Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1849-1856, 1852-04-08

4 fast leaving the traffic, and no one is
\ now so singular rs 10 give il his cour-
\ tenanre, unless for sinister motives. -
II Only few years since, another traffic
was common. prof able. and lis Import
ancc, necessity and morality was de-
Tended jisi as the sale OF intoxicating H.
. quors now are, and, those engaged IN il.
were as proud, us obstinate aud deter
mined, as their business was black and
\ hateful. These also Told Of lhc advan-
tages the peoI le enjoyed IN consequence
4 of their business, and like our opponents
| opened The acred book 10 prove lis Gi-
| vine origin hut, where Is II now z
| Who is so lost to humanity rs 10 defend
| it :? Such as that neiaIious trade now is,
soon the rum-tradc must be. The same
/ enlightened public opinion which de-
| cares the Slave Trade piracy. will
make The olLer crime Of sufficient I'M
| porlaace not only to make il misde-
meanor, but such as lis enormity de-
mands. Our present license law, short
as IL lis 0l what II should be. is the be-
/ ginning Of the work, and whoever de-
sires It's contamination speedily. must
vote no hcense. No good temperance
man will fail 10 do so, whenever, and
wherever an opportunity o.ers. To
vote Otherwise, is in effect 10 vote Tor
legalizing drunkenness and for making
manlacs, paupers, widows, orphans and
idiots. 1t Is to legalze crime. idlcness
and brutality. and TO permit one class OF
men to oppr,ss another class. Now
who will do this? Will any christian
do it? VIII any phiIanthropisl viii
any one do so, who considers his res
I possibility To God 2 and now, Il word on
this subject.
The responsibilities OF temperance
men requires. not only they should keep
the | ledge with the same CONSCIENTIOUS
\ ness that they observe any other moral
or religious obligation. but, like these,
\ they require tie sac rfice Of personal III
teresi, wherever it interIefes with this
l Obligation. Let me enquire, what The
influence Of a prolrssed temperance man
l is worth, who will let a building or a
room for a grog.shop? That we have
/ such is true, aud that they are curses
/ instead OF blessings 20 the cause. is not
TO be denied. We hope all such men
Will speedily abandon this Inconsistency,
or us.
/ Another Inconsistency Of which tenn
I perancc men are guilty, Is their attend
ance at dinners suprers, balls &c,
where wines and liquors are used. Ii
is no apology TO say, although 50 COM
mou, Il d" n I drink" Suppose you
do not drank, is your presence III such n
I place bearing les imony against il? Is
\ it doing all you can to discountena zee
/ it?
Another inconsistency. which should
not be overlooked, is, that prol.ssed
temperance men neg lect TO attend our
meetings. Now ask, what is The in
luencc Of such n man worth when com
| pared with the one who is faithful in this
matter ? Suppose such was the con-
quot of Christians, what Church would
prosper? What Church would ackuow-
ledge such rs Brethren and here,
would particularly include Minister'S
/ Iithey sincerely love our cause, why
are they so seldom AT Their post ? WHY
do they OF come with us, and lead on
/ this work The reason IL quite too OBJ
/ viOus, and | leave them TO their own re-
! hections, and call your attention TO some
! objections.
Many objections are urged against
/ temperance, some of which should here
| be noticed.
One objection is, that it is unconsti,u-
lonaI to prohibit the sale of any article
! imported into the United States, on
which duty is collected by the govern
mcnt, for, says lie objector, the Su-
prrme Court only decided that the
Sta'es could regulate the sale, wlhpu,
noticing the question OF prohibition.
In reply TO this. we say, and the Su-
\ prcme Court SO declared, that alcohol
was dangerous TO the community. and
I therefore, may not only be regulated,
but prohibited. Let us suppose case.
A merchant can purchase hides in a for
eign country, which he is told is dam
| gcrous IT, the community, in consequence
OF the Injection they are supposed TO
contain but, in defiance Of this he makes
the importation and pays the duty. Now
what right does the payment Of the duty
give him? May they not be taken from
him and destroyed? Then why not
compel him TO destroy another article.
which, il distributed as he desires, is
even more dangerous And here
would also observe, while the dcs;Iuc-
ton ofp -operty for public safety requires,
that. to me, 1t Is quite Il new idea Of our
opponents. instead Of ourselves, that
property may not be so taken and des-
troyed. enquire. whether il diseased
meat or such as is suspected Of disease,
may not be taken and destroyed il Of
lcrcd Tor sale and, would enquire al.
SO, how long this law has been OH our
statute book Again, suppose valua-
II bic animal ac0w or an OK breaks from
Il proper confinement and becomes dan.
gerous 10 the community, whether it
may rot be destroyed with impuniiy 2
H Ii Is obvious then that this heing a new
idea, of the friends Of temperance, and
Consequently contrary to the law and
! to the constitution, is new only tn such
as desire 10 C adc It's penalties. But
suppose lie payment oI the duty did
give the importer lhls right OF sale and
the Supreme Cou.t had so decided,
enquire. what would save US from dan
! ger and from fraud 2 Our lives and our
! property would then he IN the hands ot
\ those who chose to use us. Then if an
\ unprlncilled man determined 10 make "A
; speedy fortune, all he would have TO do
would be 10 procure an arti,le Jangcr-
sous 10 community, and send 1t To The
! United States, and, the more virulrnt
I and infectious the disease produced. the
/ more he could exact before II should be
! rem we'd. The injustice OF different
| decision may hc seen III anoilicrv.cw Of
/ the subject. Why shout the home
| producer he deprived OF HIS market, for
/ The benefit oi the foreigner None Of
/ our opponents ever denied the right OF
/ the STATE to regulate The sale or Use OF