Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 June 1889 — A MIGHTY WEAPON. PROHIBITION DEFEATED. [ARTICLE]

A MIGHTY WEAPON.

PROHIBITION DEFEATED.

Pennsylvania Give* a large Majority Against It. The people of Pennsylvania, Tuesday, voted on a proposed Constitutional Prohibition amendment and it was defeated by a very large majority. A Pittsburg special says: Returns received include every county in the State, and are as follows: For the Prohibition amendment, 54,517; against the Prohibition amendment, 189,710. Majority against the amendment, 135,193. Allegheney county gave a majority of 25,000 against it. The streets were filled all day with amused crowds, waiting for the brassa bands of the antis and the infantile glee dubs of the Prohibitionists. As each would appear, the crowds greeted them with cheers, and it made little difference on which side the people were. Every one seemed to be in a good humor, and the election was freer from fights than any election ever before known. The wagons containing the brass bands of the antis were 'followed by those containing the glee clubs of the opposition, and each alternately filled the air with music. The bands and glee clubs marched all over the two cities, and at many of the polling places groups of women were busy trying to induce voters to take their tickets. Two or three cases of sickness among the children and women resulted from the exposure to the rays of the sun, and while there was a good breeze ?a the lower city the day was very oppressive and hot. At many polls the Prohibitionists had refreshment stands and served lunches and soft drinks to all voters. Both sides were at work early and kept it upall day. There were no disturbances, and everything passed off as pleasantly as a summer day. There was not the feeling between' the two parties that would naturally be anticipated under such circumstancesEach seemed willing to give a point to the other, and harmony resigned supreme. The one feature of the day was the remarkably large so-called “vest-pocket vote” which came to the polls with his ticket in his pocket and evidently had long before decided on which side he would cast his ballot There was not the usual “button-hol-ing” that is characteristic of an election, and people were permitted to go to and from the p«Ua without any molestation. A Philadelphia dispatch says: There was a notable absence of women from the polls, and the distribution of ice water and sandwiches was not so profuse as had been anticipated. In some portions of the city the prohibition folks utilized Sunday-school children to distribute cold water tickets. A number of polls were manned by ministers. The State also voted to-day on the proposed amendment for the abolition of the poll tax. In this city there was very little opposition to this amendment The official figures in Pennsylvania show a majority of 185,173 against the prohibition amendment The fifth amendment to the Constitution of Rhode Island, the prohibitory amendment, was repealed, Thursday, by a vote of 5.469 more than the three-fifths of the total vote necessary to-carry the amendment The total vote is: Approve, 28,449; reject, 9J53. In 1886, when the amendment was adopted the vote,which was about 14,000 smaller, stood: Approve, 15,118, reject, 9,230.