Litchfield enquirer., 1845-02-27
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 ono q ths s.f6ns1sI ebtranebmsnsa which ih't sfac hns rsssed Si5und ilsslf a found h the force of custom. Usagns which grew pp ia tke Alepholie Ages. and won the thirsty generations cf our fa- tiers to adopt them. have come down to us. vener- able with age. and forcible ss law. Viewed in the light which now shines on them, they may be | grossly unwise and perhiciOus; and yet they hold their ground. They stand Oh no pretence of in- trinsic fitness or utility, but simply on the ground of immemorial use and the authority of custom; and to question their propriety will even yet star tie mems minds as rash and radical step.
 It may be, this paper will appear to some in this light. For propose todeny wholly the propriety of one of these hsuages--to deny what has been universally held and still s with rate exceptions practically admitted d-namely, that there is, by ne cessity or propriety. any bond of connection be- tween the traffic in intoxicating drinks and the bu- siness of Inn-keeping that tavern is, in the na- ture of things, groggefy, of taEerner inherently atapster It is no part of the appropriate business of accommodating the public to deal in liquors. The two things are not identical; their union is inconsistent and disastrous, and ought to be by Law
 prohibited. And if to any one this proposition should seem startling, let him suspend his judg- ment and consider little. t1es H9
 And, first. let it be considered how utterly incon sistent is the trade in drinks with the design of tavern as such. Every appropriate purpose of such an establishment is marred, if not wholly defeated by connecting with it the business of pandefing to the lowest appetite, and exciting the worst pas sions that disgrace the species. Look at any legit- innate purpose of a tavern Is it designed for the accommodation of the neighboring public on occa- sons of business and general concourse: But if on such occasions we would secure the trustiest discharge of public business--if we would provide for quietness and decoturn among large and pronis- cuous assemblies-if we would not have noise and riot, brawing and violence, banish from the pub- lie house the temptations and facilities of drunken excitement Is it designed also for the accomrno- , dation of ftraveiers, to provide them temporary | house and minister to their necessitiess How pre- posterous to turn their home into tipplinghouse, and render it the fvorite resort of the idle, the filthy, the impertinent, the boisterous@to defeat,
 just so far as this business prevails, the whole de- l sign of accommodation for travellers! Two occu. pations are thus combined under the same roof and in the hands of the same person, which are utter antagonists to each other. So far as the ends cl the one are sought and attained those of the other are necessarily defeated. There cannot be good tavern which is also prosperous grog-shop. The one implies peace, neatness, repose, an orderly and ready ministration to the wants of the way-faring
 while the whole operation of the other is to pro
 luce scene of filth, confusion. and disquiet, no twice to be willingly entered by the decent. Ina
 this is real and grievous inconsistency, appea
 to every reader who has had occasion to endure the accommodations of our common inns. Th'
 last place on earth in which we should allow thi
 traffic in the means of disorder and annoyance, l
 the place to which we send the weary and way worn for quiet and refreshment.
 And see how abundantly the public aceoinmo
 ren at every mile two, suspicious looking hous
 with an important sign thrusts itself on the publ
 notice, and begs weary world to allow itself to b
 accommodated! But the wayfarer, who is entice,
 tA antAs, rayO for his teu,erity by finding himsel
 deemed and provided for as a tippler! And whs
 will pretend that one half of these are needed fo
 the public convenience, or deserve more than l small fraction of their support from the appropri
 ate custom of the tavern! Multitudes of them nei. ther expect, nor receive, nor from their location and character, can receive, more than casual tri. he for service rendered as houses of public accom-. modafion in any proper sense whatever. They are not taverns; they are drink-shops in that disguise
 licensed in false name; and on false pretences, and designed as the convenient resort of wretched constituency of neighboring sots! as ia' But a still more important consideration remains By this perverse and unnatural union, we make our whole tavern system lsgalized and most eff;- cient agency for the continuance and extension of intemperance Here and there, at suitable points over the country, public houses are needed: and this necessity is made directly and powerfnily sub. servient to the nurture and patronage of vice. by fastening to these useful establishments the pern;. cious system of dram-selling. The enemy is thus permitted to seize upon our tayerns, and appropri ate them to his own purpose. At these places of most public resort are stored up and displayed the temptations and facilities of indulgence, and the work of seduction is carried a at every adyautare
 They constitute favored class of dram-shops for on their premises alone e,depraved appetite may, &C., cordihg to Law. sate itself on the spot. Secure from all responsibility, they kindle and nurse in- discriminatory the fatal appetite that elsewhere nnds a miserable maturity. The transient tippler. who finishes his codrse with delirium in some loathsome cell in distant city. has, it may be, im- bibed that peFdition at half the taverns in the land; and dancing in it demon form around his dying pillow. there comes the imara If raansr =.