The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-08-21
Teetot.l TEN per.nce Manifesto.

Teetotal TEN perancc Manifesto.
TO TIE TEMPERANCE MEN or THE STATE or NEW
YORK.
The near approach of the period when the elect
ors of our State accustomed 10 select the cand-
dates for their sufrages at the annual election, and
the vast interests which are dependent on this
choice conioin to admonish us as well of our reel.
procal and personal duties, as Of our rights rs
bers OF the body polite. As these duties dis
charged, are our rights maintained or impaired.
Rights and duties under representative form Of
government, are correlatiyo terms There is in Thorn
natural sequence, which cannot be severed but at
the cost Of their vitality.
The urgent question Of the day with us is, what
are now our duties as electors. to ourselves, our
families to each other, and to the great community
Of which form an integral part, in reference to
the widely spread evils of intempcranee!
We profess TO believe that no people Of the Old
World or the New, have ever been blessed with q
system of government SO admirably calculated to
secure personal rights and happiness, social peace
and prosperity individual and national wealth. an
enlarged intellectual and moral Development, ania
high relative position and influence in the great
family ofpatons rs that devised and tran shifted
to rs by the great minds and the brave hearts OF
the last century.
And yet we find that Jail is necessary appcn-
dagc TO every county, and poor.ho to almost
every town, while prisons seem essential TO
plete the roll OF our State institutions. Why is
this!
In the investigations which the observant and
cial returns, the great mass OF pauperisnl, vice.
and crime, is most distinctly traecabe TO the free
and unrestricted use Of intoxicating liquors Of
peculiarly peInicoug character, by very large part
of our population.
To counteract this growing and dcplOrable CON
diion of things, associations Of various names and
forms have for many years, and by innumerab!e
and almost endlessly varied appeals to the moral
sense, cndeayored to stay the aesolatipg scourge,
and reclaim the victims Of dcprayed appetite 10
sobriety and virtue. BIT earnest and perseycripe
as have been these endeayors the evil has gathered
strength from year 10 year. until, from IN ilnporta
ton OF 3, S43 gallons, in 1914, whom total
population, aecordin. 10 the q. :. Treasury ia
blca, 1921 ,o1e. We have risen, Ia 1850, 70
import of lI,i56, ,i9 gallons, with population
Of % 2a6, sol; or, while the population increased
but twenty per cont. tho import Of Intoxicating
liquors of all kinds rose 225 Per cent Ans
the domestic production. meanwhile. has kept
p:ce with the foreign trade, no less than 5,1"2 40
gallons tnalt liquors being estimated At 80 a!loDs
per bbl.) according to The late census, having been
manufactured in the United States IN iSD, and this.
too, without including the products Of six states
ard two Territories from which no returns
ceivcd thus showing the manufacture ana inrort in
$780, to have been together equal (bcinc 80, oi
gallons 70 over four gallons Tor e@ery man. woman.
and child. white. black, and Indian, within orr
borders And Of this appalling amount only 20, j6
gallons of foreign, and ,3, 80 gallons Of domestic
liquors n both cases estimating wines and alec in
bottles at . gallons to the doaen) exported,
10 do their work o. death in other lands.
But, while blushing for or common country, let
us, in faithiulness, SEQ how much of the shame We
sTe to take 10 ourselves. In the year 1850. there
were manufactured within rown State, ii ,obi 100
gallons Of malt liquors and spirits OF al kinds, being
about three-eighths o. the whole product Of the
American still Lest this should discourage the
aint-hearted, it, may be observed that the COM
paratiyely palry sum Of -, 80 800 capital only
employed in the Manufacture, while hut 1880
hands were sufficient to keep open the suices whence
poured tbe fiery stream.
To shew the precise quantity o. intoxicating
= III -, lTrffr A0t
beverage" after dedueting the exports from the
amount manufactured ard imported, further al
lowanee should DO made for consumption in the
arts, 1t is to be regretted that THIS cannot be
Of arriving a. even approximation % the truth.
II cannot, however, sensibly disturb the conclusion
to which We have arrived, that en- the basis Of TIE
census and treasury retuI7s Of j3s9 the c5nsunr-
ton equals four gallons per lead OF the entire ropu
lation Of the esuntry.
Does not this state Of facts botL justify aud de-
mand some more stringent ard radical method Of
dealing with this monster vice Arc We not called
upon. as We love our country and her institutions.
which are the wonder Of the world, end tic envy
Of al lands3s va regard the welfare OF our sons.
and the virtue ard happiness Of our daughters
to address ourselves manfuly to the work Of re.
form
But wha. shall we DO
We claim, then, that the remedy Hes with tho
sober and intelligent part ri the community. We
have remedy il the law making power, which in
heres 70 Us through our repre- sentatives. And the
uFe OF this power, for this purpose, finds its full
ard ample Justification not only IN the necessities
Of the case but in the admitted principle that the
welfare Of the people is the higaest lava princi-
pie indeed Oh ag 70 have passed. into an axiom
and to be recognized ss the true rule OF oonstruo-
ton BY courts q all grades, ~ 70 the supreme judi
to b nothing short Of the prohibition, by law, q
the importation and.rarc IL sn intoxicating drinks,
a. beverage
statute having This for its object, would be no
,o-, ~.-1s. e.
80 to use his property az TO interfere with the lfe
health OF happiness Of bis neighbor This too is an
adiudicated and long established principle Of law.
Nor would il be obnoxious TO the charge of being
sumptuary law, as has been ignoTantly alleged
Lavs Of TIL, description aim at interference with
MASTERS OF perfoDal comfort convenience ard graft
fiestion, which concern the individual alone, and
have nc legitimate or necessary influence upon the
No. would IT injuriously affect ths trade and com.
merce of the country This is incontestibly provon
by the fact that, whilst the value Of the imports Of
all descriptions Of liquors for the year ending Juno
20, 1850, sj 60, 1862, that Of al other desctp
tons Of msrahardize was sl1s, l3S,3is, (dutiable
values il both cases,) being but 6.i0ths per cent
Of the entire import Of the trade Of the country And
for the year to June 80 1851, whilst the total i'm
si,2s5,s $50, or 9. I0ths per cent. Of the whole.
More csntemptbe still in proportion, was the value
Of all exported LIQUORS to that Of al tbs other ex-
ports Of the country for the year ending june 10,
is5I the grand total Of the latter, including both
domesti, and foreign merchandise being &2iS,3 $685.
0ll and the value OF liquors Of all kinds being
only S7o0,620, or onetnirI Of one per cent Of the
whole. Now, every intelligent Will at once
admit, that Of the losses TO legitimate commerce
by fraudulent bankruptcies, forgeries, false pre-
tences fires both by sea and land, steam boiler ex-
blossoms, railroad accidents, wrecks, Sc, involving
~ different forms the loss or destruction OF property,
an amount more than equal to the cost price Of all
TIE liquors consumed in the country, may be justly
cnafgea able, directly or indirectly, to their use
Ahd both the farming and the manufacturing In
se enactment Of the law We demand. Whilst, in |
Ionic instances, change OF diversion Of pursuits,
Iequrna, however, no actual loss Of property, may