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Banks County Gazette. VOL I.—NO. 50. An Appeal to the Woman of Banks County. When I read the communication of Rev. W. A. Harris on the question of probition, how earnestly I did wish that the women of our county could, for just one day, be allowed to have the quiet seclusion of their homes, where every true wife and mother sits a crowned queen in her noble womanhood, and be allowed to cast her vote against this evil that has caused her such bitter woe. Far be it from me to advocate “Woman sufferage.” We women of our beautiful south land ask no higher destiny than to be the guiding star of home, but, on this question, woman should have a voice, and not be com pelled to stand by and see her loved ones going down under the dark wave of intemperance and have no power to stay the surging billows until all is lost. But we cannot vote, and so we must do what we can to aid in the prohibition movement. Let even wife and mother use her influence with husband and sons, and urge them, as they value their own good name and the future good of all they hold dear, to vote against this accurs ed poison. Let our daily prayer be that victory may crown our efforts, and that whisky shall be forever Iwn ished from our county. I would like to make a suggestion. Our young people, most of them, be long to some literary society, and have picnics'during the spring and summer months. Let them have tem perance picnics. Let the young men and young ladies have good temper ance recitations and speeches, and have good temperance speakers to address them. I remember one of these picnics at New Salem several years ago. Prof. Tom Carlton, Rev. Cran Oliver and Prof. Lundy Harris made speeches on temperance with telling succesk. Let all our young ladies resolve to try to influence at least oue young man, for their sweet sakes, to vote right Ah! what an influence these girls might have if they would only use the power they possess over the young men for good. My life work has been to train my boys to shun the intoxicating cup as they would a deadly serpent. How often, when they would kneel to say their evening prayers, have I put my hand on the bowed heads -and told them in the years to come if they ever raised the tempting cup to their lips to imagine mother’s hand upon their head as in the days of their happy innocent childhood and leave the glass untast ed, and since some of these boys have left home they have told me that sometimes they had been sorely tempted, hut the thought of mother and sister had restrained them until now, though surrounded every day by barrooms, there was no longer even an inclination to drink. Oh, if by our earnest prayers and loving counsel we could save our boys from the effects of intemperance. To their honor he it said, I think few, if any, of the youug men of our quiet little town indulge in this de basing habit. Would we could that say the same of the older men. Let the inembersof all our churches help us in this noble fight, for if the Bible condemns any one sin more than another, it is intemperance. We so often hear it said: “Weil, I see no harm in a little moderate drinking. Mr. Blank drinks and he is a good church member.” Remember a good church member is not always a good Christian, and I contend no one can be a good, con sistent Christian and drink whisky. We know it is contrary to God’s law when we see its evil effects every day. We think the time has come when an election should be held on this issue and the past two years has sure ly convinced every one that if we would save the young men of our connty from this destroyer. Prohibi tion must win the day. We have plenty of intelligent men and enough good women and pretty girls to win the day, but at the same time earnest- j ly ask Mr. Harris to get all the good i temperance workers from abroad he can, and let the ministers from all j churches come to the help of the | women of our country who has borne so long and so patiently this evil that has so long east its midnight shadows of gloom and sorrow over her once happy home. Lou A. Doaough. Carnesville. We have had fair weather the past week. Mr. L. McConnell spent part of last week in Atlanta on business. Mr. B. Thompson who was living near here, died the sth. The farmers have been putting in good time fanning the past week. There will be an all-day singing at Cross Road church the fourth Sunday in April. Georgia’s most famous singers will be there. A grand time is anticipated. Professor M. 11. Looney has good school at this place. The Gazette is a spiev little pa per. Mr. Oscar Canon has the fastest span of horses and sweetest sweet heart in all the land. Mr. William Bryan went to Avalon recently to see his best girl. Banks, county is a good county. Our town boys likes to come over there. There was quite a large congrega tion at Cross Roads at preaching Sun day. Cross Plains academy about three miles from here lias the be T Sunday school in the county. We have the best school teacher in the south. If you want to go to school come to Carnesville high school. Mr. Hathcock keeps the Gait at this place. The literary circle is revived ag. in. Some of the boys had a nice coon chase one day last week. We appreciate The Gazette very much. Beyoiul Recall. The day may have been a depress ing one, the atmosphere overcharged with heaviness, and the mental and moral faculties deadened thereby. Such days come to most of us, and unless at such times we arc a little m:.re careful than common to guard well our tongues, the sharp word may escape which