New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-06-17
su.dr, Litern,urc and Liquor.

must NlucIg "iN"s~ - -
ing in all respects a fair specimen of tho
class. The most elaborate Editorial in its
last issue is as follows:
A INDUSTRIOUS EVIL.
We have never been among those wno would
iunudently seek % coeTce others into thaT owl
particular views upon abstract questions. We
have never believed that toe people Of TINS comml
ritv could ever be compelled 10 submit 70 the sicta
toS of bigots Or fanatics In anything. and We were
y;gbt In 40 believing. The history Of the Temper
sSce cause affords striking illustration q this
truth. So long 0s those engaged init were men o
sincerity. whose only aim was 70 reason with the
delndei portion Of their fellow men, until they sue
ceeded in winning them from the same course OF
degradation and ruin which they themselves had
long been pursuing, the cause went glOnOusly on,
amid the glad wishes OF al, aud the heartfelt bless
ms of hundreds Of women and children, whose
homes had been g!addened, aud whose fearful eyes
had been lit with smiles Of joy by the regenersting
influence which 1t exercises upon fallen fathers and
As with everything else, however. which has
been disnterestedy started for the public goo1 II
was soon seized bold Of by designing denagogue-r
and by mercenary and unprincipled men, whose
only object was to use it as a hobby which they
could rde into wealth and popularity. Either for
getting or disreesrding the fact that coercion mad
been tried. from time immemonal, upon persons OF
incorporate habits, without producing any effect
other than that OF an aggravatiOn OF the disease,
while thousands had been reformed by the ma SIC
Of few kind words. These insidious lmPostors
again invoked the futile aid OF legislative and ex-
ecuiive power, to punish all who sold and all who
drank intoxicating liquors.
The sad effects of that suicidal step are already
q matter of history The first attempt at coercion
was the signal for reaction, and never did any
cause retrograde so rapidly. In less than single
wear from the time its advocates abandoned moral
suasion it was far, very far behind the point from
which il started, and z spirit Of hostility was
swaken toward its leaders and their purposes,
which It will take long time to ailay. Thi,
community will net permit themselves 20 be bullied
or choked out Of a mere fOly-nO, not even those
10 whom that folly hss become debaslng vice and
a bfghting curse. There is spirit Of hostility i'm
planted in the breast Of every New Yorker TO
everything like impertneu. interference on the
part Of one portion Of the community with the con-
veutionsl notions Of the balance. No matter how
good may be the seeming or avowed intention-no
matter from what source it may emanate, it viii
meet with the same prompt, universal and inhexi-
bic hostility.
An overwhelming majority Of our citizens arc in
the almost daily habit OF drinking more or less
wine ale or liquors. For one who drinks 70 ex.
cess there are a thousand who are seldom or never
in the slightest manner affected. There is a vast
difference between the use aud the Rbuse OF any
thing Men in this city will drink-that is settled
No power on earth can prevent them from e.. The
highest, the purest, the abiest IN the land, drink in
moderation. It's not our province % either Justify
or condemn them for so doing We simply state
an undeniable fact 10 show the necessity o. all
honest and well meaning men coufning their exer.
tions to the mitigation and proper regulation OF
supposed evil hich it is sttery futile and childish
t., ut present, seek TO destroy
Having Low, we believe, clearly demonstrated
the fatal error into which the Temperance people
were decoyed by miserable set OF hollow hearted
demagogues and driveliDg notoriety- seekers-
mere scamps who could not otherwise earn a liveli
hood, in fact-we feel that We may safely point out
to them q field in which their labors will be re-
warded with q richer harvest than any which they
have recently had the most distant reason to sntci
pate.
Grocery stores were never intended iJr tavern
or drinking shops in city like this. w here there
are thousands OF well regulated public houses,
there can be no apology for permitting grocers 20
retail poisonous substitutes for liquor their bars
Every common grocery in New York now sells in
toxicating drDks-it would be sacriege 70 call it
liquor Not one half OF them pay cent for license.
This is the smallest portion Of the evil The poor
mans wife, and little girls have 70 go daiy-zome.
times several times-tO these demoraizlng holes
for their scanty supplies, ard cannot DO 50 without
having their sensibilties first shocked and ult
mately almost destroyed by the vulgar blasphemy
and beasty otscenity which is necessarily poured
forth by the besolted wretches who congregete
about The bar.
Wecan point out hundreds Of these denominations
located IN neiehbOrhoods mostly inhabited by honest
mechanics, where patrons Of the bar, and the Ian
guage used by them, are UNNECESSARILY worse than
can be found in the lowest stew on the Five Points
and all this must become more familiar than the
Lords prayer, 10 the ears Of poor mems wives and
children, while the husband and father is tOiing in
other section n tho cifv fo Obf ain bread
Has any Of our peanut phlanthropists ever
entered into & calculation Of the probable amount
OF ruin, depravity, and crime which will be entail
ed upon the present and rising generations by this
grocery gangrene alone, IT il is suffered 10 20 on
unchecked We presume not. The Caiires of
Africa or the tattoOed, man eating gentry Of New.
Zealand re- TO them, oil infinitely more importance
than the sons and daughters Of their ogn poor and
oppressed fellow citizens-and for very good
reason. IL is much easier b give an imaginary
account, which will prove satisfactory 70 the credu
Gus donors Of thousands Of dollars no. one cent Of
which ever reached an inch nearer its legitimate
destination than the pOckels Of the slippery
knaves who collected il by saying it was dsours
ed in the advancement of righteousness ten thOus-
and miles of, than here in this city, where there
are so many suspicious he.etics 70 impuden.y pry
into the matter
Another, and the most frgttful evil which has
beer engendered in the family circles Of our hum
be but worthy working population, by this grocery
rum selling has been that OF making confirmed tip
pies If an immense number Of ,oomeH, VINO, were i.
not for that, would have continued strictly sober
The writer Of this article has opportunities which
few others possess, Of seeing The witbering psra.
yzlng effects of this accused evil By regular
system OF ccllusion, now we'll understood through
the city by the respective parties to tho cheat the
mother can either take herself O. send in by oae
Of the children. tea pot milk pitcher together
with the pass book, when e hEfpint Of bad rum,
or worse gin, IS promptly deposited in it, and it
appears on the pass book as six.pencs worth of
bread smoked beef or something else. The wo-
man drinks it, remains about half drunk until the
middle Of the afternoon, then lies down, sleeps IN.
I'll near six o'clock, when one of the young ones,
according to orders, wakes her, and when her has
band comes home, after hard days toll amid the
bitter blasts OF Winter, or the scorching suns Of
sumner, instead Of receiving cheerful greeting