Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1837-04-26
O. S. MURRAY, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.

The intelligent physician everywhere is
raising his warning voice and proclaim
ing the truth, that alcohol is an Injurious
substance, except it may be as medicine
never beneficial as beverage.
Still much, very mach, remains to be
done. Intemperance, although checked,
in the moral and religious portions Of the
community, is not suppressed The re-
formation is far, very far, from being
complete; the principles Of A. A0'oe0er,
are stabtished-nerer, acStIe time lasts,
to be eradicatcd. While the wealthy and
middling classes have gained immensely
by the reformation, the great body OF the
poor are vet in dreadful bondage 10 the
great Moloch; restrained by no pruden-
tiaI considerations, they rush without re-
/ Election into the vortex, with delirious ca
gerness; nor need they rush far, for at
almost every step the temples of the mon
ster invite them to their destruction,
SANCTIONED BY LAW. 1t is for
the poor, it is for the day laborer, with
their dependent families, bleeding at eve
~ pore, that we would plead and we do
therefore entreat your honorable body to
turn kind and listening ear to this pcti-
ton.
We have been led TO reflect much on
this great and momcntous subject; we
think the honor and happiness of our be-
loved country deep y concerned in it, that
the everlasting destiny Of millions now
living, ard thousands Of millions yet 10
/ live, involved in it: turn not then, we be-
sccch you, guardians Of the public veal
as YOU are a deaf ear to this petition, but
frarlessly meet the evil and apply such
efficient remedyt to exreI or exlrpate the
gangrenOus CxcresenCe, as your wisdom
may suggest and as the case requires
! We have been led to reflect much on
! his momentous subject TO search out and
mark the obstacles in the way of the uni
vcrsal triumph Of temperance, and to study
and analyZe the elements Of hostile agen-
cics: at the very threshold Of this nves-
Iugation our attention has been arrested BY
the STATUTE BOOK.
We are aware that legislative interpo
stIon has been disclaimed, on this subject
, by the advocates of temperance; how
prudentIy or wisely, we cannot stop tC
discuss The MAXIM we know, has beer
to trust to public opinion, good example
and moral suasion. But admitting thai
we ought not, perhaps, to call for Iegisla
tive coCrc ion, we are not therefore willing
to encounter Legislature hostility. With
out intending, by this remark, any impu
tation upon either the present or any pre-
cedng Legislature, we feel justified ir
affirming that Legislation has been, anc
now is hostile TO the cause Of temperance
He who is responsible for the cause is re
sponsibc for the effect The taverns an(
groceries Of the Statute throng along thu
f highways and byeways of our towns, AM
! stand out upon every angle and corner q
r the streets and lanes Of our villages an,
! cities The Statute has erected thes
temples Tor rather dcns) Of intcmpcrance
and has its organized "board' in ever,
! town, whose special duty it is to appoin
and commission all who choose 10 minis
ter at their polluted affairs aud compel
them, under severe pains and penalties, t
hang out the cn>ignS and emblems Of in
e temperance, to invite the unwary travel
r Ter and resident citizens TO frequent thei
fatal and unholy shrnes. Here, accord
h ingly, we find collected the professors an
l. practitioners OF Mtemperancc, with lon
. train OF disciples in perpetual succession
If One or more temperance societies in eac
y town have been organized, 10 meet at s'a
e ed intervals, to incuCate the duties an
IF obligations Of temperance too freQuentI,
r but thinly attended but here are innu
&c mcrable intemperauce societies in Constat
J. session, and always full, who do not onI
preach intemPerance, but practice wh'
'e they preach. And all this has the sane
y tion Of the Statute. HERE IS A MAC
y NIFICENT SCHEME OF lNTEA
!" PERANCE! A SPLENDID ESTAE
IN LISHMENT FOR INTEMPEF
k ANCE ! THE STATUTE HA
u LIFTED THE FLOOD-GATEi
o. AND THE INUNDATION !
a. OVERWHELMING AND UNIVEI
OF SAL. What scheme could have bee
r devised for more general diffusion of a
a. cohol How could the temptation
b. drink II be brought more home to ever
e. mans door and to every mans mouth
ds The machinery Of intemperaace is con
- p'ete, and tcOrks triM surprising pO1rer.-
n The laws seem to have been framed, al
In our civil poIity ordered, SO as to produ(
'rt the greatest possible number of drum
lis ards, The element is as cheap as the
i'll we breathe, (he government has been e
u tremely solicitous to disburthen it OF
ng charges and as universally diffused.
n costs nothing, or next to nothing to
els drn"k. Short Of bidding bounty on
A toxIcatlon, what has the government ON
Ire ted, which human ingenuity could su
elr gest, to sow the seeds of intemperan
eat aud vitiate the public morals? A bount
Stl- that too is biddenl After holding o