Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1839-08-22

they address you-unIil the time shall
come when the legislators of CHRISTIAN
community will regard an enactment 10
rc' use the retail of ardent spirits with the
same ahhnrrence which they feel UPWARDS
The statutes formerly passed hy the Roman
Lhancery, making assassin lion aud n'ur
der. and prostitution, and every crime,
subjects of license and taxarion, and rrou-
laing the price at which each might be
conn iited.
Even if alcohol possessed no properties
al all-yet no wise law giver ought to sane
ton its distilIaIion or retail. IL is not
needed for the support, or health, or hap
piness of man. Ills often extracted fIon
The substances which are required for The
sustenaucc Of life.
|, consumes all immense amount oi Ia
bor and wciIliii-and. above all it eXerIs
magic snrcerv by which men are SD en-
chane'i thai they will barter for it their
properly. their honor their families. aud
their lives. Now ought any legislative
h0dyio counlcnance The traders in such
thing? A. The guardians of 'hr people
might we moi hope (even if alcohol were
lnnUxi0us, if it were clay or sawdusI) HAT
YOU would interfere and rescue your con
siluents from hr fraud aud vllany which
seeks to profit by their infaluatlOn, and
harbamusly chcal them of their substance!
Do nor your statute oooks dcnuunce rishre
Gus penalties against swindling! BuI that
crime be The "ohtaiuing from man prop
erty under a false prclencc," would not
the retailr ;,.ven on the present supposl-
tion] bca W ,"ler! would he NOT be knave
availing n.n,ei oflIIe insanity of those IL
round him. aud minisrering 10 that insani-
Iy, that hr might thereby crafty his cupi
dity. and, under preteV of traffic, palm
upon monomaniacs i'm article of no value
but as to which they are bewilched, and
thus spoil them of the fruit of their labor,
or their heritage from tn ir falhersl
Even then, If this liquid we're only of no
Intrinsic value, the principles which cause
you TO punish swiudine and fraudulent
transactions ought, your petitioners hum
bly, submit, To prevent your lesallzing it as
valuable consideration.
Blu, is it necessary that your Peiioners
should offer any proof as 10 the fatal effects
of ardent spirits? Is there single mem-
ber of your honorable bodies who doubts
that the streams with which, by your per-
mission, the retail shops are hrlusinG every
town aud village and plantation in the
State, are, in fact, mOSI horrible scourse!
Is there Court Of Justice, civil or criInn-
ais there Jail-is there an asylum Tor
luna,ics-or grave yard in the Uuiled
States. which does not coutirm this awful
truth!
Have not your Judges, your Solicitors,
and your Jurors, again and again declared
that almost every crime whicE status our
decker is the consequence of intemper-
ance! Do not The shattered frames, The
PROSTATE hopes. the wasted fortunes the
ruined families, the IosI souls of your
friends and ncichburs, every where attest
the ravaees Of this lesolaiing for-and
loudly proclaim, that 10 license The sale Of
ardent spirits. is 10 license lie sale of poi
son-rhe nSilIous dispersion Of pestlence
and of death
Your petitioners are confident there j.,
no one in your honorable bodies who can
doubl these things. Why, then-ye who
are the protectors oflhe public welfare, The
censors of the public moraIs-why should
your petitioners t hope thai you will at
once arrest the evil ? Other states have
abolished the license laws, and pnslerily
will bless their name, for the deed. May
not your petitioners aud constituents ex-
7ect That this Sta'e, so long conspicuous
for virtue, will also range herself on The
side of religion and humanity; and ner-
cifully save the lives, aud souls Of their
citizens, by sealing Theoretically the ioun-
tains of destruction
Your petitioners respectfully insist, thai
they enlreat of you no Infringement, no re-
trcnchment of any mans just liberty. The
privilege which the di>tiIlers aud their al
lies claim, is that of the swndler to de-
fraud, and the assassin to kill. Can any
man pretend that he has right 10 gain Il
livelihood by thu manufacture Of drum.
kanls---the propagation ufcrime and pau
perism BY dcbasius fathers and hus-
bands in,o sots, aud reducing wives and
children to a condition infinitely worse
than that of the widow and The orphan
Nor is your power To apply an cfectualre
nledy at all doubtful. If you possess the
power of granting and regulating and re-
lusine licenses to retail ardent spiri.s, you,
of course. possess that Of abrogaing them
altogether. And your petitioners are con-
fideni. that such abrogarion will he haile,
as a blessing by all cIas s,es---except the
merccnary rratfickers in death, aud their
wretched and deludcd victims.
II (Which by DR.. Rush and other emf
nenl physicians is denied) alcohol be a
medicine for which there is no substitute.
leril, then. (your petitioners pray be con-
fined to the stores of The anlhnrized ven
ders of medicines, as al first it used tn be.
But your petitioners hnmblv and earn
eslly beseech your honorable bodies. SO To
alter The present laws, as 10 relieve lhe
country from The burden under which it is