The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1860-02-23

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Gratis will wash their hands Of the OBJ
noxious thing. VARRo' :
During the course OF his sermon last
Sunday night, the Rev. DR., Baird spoke
of having passed along our streets at a
late hour in the night, and in front OF
one Of our business houses lay Il man,
drunk, and uttering aroll Of b~lasphemy,
The speaker, in his usually impressive
style, asked who put the poor wretch
there. Said he: ~Me Legislature Of the
State Of TenaeSsee." The remark caus-
ed us to think, and thinking, we came
to the conclusion that no truer scnti-
ment could he have uttered. Our Leg
i~slaturc did put that mar there, and a
thousand more it has put in the same
fix. 1t Is no uncommon sight to see a
man-not man either, but the wreck OF
q man-lying drunk in our town. And
it is u disgrace to tn, State. Why are
groceries licensed? Great God, why
are they? Can Il reason worth n far
thing be given for such an internal
course? Is society bcneftcd-is any
one benefited? Do they not stand as
temptations to lead unwary youth into
the pits Of destruction? Do they not
ruin our young men, and our negroes,
many Of them, dcbilitatcd and rendered
| Of far less value?
We have sometimes thought that if
there is u human being in the world
who is an object Of pity, it is surely the
rife Of II drunkard, with four or five
helpless little children depending for
their bread and clothes upon her indus
try. If there be u person in the world
who could excite the phiIahth"opic feel
ings Of the heart it is such u woman
Yet, strange as it may seem, our Lcgls-
laturc has no philanthropic feelings,
else why does it permit thousands Of
such instances as We have mentioned,
all because it licenses these Internal
groceries. Why delay and spend time
in dcvising tippling laws? Come out
at once and say, we will not license
groceries at all. That is the only plan.
There arc hundreds o fmcn who drink
liquor where groceries are licensed, who
would never touch it if tho groceries
we not under their noses, and who
would 10 day vote for a prohibitory !
law.
Have you ever thought Of what a
Legislature is doing when it licenses u
grocery? Go into the workshop. Of a
wheclright, he is making wheels and
shafts, and you say he is II useful man.
YOU enter the house Of q weaver, he Is
making cloth, and you say he is ause-
fll man; you visit the blacksmith's
shop, where you find him making pick
axes, hammers, and plowsharcs, and
you say this mar is essential; and you
salute those skillful laborors. Go into
a Legislature, where the members are
passinga license law, and what are they
doing? Making d%runkards of young
men who are dear to the hearts OF an
Xious parents, dotted on by kind moth
crs, and loved by sisters, brothers, and
friends, They are dcthroning the rea-
son of such men as Haskell, and caus-
ing men to fill drunkard's graves who
might have filled u seat in the Senate
Chamber. They are causing thefts,
murders, and all the evils which we
know to follow in the path Of drunken
ness. Worse than all this: they are
dcsoIating the hearts Of thousands of
poor, innocent women-causing the
rose on the young wiio's cheek to fade
in the early summer Of her life, and
with II heavy hoart-with dismal antlc-
ipations of the future, with no encour-
agcmcnt to wo - her on to duty-with
her path strown with thorns, which
now and then prick her heart with an
intensity ofpain almost past endurance;
she p%erseveres to keep her little chill
drcn alive. All the love, the trust, the
truth that won her guilcless maiden
heart, is %tramplcd in the dust, and where
blossoms should spring, thorns only do
grow This il a picture which can be
seen in Winchester. 1t is u familiar
one, and VIC leave it to our citizens to
examine. And to whomc are we indeb-
ted for this misery? TO the LegiSla-
%laturc, most undoubtedly.
We are opposed to grocerios-and
may we never see the day when we
!, shall be otherwise. Their influence is
, dcmoralizing, and acts with silent, but
far the more dangerous effect on our ri
, sing generation, for n vice too often
seen, at last becomes familiar, and we
embrace it. We commence by moderate
drinking, and end IN drunkenness. No
, drunkard evcr yet commenced the use
of liquor as n beverage who believed he
would one day become a drunkard.
Remove groceries then, and we shall
have n better community and less suf.
fering.
TABLE OF WEIGHTS.
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