Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1856-02-29
Speech of Hon. David Taggart,

OF Northumberland county. in Senate, 18th
FebIS56 in favor of Mr.. BRowNE's amend
ments to Mr.WILKISs' substitute for House
B!ll to repeal the Restraining Liquor Law.
i'll had needed any proof Of the feeble
ness of the cause to which l am opposed,
1 have certainly had it, and to the fullest
extent, in the utter inability Of Senators
on this floor, and especially of the venera-
bic and distinguished Senator from Ale
ghcny, (Mr. Wilkins,) to defend it. If
he, SIR, who for fifty years has been man
of note in the land raised by his talents
to nearly every high post under the gov
ernment; a member Of the House Of Rep
resentatives before you and l we're born !;
member of Congress, and Senator of
the United States a Judge Of two courts
and one of them Federal court; a
Cabinet Minister, and a Minister Plenipo-
tertiary; if he, sir, with all his bran-~on
honors clustering thickly around HMM
the pride and power Of his unclouded in-
tellect, and may l not add here, in all the
skirning and scalping ferocity Of his sar-
casm-if he, sir, can adduce no argument
and raise no point, how ragged, wretched,
helpless must be that cause Nay, if he
had the mental stature of god, be could
not defend it. The imperishable Truth
comes across his path, and the giant be-
comes pigmy in the hollow of its hand.
Mr.. Speaker, be has told US that drunk
enness is ga limited evil" Great God
SO it is Limited by the bounds of the
earth, and the habitations Of the human
race, and limited by nothing else. For it
has penetrated wherever men have made
their homes, to desolate and destroy them.
Iappeal to history and its voice, answer
ing from the deep of ages, tells me it has
swept off whole nations, and laid waste the
proudest cities of the earth. 1t is 'iim-
tied evil" but there is scarce = 6reside in
the land it has not clouded-a heart that
it has not saddened-an eye that it has
not filled with tears. ask him, with his
four-score years of experience, if it is not
SO? Has he never known the happiness
Of household blighted, the pride of IA
theirs soul humbled, or a mothers heart
wrung with agony? If he has not, sir,
you and have, in instances more than
we would care to tell. Has he not seen
it enter the domestic circle-the hallowed
sanctuary of homeland scatter its dearest
joys as leaves are scattered by the winds
of winter winds, alas! that in this case,
no springtime ever comes to temper. Has
he not seen it fall like blight upon those
whom nature had endowed with every rare
gift of body and mind, and sink them, de-
graded and brutalized, into drunkards' or
felons' graves? And yet all this is no.
thing to the filthy gold that commerce
may wiring from wretchedness 1t is
"limited evil" but kind Heaven protect
US from such limitations
He has asserted, sir, that drunkenness
conduces to no enormous crimes. Does
that venerable Senator not know that our
peniteutiaries scarcely contain an habitual.
ly sober man 2 Does he not know that our
police reports are filled with the names of
drunkards Does be not know that nine
tenths Of all crimes, and nine-tenths of all
murders, are committed through intemper.
ance, and that the gallows creaks almost
daily with the carcasses Of druukardsI If
be do not, sir, it is time he should, and,
with all the profound Difference that my
irreverent nature is capable Of, proffer
the information.
think it was Diosenes who said, he
had often regretted speech, but never ST.
lence. The ancient Cynic should have
made exceptions to this rule. There are
times, sir, when it is not only stupid, but
criminal, to be silent. As far as 1 am
concerned, this is such time. If l failed
to be heard now, should be false to the
faith of my boyhood, and traitor to my
manhood's best and strongest convictions.
My memory can not recall q time when
these were not my principles. When l
was boy at school, could seerthe Shiny
track of the serpent oil around me, and l
will tell you what my memory can recall
the forms of those who fell before it,
whom its poisonous breath struck down.
remember them zoo well. l sat with
them on the same bench-swam the same
river, and scaled the same high hill-and
now there is nothing left of them but
ghastly memory to hold me to my faith
Ay, sir, it will hold me there-not merely
for my own selfish safety, but for the sake
Of two little children, whom it is natural
should sometimes think about, aud who
shall never become the serpent's prey
while l have voice to warn or q strong
arm to protect them.
Whoever will take the trouble to con.
suit the record will find that, less than
year ago, l voted for the law, which whis.