The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-06-29
THE ODD FELLOWSHIP OF
JAMES CANNON, JR.
Virginia Odd Fellows)
virginia Odd Fellows.)

Many and vain have been the sighs
Of relief apropos TO the election Of
James Cannon, Jr., to the house of
bishops. and these sighs have, doubt
less. multiplied. upon the announce
ment that he has been assigned to
the far South and Mexico.
Such sighs of relief come from thou
sands who have felt the sweep of his
power all over Virginia and through
out the country. They silently feel
surcease from the force and influence
OF this man whom they fear. They
regard his change of habitat with de-
light, because they know that no one
man nor any number of men have half
SO .eifectually destroyed their game In
life as he, For twenty years he
has been the one dreaded enemy OF
their plans and principles. He has sue
cessfully oheckmated their every de-
vice and scheme to control the moral
factors Of the commonwealth. and now
that he seems far, very far away. they
rub their hands with exultation that
his voice is no longer to be heard.
These signs come from the liquor
men and their adherents who once
ruled this spleid commonwealth with
the hand Of corruption and crime. hey
had governed the people with the fiat
teries of folly, and had led them in
the way of sin. The hand of the po-
lttieal jobber dealt the cards to the
unsuspecting electorate, and no light
had been turned upon the evil secrets
Of the game. Vice and vicious econ
omy were the only guards at the door
Of the public treasury. and moral riot
and intemperance imposed their ugly
forms upon the people of the state.
The voices that cried out for relief
were hushed by the throttle of power.
and the BASES of the gaming hall.
hrothel and saloon were the masters
Of the field
These signs emanate from the very
depths of their defeat They look
about them. and see the devastation
Of their system and the complete de-
thronement Of their power. Where
their whiskey parlors once afforded
the ample secrecy of their whisper
tngs, there have been let in the fresh
air of honest industry and the blessed
sunlight Of happiness. Where men
once drag eyed their pttifuf and hesot-
ted forms through the streets and good
women feared to be alone there has
come a time when these things are
no more, and the plain, honest people
Of the commonwealth have come again
into their own
II ever any one single great ac-
complishment can be Justly accredited
/ TO the activities Of a single man, the
undoing of the whiskey government
Of Virginia Is due to the uutiring cour-
age and fidelity Of James Cannon. Jr.
| But for him the old state today would
have been vieing with the land Of Co
morror in the vice and drunkenness
Of the years that are forever gong. IN
, stead of business houses. there would
have been halls OF revelry Instead
Of almost empty jails. there would
have been throngs of the victims of
sin and crime, Instead of happy wives
awaiting joyfully the return Of their
frugal and dutlful lords there would
have been the weeping and frightened
mothers holding close the drunkard' 3
child,
The whole nation at large today is
| undergoing the purRine power Of this
man OF purpose. Not many moons will
/ pass before the entire American gov
eminent will have yielded to the bat
tie he has waged, and the nation will
| stand forth before the world an ex-
/ emplar, indeed, Of All that Is exalted
/ and pure in the simple plan of human
/ righteousness.
| The work OF James Cannon is not
! yet finished. and those who sigh with
/ "a satisfaction ar his apparent removal
! from the immediate scene Of action are
| reckoning upon a false foundation. He
will still send forth the magic of his
strength even to the farthest common
! wealth to kill forever the legalized sale
/ of tho stun that destroys. He viii be
/ in the fight till the victory is won for
/ the cause Of his fellowman
His fight is the fight of Odd Fellow
| ship. The order aligns itself with no
| church nor creed nor political prophet
! hut it is ever ready to suspend its
! banner upon the hagpole of love and
/ truth,