The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-12-16
CHURCHES HIT FOR APATHY
Three Hundred People Listen to the
"Billy Sunday Of the Prohibition
Fight-Men Sign Pledges Not to
Vote for Men in Favor of Vets.

Old Demon Rum and the laxity OF
the modern day Christian were put IN
the same bag and numerically lam
basted at Park Avenue M. E. church
on Monday night when Z. j. Hall and
ID. G.. Summers, crusaders extraordinary
of the "dry" cause, came to Kenosha
for a single nights engagement and
spoke before a crowd of three hundred
representatives of the various organiza-
tions in Kenosha interested. in the fight
against the liquor traffic. Kenosha
has had lot of temperance lectures
and lot of arguments against King
Booze" but for real punch the argu-
ments of Hall were about the hottest
articles that one could imagine. Incl
dentally in connection with the meeting
the Kenosha drys started battle to
line up the people of Kenosha for the
1916 fight. 1t is not going to be fight
against license in Kenosha, but a fight
to force the recognition of prohibition
as a national political issue. Some
thing over hundred men in the audi
ence signed the Shaw pledge which
reads as follows:
Good helping me, no political
party can have my vote that does
not declare for national prohibition
of the liquor traffic"
Hall, the man with the real punch,
gave up his bartender's apron five
years ago to join the fight against booze
and Summers joined him a few weeks
later Hall declared that he had taken
part in putting thirty thousand saloons
out Of existence and that he had taken
part in fifty-seven fights to make coun-
ties dry and had yet to be defeated by
the men who boost the liquor traffic.
He declared that there were at the
present time more saloons in the city
of New York than were to be found in
thirty-six states in the union.
Hall has an eloquence all his own
and it is an eloquence that is appeal
ing. Some times it savors a lot of the
street and the bar-rooms, but there is
nothing artificial about it and it gets
the message against the liquor traffic
directly to the people. The dialogue
between Hall and Summers was one
which covered every phase Of the liquor
problem and Hall in the guise of the
saloon man himslf answered the argu.
ments Hall declared that they had
secured results, not by abusing saloon
men for whom he expressed the deep
est pity and consideration, but rather
by awakening people who protested to
be Christians and pointing out to them
their own Christian duty. He declar-
ed that the majority of evils exist be-
cause the people who are opposed to
them are unwilling to take the time to
vote them out of existence. He also
showed that lack Of money had brought
defeat to the "drys" in Ohio He as.
serted that with an added twenty
five thousand dollars Ohio would have
been voted dry this year. He told Of
terrific expenditures made by the united
liquor forces throughout the nation
and asserted that men and women who
were active in the dry fight were I'M
able or unwilling to give a cent a day
Cor the support of the work.
Halls story Of his own life, his work
rs newsboy, his introduction into the
saloon and his life as a saloonkeeper
-
the basis for his debate against the
prevalence of the liquor traffic
The debate between the two men
does not lack oratorical flights and the
people who heard them in Kenosha
were enthused to great applause.
Hall is the Chilly Sunday of the
liquor traffic and there can be nc
doubt but that his work has been eff.
fective in awakening the public con
science to action.
The Kenosha people who promoted
the meeting have not laid plans for a
continuance Of the work. 1t is Just
possible that Hall and Summers will
be invited to hold other meetings in
Kenosha and that their work will be
used as leader up to campaign
against license. Representatives Of
many churches in the city were pres
ent at the meeting on Monday even
ing and they showed considerable en-
thusiasm over plans for taking up and
fighting out again the old issue as tc
whether Kenosha should license saloons
in the future.