cnee having passed our lips cannot he taken back again, though we would give years of our life if it only might be. Like the light ning flash it has gone forth scathing where it lias struck. The electric shock may have cleared the air, but at what a cost if the spoken word have blasted and wounded as it fell en the sensitive ear of one wtiom w<- would have spared had we but real ized the fearful power of our language to harm, possibly to hopelessly maim another human life. In the murkines of passion and unrest, therefore, let us be very chary of our speech, lest some word escape our lips which once spoken will be forever beyond recall. There are numberless deeds which we do which, could we properly count the cost thereof, we should not do. But an act once committed carries with it a force which the one who de signed it sometimes never thought of; while it was only a mental design it could be thought over and the plan thereof changed. Let us, therefore, be very chary of our deeds, lest we in our unguarded thoughtlessness commit some blunder which will for ever prove a stumbling block to our selves or others when the occasion is long beyond recall. Sometimes the words bring'with them a sense of security. We love to remember that purposes we have cherished have produced certain re sults, and are glad that our words and deeds Lave passed into the cer tainty of being beyond recall. t It is for us housekeepers to be reso lute’in all good and kindly feelings and intentions, and to frame them into the graceful speech* and the -pleasant acts which once having been HOMER, BANKS COUNTY, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22,1891. spoken and performed shall be remem bered with gratitude and thanks giv ing by us when they and the occasion which gave rise to them have become things of the past and are entirely beyond recall. Particularly do those words hold good in all our dealings with the little children of our households. Their little lives are held in very narrow boundaries, for although Trailing clouds of glory do we come, From heaven,- which is our home, the glory which a child’s life contains is to the child itself a potential tiling. Its very existence is full of wonder ment, but it is terribly affected by the tone of the home in which it finds itself. Heredity counts for much, but kindness and firmness and wisdom in the training of the little ‘ones counts for far more. Let us be exceedingly careful, therefore, lest we bring into their lives elements which we fain would root out when the fiber has become ingrained into their natures beyond recall. All that is beautiful and joyous and rijrlit, and just, as well, in the house hold, let us give them Then will their lives be filled with sweet memo ries of us and our deeds when wc sha’l have passed on beyond recall.— Anonymous. The .Personal Liberty Dodge. Since the first prohibition laws were passed there have been men that bitterly fought them, because, as they said, thesajaws curtailed their personal liberty. I should like to present a few thoughts to men of this class: They mean by personal liberty, to do as a man pleases. It is the pur pose of this article to show that the only personal liberty a man has a right to, or that the law recognizes, is the liberty to do right. Let us look at some of the laws of our country. • The laws, in a general way, may be divided into prohibitory and non prohibitory. The first we wish to consider: Laws that aim at crime are prohibi tory. Thus, the law prohibits murder, theft, arson, and many other crimes. These laws necessarily curtail the personal liocrty of the criminal. The law in return for these crimes impris ons, punish, or even hangs according to the greatness of the crime. Now r , the question atises, has the law the right to thus curtail the liberty of these men ? No sane man would deny but that it hud the right, since it mean; the protection of society and is an intimi dation to other men who might com mit crime. To sum it up, the law has the admitted right to curtail the liberty of the criminal. No man but what will admit that. That being true every man admits the principle that prohibition laws are necessary. Now, what is the analogy between the curtailing of men’s liberty as re gards whisky and the above 1 It is easily traced. \\ liisky is the great prime cause of many crimes. In fact Statistics make the startling statement that nine-tenths of the crimes are traeable to whisky, and the "fact lias never been dispi’oven. Also, the evidence of our common country but confirms it. Let your mind run back over the history of our country for a moment, and think what caused every murder in its baundries. The answer in al most every case is: Whisky. All right, then, it becomes as clear as that two and two make four tLat whisky is the responsible party. If then the county lias the right to prohibit the commission of murders, has it not the same right to enact laws against the causes of murder? Yea, a greater right, because if you strike at the root of the matter and remove the cause, then the crimes will cease. Any intelligent physician will tell you that the way to get rid of a dis ease is to remove the cause. For a man to claim that it is a cur tailment of his personal liberty is as absurd as for the murderer to claim that the law ought not to touch him for taking the life of his fellowman. If a man gets in the condition when he xvi 11 commit a crime, and as we have shown, the chances are nine to one when under the influence of liquor he will, his personal liberty ought to be taken away, and