Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-06-18
THE CuRIOSITLRS on PNLITIGS.


The smoke Caussithate--Protesa Of Ma
fiOnaI Anti-T0-aceO League Assalnssl
The EIeetioIt Oran Inyeterate SmOIS 81
10 she Presidency. ~. 49,
! ~ the People Of tie United States :: w,
are Radical Republicans, butare compelled
90 oppose Ulysses S. Grant for President
4 because Of his personal habits m 10
Now what are Grants habits, and these
I found, what sort of character DO they show
him 10 possess ? We dismiss from our pres
enl purpose his alleged fonduess for strong
drink. The eFidenes-eR- this-pOint con-
thets A habit he has (which nobody can
I deny" that demonstrates his constant LA
bihty TO become druHkard, as we will
show. That habiliq she smoking Of 70.
baccol Ne one. Will be- hardy enough 20
deny that Grant smokes A cigar COM
pleIhenls every situation of the man. lie
is known only to intermit smoking for eat
ing. itesmokes always, and the vile halo
safrphnds almost every picture Of the man.
He is the representatives smoker Of tbe
UnltedStatess s1 tA l1l E- .
Smoking proves a man has no mastery
OF himself. General Grant like all victims
OF this vice individually learned to smoke.
lie learned il, knowing it TO be an ex-
ceptional practice, condemned by every
principle of hygiene, and by the Judgment
OF the clean and the temperate every where.
He learned it despite the protest Of nature,
which rebels against il, initially, in every
case. Having learned it, tits indispulable
that he tried to break off the habit. The
man does not live who smokes and who has
not again and again tried to free himself
from the curse. This Grant must have
done. He has not succeeded. He has sunk
30 deep that he is now the irreclaimabIe
slave Of the weed. In direct analogy with
this self-helplessness we find that he has
always leaned upon others in his whole
career. In politics he has reflected the
teachings of Harvey, then of Dent, then of
Andrew Johnson, and now OF Eiihu Wash
burne. In a sense, they have been the
cigars that have lighted his path. Through
them he has smoked his political ideas.
Literally they have pulled him into notice.
Into the Presidency he would carry the
same mental servility that forbids him
emancipating himself from this degrading
habit, and from his dependence on other
men. The man that cannot rise superior
W q NtButB Cd1uDL lDoh WIN equal
eye upon the tremendous temptations of
office. Then as now he would fall back upon
others. Like seeks like, and his associates
would be like himself, men of contracted |
powers, and probably of congenial vices.
Unable to free himself even from tobacco, |
he would be a weakling in the hands Of |
politicians. We wonder not that he de- |
cines policy in advance. An inveterate |
smoker knows no policy but the policy of |
submission to a habit stronger than his will /
and to men subtler than himself That the |
earnest men Of the Republican party only /
accept him is apparent. That they do accept
him is disgraeeful tothemselves Greeley, |
Hilton and Sumner, respectively represent
ing the experience, the convictions and the
culture of the party are at heart opposed
10 this mere absorbent, and they cannot de-
ny it. They know him to be but a foul
furnace, wherein only burns the sacrifice
he has made of his own resolution, at the
Dehest of a filthy habit. They know his
intellect is as warped and clouded as the
dol which he consumes ever, and which
ever consumes him. They know that like
he cigar he worships, he draws all the fire
ne has from other sources that like it, he
has been grown and gathered and cut into /
Ihape land such shape , by other men
hat, like il, he is worthless after he has
been used, and that once used, no one will
,ver accept the remains.
In the face of these facts, and one of the
,raver probabilities that are grated on
hem, We are not prepared to help hand
,ver TO Grant the complex destinies of this
Executive government for four years, nor
or four hours. How any man who disap-
'roves Of mental servility, moral imbecil-
ty, and personal drunkenness, can support
he candidate of the Republican party, we
IRE. at a loss to determine. We speak as
not as Democrats. The party
nd lis principles command our warmest
and support, but under smoker,
nd possible, if not an actual drunkard,
We would not march to the battle