Correspondence

Ann Aruor, Fkb. 12, lsS4. Ed. Courier: - [nyour last Issue yon Btated thnt ihc original tempéranos wovk was non politica! and non-srotarian, and liow tliat thus it was a mora] power. Now tlüit isiny underatandiugof tlie present blue ribbon raorement, and on these conditiona I beeame a meinbor. Tbere ure two lepante temporalice organizalions in tli is city, tlie other beiüg a proliibition club l)olUiii}r meetings in Mr. G. V. (Jropscy's hall. Not being a niember all tliat I kuow of its workings is wliat 1 glean throuffb the newgpapers. These two are very apt to he confounded, bat they are separate and dlstlnct fromeacb other. The blue ribbon club, as an orKaniation, lias nothing to do with tlie Bbaructen of any of its paid lectnrers onlv tliat no bad men, inorally speakin;;, Bhould be eniployed, if the fact sliotilil come to the knowledge of itsofficers. The only work the club bas to do is to try and get as many persons as possible to don the blue ribbon and hereafter lead températe, and they should also lead virtnons üve.s - although tlie latter is withill the provinoe of our clnirches more than ofour temperance clubs. The .v uctnccu uic .nev. JV. 1. Erupfl W1U IJr. J. H. Conway has notliitig to do with our club, and as :i club we take gldes witli netther one. Soine of the meinbers, no doubt, side one way or the other; as individuáis tliey llave that right. Tlie club has enough to do to take care of its own without in any way becomino; a party to the eontroversy pro or con. The charges made against the Dr. wcre explained away satisfactory, on the (ith inst, so say his frlends, whilst on the contraiy Pope's frienda claim he dodged the charges. But be that as it may it does not in the least concern tlie club, neither has the club anytliing to do with the prohibitory movenient recently started. Some of its membera no doubt niay be prohibitionists but the club as an oiganization is not chargeable tbr the individual views and acts of its members. Keligion and politics sliould not be meolioned in the club room, althougli perhaps some of our speakers niay thus trespass upon the kindness of their hearers, but for that the club is not at all accountable, for, as onr constitution and by-laws strictly prohibit any question of politics or religión beinjj; broaclicd in tlie dab room, it is to be non-sectarian and ïion-jinlit.u'jil. and that is the very reason we expect to niake it a moral power. I believe in moral suasion. tójretlier with :i Btrict compílanos of oor present laws to sec the in températe become températe; the Efue ay to sap the foundations of the liquor tramo is to induce tliose who drink to do so no more. I ;in not one of that clan who believe in sending to heil all those tliat may ditt'itr with me, not at all. There are nndoubtedly a gieat man y good men engaged 'm the liquor trafflc and are willink to eotnply and live tip to the law. J firnily heliere that Frederick Itetticli and W. H. Melntire, both of wlioiu are engafed in the sale of liquor. ve up to the present law. Their places of business are closed on Sundaya and all egal liolidays. and are olosed at night vhen the time comes for them to do so. Now if all dealers wonld bilt follow their example teni]i(!r:inoe men eoulil say liiu very little, if anything. arainst saloonceepers, and most ofour tetnperanee men vould be fnlly satisfied. If saloon men Kit eonsulted their own interests they wonld see the benefit they would derivu by folknring in the footsteps of these two men. Na doubt others in the business do he sanie. 1 think I might safely include n thatcategory men like Messis. Drake aud Goetz. I don't think that they would knowlngly viólate the law in that respect, and there may be others whose names do mui ni. ujiií uiuiuiíMi occur lo me. in tlie blue ribbon club we have, as at present ' constituted, men of all polkical and reItgious beliefs, and it woukl be suicidal Co , let politics or religión have any con t rolling interest whatever- that is, in favor of any party or sect. In your artlcle you conveyed the idea to your readers that the blue ribbon movemeut was political in its character. That, you see, is hnpossfble as it woukl be In direct conflict with oor constitution and by-lavs. No doubt such views are entertained by a great many, and has, in a great measure, tended to reta rd the success we othenviseshould have uao as b lemperaiicc society. In order to clear up such matters I was actaated to pen these few lines. With all díte respect I :". Yours tiuly, M. J. Martin. Feb. 12, 1881. Editor Courier: As you ask, through your columns last week, what we as a temperanoe organization do with the money we take in at the door, and as we believe the public should know, it' they wish to, we will give you the reeeipts and expenditures for one speaker, whicli is a fair example of the many (our other expenses being paki out of due.. contrlbutlonp, Tlie reeeipts and expenses for Cap. ïlill's meetings were as follows: BECBIPT8. St :::::::::.;::;-;::;;::;::g. Total jiu 4;( UISIiURSRMKXTS. Courier Office, posters $ 2 50 Bill'-Poster, post'ín'ií"!...'.'.'.'.'. ' {',' Hoys.distributlni' "k Armory Hall ...." " 8 , Fireman'a Hall " s m Moving fürnllnre 4 (ki Capt. Hlll, tliree lectafea 20 00 $18 1W Overdrawn 2 67 148 1 Monday evenfng being stormy, the audience was not as large as usual, but the next meeting, Sunday, in our own rooin (over Noble's store), Main Street, will probably make up the deficit and put a little in the treasury for an extra expense on another occasion. We think the laboier was worthy of his hire, and thank those who were present and thus assisted ug in seotirlng the large audiences that aseembled. J icket Agent for A. A. T. V.