PROGRESS OF TEMPERANCE IN SOUTH.
LOCAL option, or country prohibition, has made great gains in the Southern States. It is surprising, as it is gratifying, to read that in Kentucky, the great whisky State, 47 counties now have total prohibition, 54 have partial prohibition, and only 18 have license. In Texas more than half the counties have prohibition; in Texas liquor can be sold legally in only 12 of the 96 counties; in Arkansas 44 of the 71 counties have undertaken to prohibit the sale of liquor by the local option plan; in Mississippi 65 of the 75 counties have total prohibition, and in Georgia 103 counties out of 137. This encouraging state of affairs, taken in connection with the aggressive temperance work carried on throughout the country, explains why the brewers and liquor dealers in their recent conventions have expressed great alarm and have set aside large sums of money for literature to show the American people the folly of local and national prohibition. We ought to work for a good cause whether the outlook for success is bright or not; but it certainly is easier to work when we see that something is actually being accomplished. It is pleasant to know that in the Northwestern States the Scandinavians are foremost in temperance work. There is not much shouting about their methods, but they are a people who, when convinced that a cause is just, buckle down to solid, steady, continuous work; and that's what counts in the long run.—Northland Weekly.