Smyrna times., 1857-12-24
The Cough Controversy.


quite sharp controversy has been in progress for
some time IN Great Britain among the temper
ance forces ln order fully to understand this
controversy, 1t should be stated that there are
. Two temperance organizations in that country,
one OF which Is designed to secure the enact
/ mcnt OF prOhlbitlve liquor law; the other to
promote the total abstinence prlnciple by lee
lures, publications, &c. The first named is
called The United Kingdom Alliance" and
has It's headquarters at Manchester 1t is an
organization OF great power, embra cling some
OF the strongest and most influential temper
ahc2 men IN Engl and Scotland. 1t has one
uIstlhct object III view, as we have already
stated, and some of the members ignore the
total abstinence principle. 1t Is not nccessary
to be tectotaier to join the Alliance mum
ber OF secretaries and agents are employed in
dong the work of the. society, and larre
amount of money is expended in Carrying on
It's operations. 1t has a newspaper organ which
Is very ably conducted and which has large
circulation. 1t Is eXcrlng powerful influence
throughout the kingdom. The other organi-
zaiIon is styled The National Temprrance
League" and has its he etd.quarters in London.
Mr. Cough Is in the employ of this league =
There Is also in Edinburgh . society called
The Scottish Temperance League" Both Of
these organizations sustain Mr.. Cough. They
have little or nothing to do with prohibitvc
legalIzatlon. All their members are total ah-
stalncrs.
The controversy which has been allnded TO.
originated IN the publication of Il private letter
which Mr.. Cough wrote last spring, before he
left thls country, and sent to one of his personal
friends in London. In this letter, he stated
that the Maine Law dead letter in Mas
sachusetts, and that there was more dnklur
hot, In "a
intend this letter for publication, and was him.
self greatly surprised when he armed that II
lad been inserted III some of the public Jour
mails. The letter caused great commOtIon
among the members CT the &" United Klnrdom
Alliance" When Neal Dow arrived in Great
Britain to commence his prohibitive miss on
under the auspices of the Alliance" he was
met with this letter. In his public addresses
he declared that the Maine law was not dead
letter in Massachusetts,, and without indulripG
IN any personalities, he defended the principle
of prohibition, and said it was in successful
operation IN most of the towns Of this Com
monweath. Before Mr.. Cough left for Eu.
rope, he sent out letters to individuals in nearly
| all the towns IN Massachusetts, and quite a
| number to Connecticut, New Hampshire and
Vermont, making inquiries relating to the
operation OF the law. He took the answers
]
after his arrival in Great Britain. These an
swers sustained the position which he had as
sumed IN his private letter, Viz :that prior TO
March 81, 1897, the law was dead letter & c.
lie stated that he was glad TO learn that the
! law had, since that date, been enforced 10 n
considerable extent. He stated further that
nIs letter was private one, and that while the
language used was perhaps stronger than it
should have been, yet the statement, in the
main, was correct. The organ of the Alliance
took up the subject and discussed the matter
with great deal Of warmth and earnestnese
! Mr.. Coughs letters were crtised, and many of
them were declared to contain expressions dis.
proving Mr.. Coughs statement. The IVeeLIy
Record, the organ of the National Temperance
League, and the Wcckiy Journal, the organ of
the Scottish League, defended Mr. Cough, and
thus these two organizations were placed in
hostile array against the Alliance. The con-
troversy was very sharp The London Times
and other influential journals took the Cough
side of the question. The opponents of
liquor law posted up piacards with Mr.. Coughs
. statement upon them, and in nearly every
| place where Mr. Dow lectured, these pIacards
were paraded about the streets. Since the
publication of Mr.. Coughs letters in England
other letters have been obtained from different
parties in Massachusetts, by Mr.. Sinclair
showing that the law has been enforced in
Massachusetts, and has done a great work in
closing up the rum shops. These letters were
sent over and published by tho Alliance. This
excited the Cough party against Mr. Sinclair,
and was undoubtedly the cause of the violent
attack upon this gentleman which recently ap.
peared in the Edinburgh NcrS, many copies of
which have been sent over to this country.
The controversy in England has, very unlor-
tunately, divided the friends OF temperance in
that country, aud has seriously checked the
rapid progress which the cause had been ma
king for the last two years. Mr.. Cough is
still laborIng IN Great Britain, and will proba-
bly, remain there for year or two to COME
For a few weeks prior to the last, he was in
land.-BOStOn Journal