Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1855-04-11
The Liauer Traffic.

and threatens to subyert all law and good thi
and take into its own hands the rel
administration of the affairs of government TIL
itself. 1t controls magistrates, influences wi
jurors, suborns witnesses, corrupts rulers
and legislators. and lords it over society as an
irresistible tyrant. GU
There is thrown around it everything that ar
taste and wealth can devise, to render 1T i'm "
posing and attractive. The magnificent ho- OIL
tel the splendid saloon; the gorgeous r%estau- pc
rant the less pretending tavern; and a,
thence descending step by step, to the a
dingy grog shop-all fitted up with ap- tt
p~ropriate decorations, and filled with polite "
and civil s~ervitors and attendents to wait a
upon the public; and the intoxicating draught Il
is offered alike to the rich and the poor, the a
young and the old, the bond and the free, in Z
every form that can tempt the appetite or r
crafty the taste. Thus attired and deco q
rated, this traffic claims to be a chief orna- Q
ments of the country, and one of its most |
important interests. As such it has been
established by law, and as such it claims the
fostering care and protection of the public
authorities.
1t argued that the license law was adop-
TED fSr the convenience and welfare OF the
people. 1t is important, therefore, that the
people, for whuse benefit this traffic is alleged
to have been established, should ~solemnly
inquire whether it is really promotive of
their best interests, and entitled to the pro-
lection it claims. If it be SO, let it be foster
ed and cherished. But if, on the contrary,
it be found to be, from It's very nature, ne
~cessarily evil, and only evil-destructive
alike of all cur interests, public and private,
for time and for eternity, with no single re-
deeming virtue, then in the name of all that
is sacred, let it be abolished and banished.
We have rot room here to point out the
extent of this trafic-we cannot give the
number of drinking establishments in the
countryside millions of dollars employed
in 1.-THE vast amounts sold and consumed,
and the number Of men engaged in the traf-
: fc-we have not the data by US, if we had
, the space, to give sit is admitted on all
: hands to be But we propose to
} notice what are the fruits of this traffic, and
? the immense sums Of money expended an
0 nually for this destructive beverage.
o The Fayetteville Observer recently remark
IL ed that some merchants in that town, unde
e the new Revenue law, imposing five per cent
tax on all liquors sold, would pay taoo thou
g. sand dollars, instead of eight or ten dollars
It as heretofore. This increase of taxation
:. shows, then, that something like forty thor
y ---l IL - e - --L I-.I
t.; by a merchant, to make his tax amount
= $4,000. Mind, this is only one merchant
le Others do as large business, others half
tv large, and so on. So that it is reasonable
nv make the calculation that a half miliC
he dollars worth of liquor is sold in Fayetteville
alone, annually! In Wilmington, we dou
not, double that quantity is sold-al
throughout the entire State, at least fire M
ho lions Of dollars aOorM of liquor is bougl
- sold and drank. per annum? And for Il
~. rPOuv Ior IIquor
be the people o fNorth Carolina, what have tn
tbo to show for it? A people who would |
in out that amount of money for any other
low ticle, and at the end of the year could sh,
tho nothing for it, would be pronounced m;
Tis men! Such would be the just Judgment
,rn- mankind upon a people who would endr
q of such a traffic for a single yearl What mt
1t be OF people who persist in such a tr
vic nc, with eyes wide open, year after year-a
,vor and hug it to their bosoms, as a traffic.
be nourished and cherished by nrivila,
led. allowed to no other business in the Countr
all But the question recurs: What have .
chascrs to show for these millions of dolla,
ara Have they houses and lots, or goods a
4 of chattels? Has it improved health, fed ia
dc lies, or increased their comforts in anv :
pect? Has it improved their morals
lifted them for business and usefulness
hon the "Ofld! las 1T increased the piety of
christian professor, or added to the har
e. ness OF the domestic ~circle2 Alas, for
answer that must be given to all these on
~ tons! The fruits of the traffic are writ
va as with the blackness of hell. No nrona,
~ no morals, no responsibility but power
degradation, crime, disease, and death et
~ nal! In a single word, it is drunkenne
l"J loathsome. disgusting drunkenness.
"" these are the necessary fruits of the trat
H 0 From the nature and properties of the arti,
nere 1t is not possible for it to produce any OF
ry. fruits and what is more remarkable
S whole world knows it. Our Legislature kr
it, when they passed the laws authorizing
sion licensing the traffic and to compensate
resi- for entailing upon US this curse-for
cket censing these manufactures of paupers
arge madmen'-they set their heads to worl
ders 'nulllfy' their own work, by establish
law. tribunals, and appointing an army of of6c
rs of to punish and repress the disorders
nd if crimes which they knew must, of necess
With. How from these establishments. The foil
ing is a list of some of them
l. The County Court who is directed
or to grantthe licenses for the traffic, and empoy
ern' ed to take them away, if they are abused
2. The criminal court, with its Judge.
orce torney, sheriff, j%uries, and petty ofRc
to punish, by fine, and Imprisonment in
nted Jail or by death.
10 ~ 8. Magistrates, who are scattered all
the State, that they may have an eye to e,
part of it, arrest and bring to punishment
offenders. There are thousands of Il
es Of magistrates now in commission in this s.
as Of 4. A host of constahles