The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-07-18
For nc Lntelfoe,,cer.

deavoring to consolidate their forces
and make another rally under the
name of the National Temperance
League" Whether it will be success.
full or not depends upon the men
whom they have chosen as leaders
We confess, from a perusal of the jour.
nal which they have published for a
few months back, our misgivings.
Indeed it has not unfrequently oc-
CURED to our mind whether, especial
ly in late years, in connection with this
movement, there has not sprung up
and obtained currency among us, GER
tain popular representations bearing
upon the doctrine of personal respon-
sibility which are open 10 grave OBJ
jecGons. " III tty
I A temperance speaker describes to
us in very graphic colors a railway ac-
cident-bY night. By sudden jerk a
long train of cars, engine, and all, are
thrown down steep embankment.
There is a wild shrek; and by the
"moon's pale light" you see the pas
sengers lying in a heap -maimed,t j dy!
ing, or struggling amid the ruin; or
others hurrying 10 and fro, in frantic
confusion and dismay. Truly a piteous
sight! The argument being that as rail
way companies are held legal
ly responsible in such case, $50
ought the liquor seller to be
held responsible for the more direful
consequences of his traffic" But it oc-
ours to the calm. listener that the rail-
way company is not held responsible
if the passengers have done that which
led to the accident. With this consid-
Grafton, the arch of the argument, like
the cars, breaks down. The reality OF
things is once again seen-like the
mighty rocks of an Alpine pass when
the mists have cleared away. G. fE
Again, we have set before our eyes a
young man in the flower, and pride,
and strength of early manhood. The
morning Of life is breaking brightly
around him, and all the future is full OF
glorious promise. But a change passes
over the spirit of the scene. The sky
becomes overcast, the heavens darken.
and his sun goes down while it is yet
noon. He has become drunkard, and
now lies prostrate and hopeless ruin.
land that" exclaims our indignant
orator, sis the work of the liquor selIer.' u
In what language, continues he, shall
we denounce him who destroys some
grand masterpiece of the sculptors' OF
printers art? But what is that to the
Maker, and the noblest work of the
Divine Artificer2 But our indig-
nant friend seems to have forgotten
that men are not statues. That
statues and pictures are, in the case
supposed, passive and unconscious re-
cipients OF the injury they suffer, and
cannot, by any Volition or act of their
own, mar their glorious beauty. tits
the highest glory of a man that he CAN,
and it is his deepest guilt that he does
compass his own destruction.
IA burglar says another, "enters q
mans dwelling and takes away his
property; liquor dealer not only robs
\ 90 ii lN,Nk oil -,
and character therefore, a liquor dealer
is worse than house-breaker." Or as
another, General in the United States
army, expressed it ga highwaYman de-
tnands your money or your life; q
liquor seller demands your money ANI
your life, and, therefore, he is worse
than a ahfghwayman.os We always un.
derstood that the liquor seller stayed in
his store to sell; and on demand giving
in exchange for money voluntarily tan.
dered, what the buyer regarded as an
equivalent; and yet he turns out to be
worse than the "highwayman" who
with pistol at your head, colnpeLs you
to givegup your money, and gives you
nothing in return but oaths, menaces
and, perhaps, blows
Now, we submit that these, and SINH
lar representations, very seriously mis-.
represent the actual facts in the phe.
nomena of our drinking system. The
active agency, and ildiUidWdL responsi.
bility of all who are concerned in, it is
greatly obscured, and, to the, popular
mind, tacitly dented-to the dlrecl
weakening OF the popular COINCIDENCE
With the liquor seller we have nc
sympathy, and for him offer no excuse
For ourselves we would rather be Q
toad and live upon the vapour of 8
dungeon, than one of theseSile liqnoI
Venders. II shocks our moral sense
~
open houses for the sale of intoxicating
dFinks-to sell with horrid indifference
TO all consequences-and on whose
heads there rests a fearful responsible
~ and a tremendous guilt. But, iniohl
Just Indignation against those who sell
we must not forget the responsibility q
those who buy-not the "rabble ront'
Of drhnkards merely, but, also, that
immense circle of respectable drink
ers who lie outside, and are
in fact, the buttresses of the
system. Nor must the drunkard
be led to fancy himself any less than
an accountable creature, to imagine
himself ths liasslye victim, floating
Waif, within the folds of an Irresistible
maelstr0m of circumstances; but rather
that his ruin and his redemption are
alike within his power. = .-is
To bring home this conviction to the
hearts of men, to open their eyes q
these eternal verities, and to lead them
forward in sublime march TO these lofty
Inspirations Is high mission, and
should be our constant purpose. And
we venture to say that in proportion,
and only in proportion, as temperance
advocates adhere 10 and succeed in this
high purpose VIII they attract TO theiI
mogement the hearts of earnest men
make it . strong living and enduring
tqree-a mighty power rearing tbs
ltabriet OF human happiness on the
/ toundation princinla of all hnman