The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-03-18

u Ait%E 0I al hNthAA so ~ AAAA4A
The worlds opinion l., moreover,
unjust, inasmuch as Il visits Its DIS
pleasure alone on the man who drinks.
1t should bestOW at least half Its
wrath on him who makes it his busl-
ness to grow rich out Of the misery
and spoils of his victims. Why should
he who gets drunk be punished as a
criminal, while he who vends the
poison shall be held guiltless? If it
be criminal to use ardent spirits to
excess, 1t is no less a crime to abet
crime, and he does this who sells
li01Or to render the man drunk.
Arson Is a crime. and SO is murder,
aud either If committed, will subject
the perpetrator to capital punishment
when caught and convicted. But
would the law hold him guiltless who
furnished the incendiary his torch, or
the murderer his knife. knowing at the
time the purpose for which II would be
used? Neither ought society to visit
its vengeance only on the man who
imbibes the intoxicating draught. IT
it Furnishes at all, let it be consistent,
and punish both alike. But, says
public opinion, the saloon keeper Is
punished, and that too before he has
committed any offence to be punished
for. We make him pay a license to
make men drunk, and then We pun
ish by fine the man who gets drunk /;
so YOU see we give both fair play, and
while doing SO, we raise money 70 pay
sober men for taking the trouble TO
keep the drunken man from doing
himself and any other person mis-
chief. Is not our procedure wise
and admirable? Sapient and equita-
bic public, you make laws to regulate
the traffic In sin, and then punish the
sinners. Of all species of incOn-
sistency, this bears the palm.
Harsh treatment of either him who
habitually uses Intoxicating liquors as
a beverage, or of him whose regular
business 1t is to traffic in it, is iBjudi-
cious; if our object in interfering at
all be to gain him over to our faith
and practice. To prove this it is only
necessary to inquire within ourselves.
Accuse any person OF being a brute
or a rascal for doing anything, and
you at once convert him into an i'm
placable foe, aud the probability will
be that he will proceed regardless Of
your kind intentions and remOn-
strances, to recOmmit the offensive ac-
tionrather than gratiiyyou byrenounc-
ing and relinqu:shing 1t. This Is true
especially In respect Of him welded
to the use Of strong drink. The
worst effect of stimulants IS that they
render the subject infinitely more SEN
sitive to reproof than he who Is not
accustomed to their use, and conse-
quently when reproOf is administered,
his remorse Is greater than he can
bear, aud he seeks as an antldote the
insensibility afforded by stimulation,
To reach his heart, very d ltferent
course must be pursued. The physi-
clan whose manners are chuYlish Is
as disagreeabie as his medicine, and
it not uRfreqaeutly happens that the
brusdueness of his manner counter
acts or deranges the expected effect of
the remedy. Speaking from experience,
[ affirm that / have, from mere
malice, drank to excess very .often,
when | should not have touched the
stuff, If | had not heard some un-
pleasant reflection or offensive adj
vice uttered unseasOnably, or with
thinly disguised motive to inflict pain.
Those. however, whose single aim it is
to influence another's conduct into
the path of reetitude, will avoid such
indiscre ions, aud so time aud adjust
their measures, that should their in
terposition result in no benefit to the
offender, it will at least do him no
harm. The very difficulty Of man
aging a case of the kind, we are
considering, sometimes prevents per-
soRs of timid disposition from at
tempting anything IN their behalf;
but | would say, for the encourage
ment of all such persons, that diff
dence is of itself the best recOmmen-
datiOn of a mediator, aud that the
person is the better qualified on that
account to win success in so delicate
an undertaking. He is a wretch,
indeed, who should, whether from
obstinacy or stupidity, fail to perceive
in the tones of their voice, the ex-
preston of their eyes, aud even In
their very gestures, that nothing but
a stern sense Of duty could induce
them to assume the uncongenial task
of expOstulatiOn and warming | have
frequently, during my past life,
and while addicted to intemperance,
attended temperance meetings, but
without being the least benefited by
what [ heard. Nay, | might say that
the violence of the speakers, and the
matter Of their discourses, so disgust
ed me, and infamed my passions
against them, that l became an active
partisan of the adversaries Of the tenn
perance cause. Vehement denuncia-
tions without argument, never con
WINGED any one, and oficious advice,
couched in supercilious language,
never failed to occasion resent
ment. When a person IS an,