Personal Recollections of Pardee ButlerButler, Pardee
Religion
Personal Recollections of Pardee Butler
Butler, Pardee
Kansas -- History -- 1854-1861
With here and there a notable exception, the Roman
Catholic Church throws its influence on the same side;
hence its church fairs are carnivals of drunkenness.
The two extremes of our American society do also largely
join in this clamor for free liquor. "The upper ten
thousand," those that arrogate to themselves that they are
par excellence, the _elite_ of the nation--albeit that
their assumed gentility is sometimes but a shoddy or
shabby gentility--make the road from the top of society to
the bottom, and from thence to hell, as short as possible,
by assuming that it is aristocratic to tipple.
When from these so-called upper circles, we go down to the
bottom of society, what shall we say of that great
multitude of men and women, crushed into poverty,
helplessness and ignorance, groping as the blind grope in
darkness; and who find in the dram-shop a momentary
oblivion to their miseries?
To these elements of opposition to prohibition we must add
another class of men--the professional politicians. These,
like the chameleon, take the color of every object they
light on. To them the good Lord and the good devil are
equally objects of respect, and possible worship; and,
having all mental endowments accurately developed, except
the endowment of conscience, they hold that all things are
legitimate that bring grist to their mill. These will be
good prohibitionists when prohibition dances in silver
slippers; but now they do duty on the other side.
The above picture contains a very fair analysis of the
elements of the vote in opposition to the prohibitory
amendment, except that, perhaps, we ought to add the vote
in opposition to a well-intended class of men who have no
proclivity for liquor, and who, perhaps, could give no
better reason for their vote but that they abhor
innovations, and are content to do as their fathers and
grandfathers did before them.
Notwithstanding, prohibition carried in the State by eight
thousand majority. It is noteworthy that six counties,
lying along the Missouri River, and having in or near them
the cities of Atchison, Leavenworth, Wyandotte, White
Cloud and Kansas City, and which also contain the largest
foreign-born population in the State, gave heavy
majorities against the amendment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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