that summarily. The law ought to permit no man to go fref when that man’s freedom en dangers the peace of the community. No, my friend, the only personal liberty that a man ought to have is that which belongs to a seemly and upright life, and the sooner the law enforces this fact the better it will be for all. W. A. Harris. That the world will love its own is a divine saying, as true to-day as when delivered by Christ. The world never changes its principles, never alters its attachments, nor perverts its affinities. With the world like begets like, and like consorts with like. Our fealty to God may be de termined by- how the world treats us, if it love ns the love of God is not in us; “Dogs bark not at those whom they kitow, and with whom they are familiar, but against strangers they usually bark; not always for any hurt which thay feel or fc;Tr, hut commonly by nature or depraved custom. How, then, eanst thou be a stranger to the world, if it doth not molest thee? If it distract not from thee?”—Christian Advocate. The Ihvsbytorian well says : “One of the gr. atest obstacles to any great advance in the temperance reform is the divided sentiment of its friends as to the proper means of suppressing intemperance. There, is need for greater unity of view and action, and a larger and heartier co-operation. When we all agree as to what we ex act),'', want in tho way.of legislation, and when we settle down on some practical measures, we will show a spirit and power which our enemies will dread and which will bring about results that will carry hope and joy' to our hearts. Instead of quarreling among ourselves about men and methods, we will be able to combine our forces and present a solid phalanx against the liquor cohorts, rally to our side thousands of halting, hesitating ones, and win success in a determined and persistent warfare upon the saloon.” Lying as a Fine Art. In one of Kant’s books he says: The highest violation of the duty of man to himself, considered as a moral being, is a department from truth, ox lying. A lie is the abandonment, and as it were, the annihilation of the dignity of a man.” “Liars are the cause of the sins and crimes in the world,” was the judgment of one of the most famous leaders of philosophy and morality among the ancient stories. To speak the truth is a boundless duty imposed upon all mankind by all the doctrines and creeds of Christendom, and pa gandom as well, whether represented by Confucius, Buddah, or Mahatnmed. But “Lord, Lord, how the world is given to lying. Social lies, profes sional lies, political lies and malicious lies. Everyone condetns lying, and yet there comes times in evex-ybody’s life when it would take a most mighty struggle to tell the truth. Especially' in society are what ai-e called white lies common. Women err greatly in this respect without intending to be deceitful. They are so given to gush that they exagerate far beyond the truth. They kiss some of their mere acquaintances with as great a show of affection as their best and most intimate friends. They make one whom they may tor dially dislike as welcome as if their souls had been longing fur her pres ence. Courtesy is a pleasant thing and good manners should never be lost sight of, but an exaggerated show of kissing and sympathy where neither love nor respect exists is as suredly a sort of deception. Another way in which women lie in the drawing-room, is in ti’eating notoriously bad men with the same courtesy and cordiality' they' would extend to gentlemen of highest char acter. This is one of the sorriest rev elations of fashionable life in this country. ■ It is not only an illustra tion of lying, but is a show of snob bery that is shameful, when the most disreputable owners of foreign title can find a warmer welcome among the women of society than their own countrymen of greater intelligence and virtue. For social convenience, women—and men as well—shirk truthfulness. They tell what they' call “white lies” because, they' say, society cannot get on without them. It would not do, it is thought,_to ex press in words what they really feel. Compliments, somebody say's, are really lies, but when every body knows they are, nobody is hurt. There are many' conventional expressions of courtesy' that people arc taught to use and are wholly understood that can not properly bo called lies, becauso there is evidently no attempt at mak ing a false impression. In Washing ton it has become the custom for callers to inquire: “Is Mrs. Blank receiving to-day?” The answer is plain yes, or no, as Mrs, Blank has ordered. “Not receiving” is the same thing as tho old “Not at home” about which so many people have scruples. But while there are found sticklers upon forms of words there are many whose whole social life is a lie. These live as people of wealth when they cannot pay their honest debts. Those are arrayed sumptu ously in purple and fine linen, while their creditors are suffering for their money. These are holy' and devout on Sundays am', saints’ days, hut they prove themselves liars and hypocrites iu society and business. These make a parade of their high birth and blue blood, who really had no grandfathers to speak of, as gossip goes. .Such small vanity and lying only expose.