The Ohio organ, of the temperance reform. (Cincinnati, [Ohio]) 1853-1854, 1853-09-16
From the Pittsburg Christian Advocate.
Is there no Help?

Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth ;
for the faithful fail from among the children
Of men," Is not the Psalmist's prayer a
most appropriate one, in view of the curse
inflicted upon the community by the liquor
trade A correspondent Of the Western
christian Advocate, writing from the State
OF Maine, says: When shall we have such
law in Ohio and Indiana Never, so long
as our fertile soil is cursed by the produc-
ton of whisky. Never, till our Church
members will refuse to sell their grain to
the distillery, only because of a few cents
difference on the bushel." Is there no way
by which "Church members" may be pre-
vented from sacrificing to this colossal Mo-
Ioch If they were to go to dance, and
participate in the amusement--if they were
to indulge in angry passions and CORES
Pondent language-if they were habitually
to neglect class meetings"-we should
admonish them of the error of their ways,
and bear with them for a season; but if
they did not reform they would be dismissed
from the Church as incorrigible, and we
should consider we had " delivered our own
souls" Now, what are such offenses in
comparison with the sin Of feeding the river
OF death, whose swelling waves are desc.
lating the land-the enormous crime of
sustaining a distilleryH most solemnly
declare, ] would rather appear before the
Judgment seat of Christ with all the former
sins registered against me than have TO an
RWer there for the solitary Offense Of selling
gram to the manufacturer Of Intoxicating
liquors. know the grain-grower, the man
ufacturer, and the Vender will say they do
an honest business, because they do not in
tend to promote intemperance; and if men
will drink and make beasts of themselves,
1t iS their own fault. He who raises and
sells grain might just as well say it is none
of his business what the distiller does with
1T. Does he not know what will be done
with It'll And no not the distiller and
brewer know what will be done with the
fruits of their labor 1t is impossible for
them not to know that if all the strong
drink that is made should be drank, it will
necessarily make thousands of drunkards-
women will be reduced to widOwhood and
want, children to Orphanage and neglect
the community will be taxed enormously to
support paupers, and sustain prisons crowd
ed with filth and crime-valuable lives will
be cut off prematurely, and souls by thou
sands annually sent to perditiOn! Should
men who thus scatter, for dollars and cents,
" frebsnds, arrows, and DEATH" be kept in
the Church 7 No, no Let them be admon-
ished afectiOnately, and cured if possible.
But if they cease not to do evil, let them be
cut off. The Church is doing them no
good, while they are doing her much harm.
But the cure or dismemberment of such
members will not dry up these fountains of
woe. Men of the world, who have their |
portion in this life" will still be found in |
sufficient numbers to keep these destructive |
fires alive. What then ? Give us the
Maine law"-make 1t criminal to sell. Il
Men who deal directly or indirectly in in.
toxicating liquors, except with other poisons
in the drug shops, have their consciences in
their pockets Moral suasion can not reach
them. The law can't WiIL--it MUST. Not
long since, writer In western paper, al
luding to the death of clergyman, By tax
Ing arsenic in mistake for magnesia, gave it
as his opinion that this poisonous drug
ought to be colored with indigo, to render II
It distinguishable from several kinds of val Il
liable medicine, all of which have the form
of white powder. The same writer thinks
The law should require this, under heavy \
penalties. But does not every body know II
that for one man destroyed by arsenic, tens
Of thousands are destroyed by intoxicating
liquors! And yet the murderers Of these
thousands pretend to say their rights are
invaded-their constitutional rights-by
laws prOhibitory of the liquor traffic. In
the name Of humanity, what right, natural
or conventional. human or divine, can a
man have to murder, by pistol, bOwie-knife,
OF strong drink, his fellow-man ? If the
constitution of any State in the nation II