The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1856-07-10
HliHrrllanrull5 RRaailla.
The difference With a Wor-
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1
with his wife aud daughters, bedecked in
costly velvet and furs, to poor laborer on
the walk sllovelling coal -"''" .."1 1'.a>
| Zoe, if you had not drank rum, YOU
might have been riding in carriage as good
as mine, for nothing else, but rum, could
| have prevented a man of your talent and
opportunities for making money, from accu.
mulating fortune" ,,-
r True enough" replied Joe, "and if YOU
had not sold the rum and tempted me and
others to drink and become drunkar,ls, YOU
might now have been my driver, for rum
selling was the only business by which You
ever made dollar in your lifrr
! There are hundreds, not TO say thousands
of Joe's to-day in our State At almost ev-
cry turn you find Joe, but only here and
| there roll along in ease and wealth one of
those who made them what they are; for
while rum Is sure If used TO excess, to soon
and business capacity, and reduce the once
loved and respected To tile ranks Of the too
much despised menial scarcely less sure is
int that rum selling does not often bring
/ with IL riches and atfiuencc. He that dig
geth II pit shall surely fall into it," and the
exceptions to this proverb, are rare and far
|
seller. Seven eights of all who have been
in the business in this State for the past
twenty FIVE years, have either been ruined
10y it themselves, or some of the children
have been thus ruined, and degradation and
poverty has followed. Of the remaining
eighth, not over one half or one sixteenth
Of the whole number, have come out of the
busi hess themselves sober men, with money
| in fI,air l..
an unwarrantal 10 statement, but iuvesiiga-
tion proves its entire truth, as all may ascer-
d tain byscarefnlly gathering the statistics OF
the traffic. The truth OF history" ia, that
while rum-selers may ''wax fat and kick
for time, living lavishly on their counted
i'll gotten gains, the day of retribu,ion comes
aud their fall and infamy is complete. s
But what of the Joe'si They have been
and still are numerous enough, to have their
sad fate n warning written in characters OF
living fire." over the door Of every drinking.
house in the land, and proclaimed in thun-
! dcr-tones, in the ears of every one yet free,
| unJying hospitality tS tie accursed system
that SO debases and mars Gods noblest
Workmanship.
"lf you had not drank rum," &c. How
many endowed by nature with intcllects sus.
ceptble of the highest cultivation, possessed
of rare social virtues, would have occupied
The place for which-thcy were apparently de-
signed, but for rum, j. c. the traffic; while
those vastly inferior in every respect, after
having led them step by step along the road
20 ruin, scornfully spurn and tsntalze them
over their fall, and what they might have
been, but for rum. .- 80 a. u. p.
| III you had not sold !" words full OF
| dreadful import the whole truth in a sen.
tcnce. Sell, drink, shame, poverty, death |!
Strange it is, that those who visit for purpo-
ses of drink, the liquor sellers internal pre-
cincts, shonld not have found out the close
connection between the sale and their own
ruin; that their money and the suffering
of their own families, fills the rum sellers
nil, and feeds and supports him; that he
gives his money the power to lord it over
him. Strange did we say that they do not
know it! They do not know It'll Then
why do they drink Accused appetite,
dreadful infatuation, leads them on. The
fatal wand of the ynm-seller's fell spirits, ia
over him he would not drink, and yet does
drink he would be man. and yet makes
himself the brute
What then can save him? just such a
law q inhibition strictly enforced, as that
now on our statute book. Il steps in be-
tween the victim aud his destroyer. 1t lays
its strong grasp upon bottles, decanters and
barrels, and moves them from, his reach, i,
stretches further and wider its fingers, and
seizes upon The person of him who is the
front and head Of the mischief, and, if needs
be, puts him also out Of the way; goes still
/ further, and closes the doors Of the lazar
house. Appetite impels the victim to seek
for its wonted stimulant but seeks in vain
At last il yields to necessity, reason returns,
| freedom is gained, and he who but recently
was slave, now rejoices in thrice welcome
deliveraDce. .t ~
Glad result! Friends of temperance are
you not willing to labor with increased dill
genee TO accomplish it. There are hundreds
i of Joe's yet in the State, bound hand and
foot in the calling bondage of the treficker
It Is for you to save thom. There are still
scores OF the foul fiends who continue In SO
crct places aud dark corners TO ply their en-
ginery Of death. Seek them Out. apply til,
remedy, and save them from self destruction
/ Heed not their threats or winnings. Fine