Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1833-07-11
From The National Infelligencey.
TO THE DiSTfLLERS OF VIRGINIA.

| TO THE DiSTfLLERS OF VIRGINIA.
/ GEHrLEMEN:-A fellow citizen, and one
who is acquainted with some, at least, of
the most respectable of your body, begs
leave to address you; and as he designs to
use only the language Of calm and sober
reason, and by that standard to be iustiii
! ed or condemned 10 what he may say, he
hopes 10 be favored With your patient at
tention. There are none Of you probably
who are uniformed OF the great evil, and
wide spread influence Of the vice ofintem
perance, particularly in this our otherwise
favored land, and Of the great exertion
made and now making in many parts of
our country for its suppression. Numer-
Gus societies have been formed, the mem
bers Of which oblge themselves not ONLY
individually TO abstain from the use Of all
intoxicating liquors, but to Danish them
from their houses, and to discourage their
use by every allowable means They
have appointed committees whose duty II
should be TO investigate the nature and
extent OF this vice, and TO report thereon;
and their enquiries resulted in the discove-
~ Of the following facts:-That there
were four hundred thousand drunkards in
the United States, that thirty thousand OF
our citizens annually die victims 10 intem
perance; that the waste occasioned 10 the
country directly and indirectly by its ef
fects amounts to $50 ,000, 900 per annum;
that from three fourths TO four iiiths Of the
crime throughout our Union is traced to
the same source-and that our Hospitals,
Aims Houses, and Asylums, are peopied
by it, as well as our Jails and Penitentia-
ries. They have proved also, that natu.
rally man has no taste for splrituods H.
quors, and receives no benefit from their
use; and that SO far from being enabled
by them to resist better the cold, or heat,
or damp, they have the contrary effect;
(and 10 this they are supported by the o.
pinion of the whole medical faculty OF this
country and Europe) that there is no safe
ty whatever in their temperate use, and
that the ranks of drunkaros are filled
from the band of temperate drinkers, anu
that consequently entire abstinence from
all intoxicating liquors, excepting when
prescribed by a physiciaD) is the only
corrective OF the dreadful evils flowing out
of their use.
Now, gentlemen, do you believe that
the facts above stated are true? Do you
admit they are halftrue? Have your own
observations led you TO consider the use OF
IN your neighborhoods, any instances of
promising young men, blighting all their
prospects, and disappointing the hopes OF
their friends by intemperance? Of any
old men bringing their families to poverty
and wretchedness, and themselves to the
untimely grave Of the drunkard by the
same causeP Any instances oflndustrious
and useful mechanics becoming worthless
burthens upon society-any Of evil acci
dent, Of mischief, or of crime to be traced
to the same sourcep
Have any Of you servants addicted to
lntemperance, in whom on that account
you can put no confidence; or sons who
are victims TO this vice; or daughters mar
rIed to drunken husbands Would these
persons be injured by ceasing altogether
to use spirituous liquors? Has their use
ever been necessary to them? Were they
drunkards IN the outset, or did they be
come so by commencing with the mode
rate, and as they thought, innocent use oil
the exhlaratinS draught? Surely your an
swers TO these questions would go to prove
that the present consumption of ardent
spirits is much to be iamented by every
good citizen, and that their necessary con
sumption would fall far, very far short of
the lmmence quantities you are daily sup
plying TO the country. Then, gentlemen,
as good citizens, cease TO contribute 20 the
support Of this dreadful esll Can you
object to lis SUPPRESSION But each one |
oiyou says, II do not distii ardent spirits !
others will. and had as well reap share |
OF the profits as any one eise--my indiyid. !
ual example would have no effect upon |
the community. before proceeding fur, |
Their, permit me to reply to this objection |
II you saw man on journey with a |
large sum oil money, and nao good reason |
TO believe he wouid be robbed and muir |
dered by some villain before arriving a, |
his journeys end, would 1t justify you IN |
robbIng and numbering him? " hen we !
are enquiring about the propriety OF dong |
or not dong thing, the question IS not |
whether or not others do ii; but is il right |
or is 1t wrongP Gentlemen! the profits of |
your Distilerles Is the price OF the blood |
and OF the souls OF men. clothes the orphan
IN rags and infamy, and breaks the mo.
theirs heart Moreover, suppose that eve
ry one who makes this objection were to
act upon the contrary principle, and say,
LEI others do as they may, as for me Twill
at once give up my dIstillery; instead oil
the example and influence OF one lndivid
ual, we should have thought of hundreds!
nay! thousands! for no doubt it has been
universally made by almost every one to
whom the subject has been proposed
large portion Of your bodyipursue this
business entirely as a matter of profit.
and If their establishments were burnt To-
the ground would perhaps never feel the
poorer. In the glorious cause of our Re
volutlon, your fathers nobly sacrificed their
time, their money their all, where the
public good required it will you not iml
tate their example IN making this smaller