"Now, father, get out your list of political parties, examine the candidates, and put me where I belong. This is a question that must come into politics, as all reforms come through the ballot-box, and I must give my influence to that political party or power making this a clear-cut issue. I am an Abolitionist."
"A what?"
"An Abolitionist."
"How is that?"
"Simply enough: I stand for the everlasting abolition of the liquor traffic. It is quite the proper thing for the daughter of a Republican to be an Abolitionist."
Judge Thorn laughed.
"You put your case plain enough," he said. "There is small room to doubt how you stand, but I think that you will see that abolition in this case would be impracticable. You know, my girl, in these days a half-loaf is better than no bread. Political parties, like the grass of the field, sprout up and die away. There are but two real parties. The fight on leading issues is between them. All that is necessary for you to do is to read the platforms of these two parties and make your choice. Listen!"
He took down a political almanac from one of the library shelves.
"We are opposed," he read "to all sumptuary laws as an interference with the individual rights of the citizen."