tion I made this statement: "Temperance
goes hand in hand with liberty"--the idea being that when a chain
is taken from the body an additional obligation is perceived by
the mind. These good papers--the papers that believe in honest
politics--stated that I said: "Temperance goes hand in hand with
liquor." This was not only in the reports of the meeting, but this
passage was made the subject of several editorials. It hardly
seems possible that any person really thought that such a statement
had been expressed. The Republican party does not want free whiskey
--it wants free men; and a great many people in the Republican
party are great enough to know that temperance does go hand in hand
with liberty; they are great enough to know that all legislation
as to what we shall eat, as to what we shall drink, and as to
wherewithal we shall be clothed, partakes of the nature of petty,
irritating and annoying tyranny. They also know that the natural
result is to fill a country with spies, hypocrites and pretenders,
and that when a law is not in accordance with an enlightened public
sentiment, it becomes either a dead letter, or, when a few fanatics
endeavor to enforce it, a demoralizer of courts, of juries and of
people.

The attack upon the platform by temperance people is doing no harm,
for the reason that long before November comes these people will
see the mistake they have made. It seems somewhat curious that
the Democrats should attack the platform if they really believe
that it means free whiskey.

The tax was levied during the war. It was a war measure. The
Government was _in extremis_, and for that reason was obliged to
obtain a revenue from every possible article of value. The war is
over; the necessity has disappeared; consequently the Government
should return to the methods of peace. We have too many Government
officials. Let us get rid of collectors and gaugers and inspectors.
Let us do away with all this machinery, and leave the question to
be settled by the State. If the temperance people themselves would
take a second thought, they would see that when the Government
collects eighty or ninety million dollars from a tax on whiskey,
the traffic becomes entrenched, it becomes one of the pillars of
the State, one of the great sources of revenue. Let the States
attend to this question, and it will be a matter far easier to deal
with.

The Prohibitionists are undoubtedly honest, and their object is to