Prohibitionists Ratify

Saturday afternoon, ex-Gov. St. John, of Kansas, arrived in this city over the T. & A. A. R. R , and was met by a lurge concourse of citizens and students. ín the evening he addressed an enthusiastic meeting at the opera house, which listened to his remarks with clo9e attention, and frequently interrupted him with hearty applause. After singing, and prayer by Rev. S. Haskell, President E. S. Shaw, of the Univereity prohibition club, in a few laudatory remarks, introduced the distinguished speaker. As he carne forward he was greeted with a storm of applause lasting half a minute. When quiet was restored, Mr. St. John began speaking in a slow delibérate way and said: "We have been told that we are in the minority, that we always will be, that the prohibition movement will never win. Well, I found out that we were in the minority in 1884, when Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine combined and beat me for the presidency. (Laughter.) But I have forgiven them for that, they had the same right to run tor president as I had. This prohibition movement is going to win, justas sure as you lite; and it won't be tive years bet'ore we will have control of tbings in this country, and when we come to handirg out the post office?, and the other good things, we will have to build a stone fence around this party and put a barbed wire on top, to keep the politicians of the other parties out. " This great question mud be taken up and carried through by the Prohibition party. Neither of the old parties can take tbe question up and live. No old party ever yet took up a new issue. Supposing the Republican party at the Chicago convention should put a prohibition plank in their platform, why every whiskey Republican would quietly go over to the Democratie party, and the Republican party couldn't carry a single state. Supposing the Democratie party should put a prohibiüon plank into their platform, why the whole party would go over to the Republican ranks and there would be nothing left of it. But I am glad to say that the men ot God are coming out of boih parties into the new party, and with Fisk at our head we will win a victory that means something to the homes of tais country. " Now I am not going to abuse the saloon-keeper, because I don't believe in abusinp a man engaged in a lawful business. The faloon-keeper is just as good ag - the saloon he keeps, and tbe saloon is just as gooi as the law that legalizes it, and the law is just ag good as the church deacon who votes for that license. " I have no use for a man who prays 364 days in the year for the suppression of the liquor traffic, and on the 365th day votes to legalize it. You say prohibition won't work here. The trouble is, there are too many here who don't want it to work. iTou come to Kansas, and I will show you a etate where it work?. There is not an open saloon in the state today. We have had prohibition since 1880. Had a big fight there. The Republicans tried to carry the church on one shoulder, and the saloon on the other, while the Democrats tried to carry the saloon on both. They say prohibition kills business. Well let's see about that, Since 1880 the taxable wealth of Kansas has doubled ; our railroad mileage has doubled ; Topeka then had 11,000 population, it now has 40,000; Lawrence then had 4,800, it now has 35,000 ; Leavenworth had 3,000, it now has 16,000. That's the way it kills cities! That's the way it injures business ! Topeka bas 50,000 population and only 20 policemen 1 Have not had a dronken man in the city prison for three years ! That's pretty good aint it ? In the Sunday school one day, I asked of the children how many had ever seen a drunken man ; but very few hands went up. In high linéense Illinois I asked the eame question of a Sunday school, and every hand went up, and one little fellow said he had seen two that very day. " The Republican party say we are trying to kill tnem. Why bless your hearts, the Republican party died a natural death in 1884. It had been dyiog for years. In 1872 your majority in the northern states was in round numbers, 400,000. In 1884 it was only 100,000. Now as the Prohibitionists only polled 150,000, and taking it for granted that they all caine out of the Republican party, which is not the case, where are your other 150,000 votes? In Michigan the party submitted a prohibition amendment to the people to catch the temperance vote, and then turned around and defeated it to catch the whiskey vote. A Republican legislature passed the local option law, and either were foolishly ignorant oL what a law ought to be or else wilfully passed it, as a sop to the temperance party, and then sent it to the Supreme Court to be decided unconstitutional. It is simply a Dred Scott decisión. It was the same way in Iowa, where the people had spent thousands of dollars, and a Republican Supreme Court declared the law void. "Look at the position of the two chiefs of the two oíd parties. Cleveland wrote hts last message in the winter, and his mind would naturally turn to more covering, so he said woolen blankets should be free. He wanted them cheaper, just as cheap as they could be had. Blaine " caught on " immediately and says, now I will eo for something that is good all the year 'round. So he declares tobáceo to be a nece8sity. Ve must have tobáceo. So there you have it, wool and tobáceo, tobáceo and wool, - the all absorbing topics of the day. Not a word said about the homes oí the land. Not a word said about the rum trame. No! Neither Cleveland nor Blaine dare even point their finger at the saloon power. They truckle to it by letting it alone. Last week at Indianapolis we had a convention, - one of the grandest conventions ever held. There we nominated Gen. Clinton B. Fisk, of New York, for President, and John A. Brooke, of Miesouri, for Vice President, - two grand, noble, spotless men, who, if they do not lead us to victory, will place ua higher upon the ladder of succeas than we have ever been before. Prohibition is right and must prevail !"