Is re.
sponsible for everything the saloon
! does.
Three years ago, YOU nailed III
| the doors of something like 52 sa,
ICONS In your county pYou droy,
them in hard. Now, are YOU goinl
down next "Wednesday, and pull fhos,