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set bv this well-nigh shameless and truly odious
aggregation of human freaks is not in danger of
emulation elsewhere, and any suggestion that there
is occasion for alarm on the part of those determined
STRONG STAB AT PROHIBITION.
If the prohibitionists forbid the pleasure of tak
ing a drink, then they prove that they deem them
selves wiser and better than God Almighty himself,
who created the vine and taught Xoali the making
of wine. They prove that they imagine themselves
to be greater and higher than Christ, who turned
water into wine and celebrated the “Lord’s Sup
per" with bread and wine. They forget that Paul
said to Timothy: “Drink wine for the sake of your
stomach. ’ ’
But any encroachment on the divine service and
its various institutions is a violation of the religious
liberty of our country. The Catholic priest uses
wine at the altar; the Protestant celebrates his func
tions with wine and bread; and the most orthodox
Jew enters upon the religious duties of the Sabbath
with prayers and wine. If the prohibitionists prefer
to exclude alcoholic drinks from the functions of
their divine services, well and good, and no. objection
on our part to that. I do not want to abuse the
laws of God and the teachings of His Scripture. On
the other side, it seems to me not more than right
to protest against any interference with our customs
on the part of others.
What are these men, who send out such invita
tions, after; Do they want to irritate and poison
the public mind by stuffing the columns of our press
with their venomous and silly misrepresentations?
Do they want to trample the sacred and constitu
tional rights of personal liberty, freedom and man
hood under their uncompromising walking sticks?
Let me cite right here an extract from an address
of Abraham Lincoln, made in April, 1864:
“The world has never had a good definition of
the word liberty, and the American people just now
are much in want of one. We all declare for lib
erty; but in using the same word we do not all mean
the same thing. With some the word liberty may
mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself
and the product of his labor; while with others the
same word may mean for some men to do as they
please with other men and the product of other
men’s labor. Here are two, not only different, but
incompatible things, called by the same name, lib
erty. And it follows that each of the things is, by
THE REASON
to preserve the purity and integrity of the white
race, is in itself a grave affront to the white people
as a whole.
By ARTHUR KOENIG.
the respective parties, called by two different and
incompatible names -liberty and tyranny.”
How beautifully does this language lit the con
ditions of our lift 1 today. Have our learned friends
on tin* other side any real and correct conception of
tht' word liberty; is their doctrine, their creed and
Christianity based upon the fundamental laws of our
constitution, freedom and individual happiness, or
is the suppression of the liquor traffic, as insisted
upon by the prohibitionists, a tyrannical measure,
incompatible with the decency of an intelligent and
self-governing people .’
’flit' making of wine dates back as far as the
creation of earth, and the brewing of beer originated
with flit' old Egyptians many centuries before Chris
tianity came in the world. The use or abuse of
either wine or beer has killed since only those that
deserve to be killed; intemperate, degenerate, good
for nothing debauchees. Others relish the gift of
God in a temperate manner and resent the intrusive
interference of those who claim to be better ami
wiser than their fellow men. This will a 1 wavs
«
remain so and all the reverends in the world cannot
change it. Moreover, I know many a man of the
latter class who openly enjoys a good glass of beer,
wine or whiskey when lie sees it, and nothing fear
ful is thought about it. Why should there be?
Germany, England and France represent the most
intelligent nations of the world, and they are all
drinkers. It does not seem that the Lord has ever
contemplated to destroy these people for their sin
of drinking! Nor has the church ever banished a
decent saloonkeeper or declined his pecuniary con
tribution. Never! And among those that played
big parts in the progress and development of the
time, in science, in art, in war and in peace, in pol
itics and in literature, there were no teetotallers to
be found. Even the silver tongued Henry Ward
Beecher (God bless his innocent soul) abhorred pro
hibition and often enjoyed a drink of Extra Dry
with Ladv Tilton.
•/
The brewers, malsters and distillers of the United
States consume in the products of the farmers every
year over one hundred and fifteen millions of dol
lars; they pay in license, revenue and other state,
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