Daily national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1854, 1854-07-28

to avoid rendering an incidental benefit TO
the cause Of Temperament Surely, not for
that reason, all will say. But ! shall be
called on to prove, that such suppression
is needfnl to the protection Of person aud
property. / hold, that it is, because the
sale of intoxicating drinks is, by far, the
most fruitful source Of pauperlsm and mad
ness--nay, more fruitful OF these evils than
all other sources put together. Indeed,
cannot better define dramshop than to
call it mandatory of paupers and mad
| men: and this is a just definition, whether
we have reference to the filthy, noisy hole,
where the poor and humble slaves Of appe-
tite congregate, or to the elegant apart
ment, which is made attractive to the Cir
cles of wealth and fashion. Moreover /
charge the same character on the stores
and distilleries, which stand back of the
dramshop, and supply it. These stores
and distilleries are virtual dramshops; and,
in all my argument, they are undistin-
guishable, in responsibility, from the literal
dramshop.
certainly need not 90 into proofs
of the fact, that the industry Of the sober
is heavily loaded by the pauperism, which
the dramshop imposes on it. That fact is
as plain, as the sun. And so is the fact,
that the madmen of the land are, to great
extent, the manufacture of the dramshop.
How frightfully insecure are both property
and life, in the presence of these madmeni
How know we, when we step into the
stage coach, the car, the steamboat, espe-
cially on the fourth Of July, or some other
holyday, but that the driver, or the engineer,
has induged in the maddening draught,
and that our lives will be required to pay
for the indulgence How know we, when
we walk the streets, that we shall not meet
these madmen fourishing their deadly
weapons9 How know we, when we leave
our dwellings,, that these madmen will not,
in our absence, fire those dwellings, and
murder their beloved inmates
But, still, the right of Government to
suppress the dramshop is denied. Why
should it be3 Is it claimed, that there is
an overbalance of good in it? There is
no good at all in it. 1t is only evil con-
tinually." | admit, that there are nui-
sances, which the Courts should be slow to
abate. The miIl-pond, for instance, which
generates disease. The Courts should
pause, ere sacrificing the costly and much
needed mill, which the pond supplies with
water. But the dramshop does not fall
in this class of nuisances. 1t has not one
redeeming feature. There is nothing in
it to mitigate its immitigable wickedness:-
nothing to set over against its unmixed
mischief In the case of the former nui-
sance, there are two sides to be looked at,
before deciding to abate it. In the case
Of the latter, but one.
So far from true is it, that Government
exceeds its province, in laying its sup
pressing hand upon the dramshop, there
is no duty of Government, that falls more
clearly within its province. In TRUTH sir,
among all the duties of Government this
stands pre-eminent. Indeed, | am pre-
pared to say again, as / have often said,
that, rather than have things remain, as
they now are, | would compromise with
Government, and surrender all my claims
upon It's protection from other burdens
and perils, provided it would stipulate, in
turn, to protect me from the burdens and
peiils of the dramshop. 1t is idle to say,
that people are protected by Government,
who are left exposed to these perils and
burdens. Such people are emphatical
ly unprotected: and their Government is
emphatically faithless.
But why, | ask again, is the right Of
Government to shield its people from the
burdens and peris of the dramshop de-
MED One reason is, because this SER
vice, not having been rendered hitherto,
it would be unpopular and odious to rem
der 1T, now. Another and stronger reason
is, because there are so many interested
in continuing these burdens and perils.
Suppose shop should be opened in
this city, for the sale of a very pleasant and
exhilarating gas. Ii infuriates a portion
Of those, who inhale it, and disposes them
to burn and kill and the obvious tenden-
cy, in the case of most of them, is to make
them more or less reckless of their own
rights and interests, and of the rights and
interests of others. Nevertheless, the gas
is so palatabe and attractive, that as many
as fifty persons frequent the shop, to pay
a liberal price for il. Would Government
hesitate to shut up this shop' Certainly
not. The number interested in keeping
it open would be too small for Govern
ment TO fear. And, again, there could
be no plea Of custom or prescription in
its behalf, as in behalf Of the dramshop.
No--Governmen would destroy this
work; and, yet, Ooh, mad inconsistency y
it spares, and even patronizes, this dram
shop-work, which is ten thousand fold
more injurious and destructive.
Suppose, too, that an establishment for
cutting off hands should be opened in this
city. A score Of persons, debased by rum,
weary Of work, and eager to cast them
selves and their families, more entirely,
on the public charity, hasten to this new
establishment, and pay their dollar each,