The Delaware herald., 1854-04-05
Moral Suasion and Law.

moral Su9sion ana Law. =,
Temperance has ceased to be question OF
moral suasien which. for more than twenty a
yes,l Sss the onis feasible plan $50 considered) c
- bring about the moral revolution which was \
necessary to change the tide of woe that flowed 8
tom eyerr section, and nearly every domicile, h
and bring JOY, love and peace instead of drunken
railing and curses True, we have provisions I
upon cur statute book Furnishing drunkards for ,
violation Of the law. The law explicitly says ,
liquor shall BE- sold--and while it holds the cup
70 the victims lips, and pOurs down the draught
With one hand, with the other, they ere seized
and fofcibly madeto submit to the pehaltiesof the
iash AID imprisonment, or redeem themselves
b. thrusting their hands into their pockets and
drawing out the hard cash. Thisis like setting
a sumptuoua feast before starving man, and
applying the 'sat-and-nine-tailsi if he touches it.
We conceive this to be the worse kind of law,
il, indeed. it can be called law at all. We
cannot consider a law just that authorizes any
thing to be sold which creates violation of la,e.
Would you call that humane law which gives to
q amsn that which causes him to commit the inhu-
man act of whipping his wife and children, and
turning them out Of house into the pitiless storm
Would you call that Just law which, in one
section, says, that peace shall be kept--that
there shall be no riotous, drunken, or dsorderly
conduct; and in tn: next authorizes that to be
sold which is mostly the sole cause of mobs and
rlotous actionse What is law for, but to pro-
tect the lives Of its subjects sacred and invola-
fhn Of fhof nh Oh
causes one man to take the life of his fellow,
or, even worse, to take his own life, (Which
would not be so bad were it done without effect
b upon others,) and in his own destruction, he
often depriyes his family of the necessaries oi
life; or, by brutality, sends his innocent little
- child or wos.stricken wife ahead of him to the
tomb Do we not need a law that will restric
the evils we have Just spoken of! Do we no
need an act upon our statute books that vii
entirely obviate the cause Of nearly all crimina
violations Of law!
We cannot expect to regulate the evil by tn
existing law, or by moral suasion. This ha
been tried by all the power of reason and argu
lnent that could be brought to bear upon tn
Hubject-by appeals Of "burning words" an
the distressed wife and neglected child. Th
business of drunkard-making has gone on, an
we still have rum with US, in all its horrif
aspects. Were all men influenced by the pril
@ clPle of right and wrong, We would not ask fi
any Law. But, alas! they are not There al
some men who would sell brandy if they kne
il would curse every customer. Talk abo,
governing men by principles when there are
many without principle! If we wait for thi
we will wait till doornsday. The cry has gor
up from every part of our land to the cars
the Lord Of Sabaoth, from murdered father
and murdered mothers and children, until it h
cried for vengeance And will He not aven:
the cause Of truth Of its adversarics! v
would not resort TO any other means than MOI
q. sussiOn, conld we accomplish the great. refc
nation BY it 1t has become an old song
household word-and 90 familiar that it is II
worthy Of notice. 1t is, to the persons
whom il il designed, mere bawblc-aa emr
show-S thing without vitality. AS moral 8.
siel has become of non-efect-no longer
avenue 10 reach the seat Of this moral extern
rator,-we seek some other means, and this
purpose doing by the strong arm Of the Iau.
We are forced to it.-but dc it we must, or
everrun BY this "scourge of God and man. y
Experience is the light which guides our fe
and II teaches US the impracticability of
pending upon the absurd notion of moral SCI
Of right If law can be made to suppr
crimes thousand times less in magnitude, W
not TO exterminats the root from which nea
al crimes germinatoi The people are
asthority fer ell law, and to them we appeal
We know their responsc--already we fancy
bear i rising shove the top of /" Brandywin
bold rocks and hills and down it is sweepi
increasing IN jubilant accents, through " e
tue" old Kent, until " Sussex's gentle plair
shall'resouud from all quarters, with the exc
nation, I'VE are free! We arc free!." as Il
launch the cofined tyrant into the broad
lsutic.
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