The Camden weekly journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1853-1861, 1860-02-21

"Thc great scarcity of corn in some of the
Upper Districts was i'll part brought about by
the numerous distillerics ii operation, thus con-
ycrting the staff Of life into a'slow but sure
poison And while our Legislature has been
tenacious of the rights CT the people, in pc
cunialy point Of view, by refusing to repeal the
usury laws, for fear Of leaving them a prey to
Spectators and usrircrs, their health and lives
have been unattended to, by allowing their food
to be converted into ardent spirits, to encourage
depravcd and vitiated appetite. The tax on
stills should amount to aprohibition OF their
use, or at least high enough to raise an income
sufficient to support the paupers they laanufac-
ture."
LETTER FROM TIE COMMITTEE TO COY. G1sT.
70 his Etcsltency Cor. Gi$t:
Sin: st the late meeting of the Grand Di-
vision Of Sons of temperance OF South Carolilu,
the undersigned were appointed committee:
to express to your Eyccllcncy the appreciation
Of and endorsement by, said body, of the forci-
bic aud noteworthy views and suggestions con-
taincd in yonr late Annual Message to the
Legislature, relative to the great consumption
of grain by the numerous distllcrics in operation
in some OF the upper districts-"tus convert
ing the staff Of life into a>slow bat sure poison
as also to your recommendation, that from 6
regard to the 'hcalth and lives" of our people,
tax be laid on stills amounting; "to prohibl-
tion of their use, or at least high enough to
raise an income sufficient to support the paupcrs
they manufacture" @
: In charaeterizing the product of these dis
tillerics sapoison, the Grand Division is aware
that your Eyccllency employs, no literary tropc
or rhetorical figure, but expresses OIL the literal
truth plain, important and mperislablc truth
truth sanctioned by experience, by science,
and by tile principles Of holy religion. "The
scdatiye action Of alcohol OH the brain," says
Chrstison-onc among the highest authorities
in the world, in allwliicll relates to physiology
and toxicology CONSTITUTES apowcrfnl MARIO
tic poison. For its effects as such if rapidly
brought on BY a large dose there is no altid0tc
known" Dr. Miller, Of tie University. of
Edinburgh, says "Acohol is poison. FIN
chemistry and physiology, this is.its proper
place" DIR. Carpenter, OF London, says "Wc.
arc justified in asserting that the condition OF.
drunkenness in all its stages, is one ofpoisoing,"
Another, high authority asserts: ALCOHOL is
universally acknowledged to be one.of tile most
sdange. poisons, til IS classified mall
Slsfls II 4 sssjf5sF All e al ia
tents aud purposes cerebral poison. 1t scizes,.
with its dsorganizing cmclgv, upon the brain
-tliat mysterious part, whose steady and un-
disturbed action lloldsnian nin trnr and rcsponsi.
bic relations with his family, with society, and
with God and it is this fearful fact tllut gives
to government and society their tremendous
interest in the question" .s5. "a.
Your Excclcncy is, then, rightin designating
the proceeds ofthcsc stills poison Their work
is to destroy the nutritive quality Of the grain
they consume, by converting, through fcrnen-.
tation or disorganzation OF its original ele-
ments, its saccharne nutrilncnt intoa new,
deleterious and poisonous compounl-by chang
ing, through process Of decay orrutrcfaction,
an alimcut designed by an Almighty Maker to
cherish his animated creatures or to reproduce
itself mauifoldy into noxious substance which,
in its best and pnrest state, contains not parti
Gle of food. %
Your Exccllcncy is, farther, correct in cx-
pressing the fact, surprising and mortryng as
the fact must be to the phiIanthropist aid the
christian that whilst "our Legislature has been
tenacious of the rights of the pcoplcin ape
cuniary point of vicw," the incompanbly more
important rights of "thc health and lives oforr
people shave been unattended to-" and almost
totally disrcgarccd The life OF man is more
than meat, and his body than raimcnt. The
facts confrnatory of yolr affirmation are obvi-
oils. They stare us in the face daily and hourly.
They may bc sighted and slabGcred over, but
cannot be denied. 1t has been published to
the world by those who have made the statistics
of drunkenness study, that there arc inthesc
United States five hundred thousand drllnkards;
and that one OF every thirtecn who use, whctl!
er moderately or Unexpectedly, the intoxicat-
ing poison, goes down, finally, to drunkard's
grave. In connection with this subject, the
Rev. DR.. Mott, distinguished for his intelligence,
as also for his great age, thus expresses his
views:
"Be the number of drlmkards in this Rcpub-
lie What it may, that drunkenness exists to
frightFul extent cannot DC denied !: :! Could
YOU sec tllos, wrctchcd beings separated from
the residue of the community, and dcongrcgatcd
together i'll some great common Accldama,
What a spectacle Of horror! How much more
so, could you see them Observation-Disclosures
perscG among their friends and kindred, and
linked each in his vilcncss by ties tender and
indissoluble to other beings, and often beings
Of the purcst virtue, of the ivclicst sensibility,
and the loftiest asl'irings! All! could yon sec
them thus, what gauge could measure the cX-
tent, or arithmetic sum up the amount ofniscry
comprchcudcd within your field OF vision? Oh,
could you number those concealed tears which
flow from so many slecplcss eyes, as God num-
bcIs them, andshcar those stifed sigls that cs-
cape from 50 many solrow-woundcd hearts, :s
God hears thcm you III, ,llt then, but not till
then form an adequate idea o the super-added
good, which Intoxicating liquors must hereafter
produce, to cancel the dread amount O! gratui-
tous evil they have already inflicted OH man
kind"
1t is, indeed, matter of grave ;.stonishment
that any body Of legislators influenced by prin-
ciples Of wise craftsmanship, and governed i'll
its action by maxims high above and remote
from the trucking policy Of the demagoguc,
should be "tcracious" of tho pi.iful pclf of the
people, whilst the hcalthfu existence Of their
bodily frames, their intellectual and moral Ia
turc, their domestic and social welfare, all arc
left "a prey to spectators" in alcoholic drinks
which mar and utterly destroy, ultimately, all
that is great, and good, and worth preservation
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