Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1888 — FREE WHISKY AND ATHEISM. [ARTICLE]

FREE WHISKY AND ATHEISM.

■features of tlie Republican Campaign Which Repel Cburcti Voters. The free whisky plan k in the Republican platform, coupled with the energetic manner in which the party is pushing Colonel Ingersoll to the fore in the campaign, has given great offense to many Republicans. A New York Times reporter had a talk with Rev. A. Jj\ Schauflier, D. D., a well-known Presbyterian clergyman and the Superintendent of the New York City Mission. “I have always been a Republican,” said Dr. Schauflier, “but on account ol the free whisky plank in the Republican platform, the position that party has taken in regard to the surplus, its tendency to indulge in

excessive pensioning, and the manner in which it has put Ingersoll forward In this campaign, which is very offensive to me, and. in fact, to a very large portion of the evangelists in this country. I shall not vote the Republican ticket this fall. There are probably two million evangelical voters in the United States. Colonel Ingersoll has lost no opportunity to re vile them, make fun of the Bible and otherwise to so disport himself as to make many Republicans utterly disgusted. If the party persists in keeping him on the stump during the campaign it will have the effect of driving away many Republican votes. “I am not prepared to say whether I shall vote the Democratic or the Prohibition Ticket, but I certainly shall not vote the Republican. I think President Cleveland is better than his party, and that his course has been good during the past three years. He may, perhaps, have made more removals than were strictly necessary, but the enormous pressure brought to bear upon him by his party in this matter must not bo lost sight of. lam thoroughly in sympathy with him in his position on the surplus, and also with his views on pensions. NVe are already the most grateful country in the world—grateful to the extent of millions of dollars annually. The purpose of the Republican party to pension every Tom, Dick, and Harry is preposterous and cannot be regarded otherwise than as a species of bribery. I am a believer in tariff reform—iu fact, in progressive free trade. 'I am not prepared to say that the Mills bill is the best tariff reform measure that could have been devised, but am confident that some such measure is absolutely needed. lam inclined to think that the Republican votes which the free whisky plank will divert will fall largely to the Prohibitionists. The Prohibitionists are the under dog in this fight, and there is a disposition among many people to help the under dog. I don’t think this will affect the Democrats at all, for I am confident that Cleveland and Thurman will win this election with ease."