Polynesian., 1852-09-11
ADDRESS

ADDnESS
DELIVERED BEFORE THE HAWAIIAN ToTAr
ABSTINENCE SOCIETY, MAY, 1852.
BY HON. LUTHER SEVERANCE.
(Coucluded.)
When and where did ever criminal stats
tics speak louder or more unequivocally p
The two last years show the working of tn,
pledge. Aggravated crimes hat
diminished from near l3 900 to I73 and the
total of offenses reported in the constabular,
office diminished one third
And here it may be remarked that the
British isles are capable of producing grair
enough, without the potato to feed theil
crowded population, and have surplus. ant
they do actually produce enough, but large
part of it is consumed in brewing and distiII
ing, thus converting the bread which they
need into the poison which kills them They
have not the excuse which the farmers o
New York, Pennsylvania, and other States
had thirty years ago, that they had no Other
use for their surplus grain but to sell it to the
distllers In the speech of Mr.. j. S. Buck.
ingham IN the British Parliament in 1884, he
stated that the quantity of British made
spirits, on which duty was paid, exclusive OF
foreign importations, exceeded % ,OOO, 900 OF
gallons. He then says: i" 1t takes one bushel
of grain to make two gallons of spirits; so
that taking the legally distilled spirits made
at home at % millions, and the illegally dis
titled at half that quantity, (and in Scotland
and Ireland it is much more,) these forty
millions Of distilled spirits would consume
twenty millions of bushels of grain in a
year." Such an addition to the supply of
bread stuffs would produce an abundance
But besides this, still greater amount is con-
sumed by the breweries. Stop the breweries
and dstilleries and deduct those from the
population who are always well fed, and there
would be an addition Of over two bushels of
grain for each man woman and child in Great
Britain and Ireland
In the speech of Mr.. Buckingham it is esti-
mated, he says, on carefully collected data,
sterling is expended in single year in Eng
land. Scotland and Ireland in spirits, wine.
beer, and other intoxicating and fermented
drinks, not drop of which is necessary for
the health or strength Of man, but every glass
of which is in its degree absolutely prejudi-
cial TO the consumer Not only fifty mil
lions are thus thrown away, but long list of
expenses follow, for hospitals, lunatic asy-
lums, prisons and criminal expenses, loss of
property on land by fires, and at sea by ship
wrecks. caused by carelessness of drunken
men, and the still greater loss of time con-
sumed In dissipation by the laboring classes,
altogether amounting to at least fifty mil
lions more, making an hundred millions Of
pounds sterling annually lost by the use of
strong drink. An hundred millions annually.
Near 500 millions of dollars I! What an
amount of good could be done by judicious
expenditure of this vast sum !. 1t would not
only educate all the youth of the realm, but
supply them with books, good dwellings.
plenty Of food, and every thing needful for
comfort, besides making thousands of miles
of railways and public improvements of all
kinds yearly.
In a mere calculation of money loss and
gain the evil is enormous; but the injury to
health and morals the loss of life, the misery,
degradation and ruin Inflicted on families by
drunkenness, are still greater evils which 1t is
the duty of all men TO unite IN arrestlng.-
Among the pernicious effects of strong drinks
are reckoned:
Destruction of health; disease in every
form and shape; premature decrepItude IN
the old ); stunted growth and general debility
and decay in the young; children enfeebed
and diseased by the vices of their parents;
loss of life by paroxysms. apoplexies, drown
Ings, burnin9s and accidents of various
kinds; steamboat explosions caused by drum
ken firemen; shipwrecks by recklessness of
drunken captains; delirium tremens, idiocy,
madness, homicide; destruction Of mental
and vigor; extinction OF aptitude for
learning, as well as disposition for practising
any useful art; irritation of all the worst
passions fthe heart; hatred anger, revenge;
with a brutalization of disposition that breaks
asunder and destroys the most endearing
bonds of nature and society. Extinction Of
all moral and religious principles; disregard
of truth; Indifference to education; violation
OF chastity; insensiblity to shame, and in
describabIe degradation.
In the "Appeal to the British nation, :"
made at the worlds Temperance Convention
in 1916, it was said
&c You send abroad missionaries and dis
tribute bibles in heather lands; but you do
nothing to arrest the expectation, sale and
use ofthat which destroys all christian teach
ing, by the perncious influence of christian
example; the Mahometan and the HIndoo IN
their superior sobriety looking down upon
your ministers with contempt as drinkers of
the maddening and forbidden liquor which
they are too pure to touch. :"
presume very few missionaries are them
selves obnoxious to the charge, but their la
bors have been rendered in great measure
abortive by the practices of their christian
countrymen. The Mahometan and the Hin
doc, whose religion does not permit the use
of intoxicating drink, very naturally identify
it with christianity, looking to the practice
more than the preaching. The missionaries
of these islands see were among the first to
engage in the temperance reformation, and it
brought upon them many enemies engaged in
the traffic, and lovers Of strong drink, back
ed hv the cannon of a nnWerful nafion whose