Not many years ago I was asked to go to a Georgia county and
speak, and when I got there some saloon-keepers came in and
stood up by the wall on one side of me, their object being to
intimidate me. I said, “Neighbors, you have sent for me to come
and speak to you on the whisky issue. I am no orator; I am no
Brutus. I am not going to tell you which side of this question I
am on, but you just step up to God and ask which side He is on;
go to Christ and put me down on His side. Go out there to the
graveyard, and take up that mother who has buried her husband
and sons in drunkards’ graves, and ask her which side she is
on--and then put me down on her side. Put me down on the side of
God and Christ, and the women and children of this land.”
The leading saloon man in the crowd wiped the tears from his
eyes. He had just buried a sweet wife and child, and he walked
out and said, “Boys, I’m done; I throw up the sponge.” The next
election in that county the prohibition element carried the day
by five hundred majority.--SAM P. JONES.
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