-, them to ridicule and contempt. Lying, it is said, is more a sin among women than men. Children are more given to it than grown people. Why ? Women held in subjection by coercion lie to keep out of trouble, just as children lie through fear of punish ment. Truth is fostered by love and liberty and confidence. “A lie is bom of weakness on one and tyrany on the other.” If a man acts the bully at home, a woman with her wits about her will adopt the policy of Gen Grant, and employ strategy. While with English-speaking people lying is held, at least in theory', as disgraceful and dishonerable, the French are not nearly so scrupulous. A French woman, it is said, can lie with such cool, clear-eyed effrontery as to seriously discount Ananias and Sapphira. This is due, doubtless, to education. A writer on the schools and text books of France saysthflt in their manual of morality “conscience is distinguished as right or erroneous, certain or doubtful. A distinction is also made between true truth, doubt ful truth and false truth. Lies are divided into three classes: The prej udicial lie, which is wrong in propor tion to the injury it causes; the offi cious lie, which is venial because it does not cause grave trouble, and the pleasant lie, which, of course, is whiter still. Mental restrictions, equivocations and expressions which can stand two interpretations, are allowable. Under such a system of morality it might be supposed that many of the people in this country had been tiained rather than that which condemns all lying as an abom ination. The lawyers—just pause and consider liow they are given to lying as a matter of business. The, most of them have a complete mas tery of every variety of casuistry and and ingenious falsifying. Every pow er in them is bent to deceive the jurv, even when they have absolute knowl edge of their client’s guilt. Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, it is said, was so profoundly impressed with the moral danger to which a lawyer was ex posed, that he used to advise his pupils not to study law. Madauly raised the question in England as to whether a man with a wig on his SINGLE COPY TIIIiEE CENTS. head and a gown on his back was justified in doing for a guinea what a private citizen, withont these decora tions, he would consider wickea and infamous to do for an empire. This question, however, has never yet been settled. One of the most fa mous lawyers in this country has said that “lawyers make half their living by lies.” But, after all, there are honest lawyers, men of high mor al principle, who consider it dishon orable to lie, even professionally, for a fee.—Metropolitan. On Child Life. Blessed be the hand that px-epares a pleasure for a child, for there is no saying when and where it may again bloom forth. Does not almost every body remember some kind hearted man who showed him a kindnen in the days of his childhood ? The writer of this recollects himself, at this mo ment, as a barefooted lad, standing at the woo len fence of a poor little garden in his native village, where, with longifig eyes, lie gazed on the (lowers which were blooming there quietly in tho brightness of a Sunday morning. The possessor came forth frtmi his little cottage; he was a woodcutter by trade, and spent tho whole day at work in the woods. He was coming into the garden to gather flowers to stick in his coat when ho went to church. He saw the boy, and breaking off the most beautiful of Lis carnations, ..which was streaked with red arid white, lie gave it to him. Neither the giver nor the re ceiver a word, and with bounding steps the boy ran home. Aiid how, here at a distance from that home, after so many events of so many years, the feeling of gratitude which agitated the breast of that boy ex presses itself on paper. The carna tion has long since withered, but it now blooms afresh.—Douglas Jcrrold. Remedy i'or Vacancies. Much is being said now in regard to the number of vacancies in the Southern Presbyterian church. Why are there five hundred vacant churches in the boundn of our assem bly ? Have not a great many of them been organised without sufficient reason ? When there is a tolerably strong, growing church in a communi ty, is there any reason to organise another church right at its doors because, forsooth, somebody is not exactly pleased with everything about it? Churches that are organised as a result of a bad spirit are a detriment to the cause of Christ, and Presby tery should be very careful how she encourages splits in churches. Let us strengthen the churches we have, ar.d not organise more unless they are more than a few miles from efficient churches of the same faith and order, and can show a better reason for existence than the fact that somebody wants to get away from his church because he does not like some one there. —Southern Presbyterian. The expression “blot out” is tio scriptural expression to declare God's act in pardoning sin; the radical statement of a radical fact. The process is suggestively explained by the trade method of the Eastern mer chant. He writes his account on a waxen tablet with a sharp-pointed pencil. When the account is paid he sweeps the surface smooth with the broad end of his pencil. This obliterates every impression, and the surface of the tablet is as though nothing was ever written on it. So our sing are clear gone forever when God’s mercy sweeps and keeps the heart.—Christian Advocate. It is a faithful thing, this, pruning w'ork, this cutting off of the over luxuriant shoots in order to call hack tho wand- ring juices into the healthier and more living parts. In religion it is described thus: “Every .branch of ine that beareth fruit, he pnrgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” The keen edge'of God’s pruning-knife cuts sheer through. No weak tender ness stops him whose love seeks goodness, not comfort, for servants. —F. W. Robertson.