The Ohio union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1849-1854, 1854-04-12

oublSSNN Wv III
prematurely, by at least ten years
twenty to thirty thousand Of your
fellow men die thus premalurely, every
year, in this country.
And until the declaration Of the God
Of unchanging truth can be falsifed, and
the principles Of His government reversed,
il will still be true that "the drunkard shall
not inherit lie kingdom Of God" Also
in eternal woe, under the corrosion Of re-
morse, the brooding of despair, the burn
ing of passion, the lashings Of conscience
and the Divine wrath; these are the final
results Of your traffic, 10 the poor drunk
ard. a. .sssa ..5-7f
This is a rapid glance at a few oil the
fearful evils thai flow to the drunkard, and
those Immediately connected with him
from your traffic. Bui,he burning tongue
! of Gabriel could not tell them oil, in all
their fearlulness. e, .
There are also evils Of immense magnl-
tude to society, growing out of this bust
ness. Society loses The productive indus
try of all these d~runkards during the whole
period of their drunkenness. Their Wild
ows and orphans are left a burden upon
the community. They often become pau
pers and criminals, and must be cared Tor
or punished. And they often send out
their children, squalid, ignorant anc VI.
cious, p~rcdisposed and trained TO drunk.
%enness or crime, to prey upon society,"
And properly and life become insecure in
proportion, as drunkenness increases Of
prevails, For the support Of Pauperlsm'
the detection and punishment Of guilt, and
through the waste of property by drunk
enness, and consequent crime, this natior
expends. annually, more than twelve mill
ions Of dollars, or a half dollar each, 10
, every man, woman and child, in the land
, And then hundreds, annually, lie down il
, their own blood, poured out by the mur
derous hand Of the drunken; tens of thou
sands of wives and mothers, go broken
: hearted to the grave; irexpressible anguis
g fills the hearts of ten thousand families
and an incalculablo amount Of ignoranc
and vice is maintained and perpetuated, i
. society, %endaUgering the very foundation
: Of our free institutions.
d But. perhaps you say, tive are not n
# sponsible for all lhis-we do not fore
4 men 10 drink" | do not charge yo'
personally, with the sole responsibility
. il. | know you do moi force men
drink. Nor do men force you 10 SELL
|. But you could moi sell if men would n
, drink. Men could moi drink if you won
no, sell. These evils would moi occur
- men did not drink. Neither could the
le exis, if you did not sell. You sellers al
e. the drinkers and you alone are responsib
re for them all. You sellers open The fou
tain, whence all this waste and poveri
y. shame, suffering, crime, disease, deS
and damnaiion flow {; and The drinkt
'e keep il flowing. Your full half Of Il
en- responsibility, you must bear. Ma
he more than half, for you see and know I
v. results that must follow and are led ca
b. tive, like the poor drunkard, by an ov'
towering appetite. You, yourselv'
rs would not be slow 10 see where the
re, s~ponsibilily rested, if The butchers were
.p- sell, cheaply, a species of poisoned mt
In that would destroy the health, beggar I
=, family, curse the community, kill the
=. dy and ruin the soul, Of him who used
IN Or if a druggist shocld carelessly sell p'
son, by which one, or five, or len Of
he neighbors should be destroyed annual
"a, Or If he should sweeten poison and fe
y. it to your children, for their pennies, l
i'll they died. Your plea would be ECU
Ter ly good in The mouth of the keeper o.
he gambling house, or a house Of illfame.
hal, No sirs, no! Men will hold you respr
a, sible. God will hold you responsible
l. these evils, in all their Uncomfortable nj
-" uilude. Its vain 10 ~alledge, as some
ge' in justification Of your traffic, that if y
ps, do moi sell, others will. Lellliem. r.
les is no business of yours. So might
90 keeper Of a gambling house. SO nj,
the Highway man, or the murderer excl
-" his course.
ers lie, me now ask lou to look at a I
a iure Of these dreadful, these i%ncalcua
The evils. Look at them as revealed by
a., history Of one year in these United Sta
Gather. in one group, al least twelve n
are ions Of dollars wasted for the support
the pauperism, and the apprehension
up. punishment of criminals, hundreds 9th
sands Of broken hearted wives, and a gr
49, or number Of ignorant, squalid and wei
children; hundreds Of thousands Of p
'u''' besotted drunkards, topling in shame
- misery, 10 the grave; twenty or III
ook thousand miserable wretches incarcert
and in our prisons; scores thai pay the foI
pa. of their crimes upon the scslfold;
bloated and pulrid careases Of thirty II
ame sand inebriates, that have persisted by
ring lirium, or other effects Of alcohol; The
tde- ry cUrpses Of thousands, murdered
the drunken hands; and call up from The p
moo Of eternal woe, the lost spirits Of d
lens of thousands. Look now upon
pre- mighty evil. Let Imagination, il poss
ough comprehend the inefiblo amount Of shi
suffering and woe, connected with all