The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1862-10-09
COMMUNICATIONS.
esss lForthe Daily Press.
Necessity of Radical Reform.


These are the days when the great national
watch-word is sreformr--gloriou gigantic
@reiorm"-and great and good men are bend
ing all the god-like energies of their souls to
this stupendous work Of national publication.
1t is well to hght and die for the holy cause
Of human freedom and pure government; but
bv and by, when the last shackles have fallen
from the strong limbs of the bondnan, and
the scales from the eyes even Of democraticl p
editors, we want men of strength and purity
to wiclG ghe golden wand of pure govern
ment; and looking around upon the rising
generation, our heart grows sick with sorrow
and disgust, to see marks Of imbeciIity upon
forms that should be stalwart with youthful
vigor and glowing with noble ambition. If we
desire to see our land the peaceful abiding
place of truth and liberty, fit ato bear up the
ark Of the Lord" our only hope is in radical
reform. Only true and noble men can make
and sustain a pure government We rant
practical legislation upon the education of
youth. We want laws for the protection of
health and siBew and morals, as well as the
baser protection of property. The old Spar
tan lawgivsr understood this, when he made
laws for the government Of infants in the era
die, as the only sure foundation Of pure and
symmetrical government; and il the grace of
the Gospel had enlightened the massive wis
dom Of Lycurgus, he would have stood as a
beacon light to all generations; and amid the
darkness of heather night, his strict adherence
TO principle and virtue is reproach to the
factious rulers of modern christian times, who
hold in their hands the welfare of an enerya-
ted community. The sturdy and invincible
Spartans have become a proverb of majesty
and pruwess to all ages. Lycurgus was brave;
he was Spartan, and he dared to make and
enforce such laws as he knew would best pro-
mote the public veal, undaunted by the taunts
ofsilk-gowned opnlence, and the pulling cry OF
precedent" "State rights or Constitution
as it is" And was that 'iron coden failure
1t stood for full five hundred years, monu-
ment of national grandeur.
The American people are fast sinking into
theimbecile and agitable state of the French
nation. Why is this? We were sturdy race
and strong. What has caused our decension,
this morbid languor and unnatural excite
ment-this mental and physical debility of our
people? We answer stimulants, = tobacco
and alcohou
Is this hackneyed theme, a dotard's talep
Look around upon our young men, and be
aghast at the hollow eyes and shrunken limbs
and sallow complexion that mark our nation
al decay. See that group of lads, not in their
teens, clustered about the ale-shop bar, treat
ing each other on foauIing 4beer." Mark that
child scarce ten years old, leaning with feeble
attitude against lamp-post, smoking cigar.
His cheeks are blue, his form attenuated by
the snbtle poison his case is hopeless and the
debilitating effect of the weed takes away the
power to reform. 1t turns manly energy into
q feverish thirst for stimulants it changes the
aspirations Of noble manhood into passions of
seli-indulgence; and young men, like Byron,
turn noble life that was given them for high
and lofty purposes, into vain pursuit of sem
sual pleasure-and all from this early taste for
stimulants. Men know this aud mourn over
the early folly which bound them with the
hopeless gives of moral slavery. The morn
HiS VI ihS uay ID HoW CoHit, MlitH tnt WOTu
radical has ceased to be reproach, and
prohibition and abolition" are no longer
heretical bugbears, but swords of truth and
soberness." Then let us have prohibitory leg
islation over our youth, as the greatest public
good. If we would ensure a lasting national
prosperity, let our lawgivers adopt the gener-
Gus maxims Of Lycurgus, who "looked upon
the education of youth as the greatest and
most important object of legislators care,r
and who considered children as much belong
ing to the state, as to their parents. Through
the debilitating influence of these stimulants,
fathers have not energy enough left to take
care of their willful sons, so they are left to
take care of themselves, which they proceed
to do after the example Of others, thinking the
quickest way to be man is to smoke and
drink and swear, till they learn by dear ex-
perience, but alas, too late, that with such
habits one can never be man. Why should
not Christian legislators look to the root of
this matter, and dare to take care of those
who cannot take care of themselves?
Cd. ALEX.