Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1854-03-27


Southern Interests and institutions to the
emblttered hatred and mpious insult of
Northern fanatcism. Southern men should
tread With cautious step upon the slippe-
ry ground involved in this Maine Law.
and weigh with great precision the results
to which IFS enactment by the South will
lead. We caution them in the name of
everything that is dear TO our sectional
pride and interests.
If the ~ 1'""iole Of this Law is fully car
ried outfit the precedent it :, cS'ao''snes IN
Legislation be observed and followed up,
the tastes and notions of the fashionable
public would have to undergo a radical
change, and a strict limit would have to be
placed on the appetites Of the people
jewelry and fine apparel are luxuries of
taste, that none but the rich can enjoy.
unless it be detrimental to the wearer and
the seller, for il is universally known, that
a laborer who receives three hundred dol.
lars per annum, cannot afford to sport gold
watches and chains. diamond breast-p,ns
and gold finger rings, French cloth coats
lace CATERS, kid gloves, gold topped Gains.
&c. Such indulgence would be injurious
to society and business operations-but
notwithstanding the evident impolicy of
such indulgence, many there are, who 10
crafty their vanity and tastes in this re-
spect, plunge headlong into debt; and are
frequently made bankrupts, and thus to-
tally ruined. Because such things occur,
must those who are able to flourish these
costly rharaphelnalia, be deprived of the
privilege Of SO doings Certainly not--it
is not the fault Of the rch-they propor-
ton their expenses to their income-and
the folly oil the poor spendtbrift should not
be visited upon those who, to say the least,
set the example Of regulating expenses
by the standard Of ability. Tobacco, by
excessive use, has caused the reinforcement
Of the reason of many persons, as the re-
ports of Lunatic Asylums, show-must.
therefore. every man be deprived of the
privilege of using this stimulus, because
some have by an imprndent use Of it, made
1t prove fatal to themselves? Pistols, pow
der and lead, are used frequently. FIR
unlawful purposes and produce fat.l r..
sults--must their sale be forbid because
such is the case? Stear. Engine. are the
cause oil the destruction Of thousands of
human iives-mpst their manufacture and
use be prohibited on this account? To
ask these questions is to ans xer them
And the very Same reasons that would in-
1ueDce tie answer to them, must also op-
crate In the case Of the manufacture and
sale of liquors. All are used for the con-
yenience of the public. They have. been
created to subserye the mechanical, seien-
titic, artistic and national objects OF society.
All are abused-but must society be de-
priyed Of the discoveries of the age-the
benefit Of the blending Of nature and gent
us, because, in the general application of
the result of this combination, some are so
imprudent as TO run athwart the laws es-
tablished for the regulation and use OF
their creation? We might reason in this
way indefinitely, but it IS useless--all who
are not blinded by fanatieism can readily
perceive the utter unreasonableness of the
proposition to enact in our midst sump-
tuary law,
The scheme is as impracticable as it Is
unconstitutional and unreasonable. The
laws Of Virginia bear witness to this as
sersion. We have statutes forbidding
drunkenness, swearing, obscene literature,
lewdness, &C., but these law. are daily
violated. The great mass of the people
pay no attention whatever to them. And
why? Because they are not founded in
the sentiment of the people. The public
mind is not prepared to receive and en-
force any such laws, because the public
heart is not prepared to endorse, approve
and practice them. If laws, then, which
effect subjects of no admitted virtue. such
as lewdness, obscenety, gambling, Sc,
practices condemned alike by reason and
the legal enactmenis Of the State, as to
hose immoral tendency there is but one
northumberland be enforced, what may
we expect from the public of law, which
seeks to destroy the traffic of an article, of
admitted virtue, and indispensable useful
ness' ltissheer folly, and to our mind,
nothing but the most consummate mental
obi useness, or reckless fanaticism, could
induce any one. even if the measure were
sanctioned by the constitution, to propose
its adoption, when it would not only not
effect its desired end, but multiply crime
for in addition to the sin of d,unkenness, that
of violating the law would be associated.
w. The Senate's Nebraska and Kansas
bill, was referred TO the Committee of the
Whole, in the House Of Representatives,
on the 2lst inst, by vote of 10 to 95.-
This is considered by many equivalent to
a defeat of the bill, at least for tins session,