The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1869-10-08

/ One of the strongest foothoids that
| Satan gets in our world, is by means of
intemperance. 1t pushes itself into ev-
cry crevice and corner, into places where
other things would blush to go. While
these would shiver by such contamina-
! ton, intemperance enters into them
| with JOY, halls them as bosom compan-
| ions, soothes and fondles them, and so
leads the way TO perdition. 1t fiatters
and cajoles men, allures them by all its
glittering aud gaudy accomplishments,
by its gentle whisperings, into the low
est depths of debauchery and crime.
You know this, and so do /, yet men
will cry out, LET it alone if men can
not stop of themselves, let them have-it."
What false estimate these put on the
human soul-precious, immortal soul,
made in the image of God, but warped
out of shape by this demon. into the
image of the devil.
"'Let it alone" Never, while there
are Christians and philanthropists in the
world. See men falling on either hand
! by this worse than pcstilential vista
| ton and make no effort to save them
Have the remedy in our hand and not
apply it? This would indeed be fiend-
ish; and we be the worthy subjects of
an unworthy sovereign, the veritable
| imps of Satan himself. Little do those
who cry out thus stop TO think of the
| strong temptations that surround those
who have this gnawing at the life-cords,
to put out their hands for the poison
when it is within their reach. Put it
out of their sight, 6y proht0ftt0a if
it is necessary. Bind them hand
and foot and they can do but lit
7loir, in the end they will bless you for
their redemption. 1t is pitiful sight
to see man under the control of such
monster, one reeking mass of degra-
dation, struggling to rise, yet weighed
down by the load; struggling to break
loose from the cords that bind him, yet
only binding himself the stronger. He
is like the man in the quicksand-the
more he endcavOrs to work out, the
deeper he sinks. Like him, he needs
help to free himself from this living
death. AS said to some of You week
ago yesterday, you must put your SYM
pathies around him and so draw him
away from these temptations. Shut the
dram-shop, that he may not see the
tempting decantcr, or know that there
is a bdck-doOr leading to the cellar
where this demon is. Our hearts have
been saddened as we have seen the
young man in what should have been
his glorious manhood, led along our
city's streets by the hand of a police
man !; or the old man with his streaming
white hair, which should have been the
honor of his 'Old age" dragged along as
q criminal-or as we have seen woman,
she who should be the purest and
mobiles of earth's creatures, tottering and
reeling along, dressed in her silks and
finery, the butt of ridicule. We see all
this and yet stand and be told to ''let it
alone" Not raise our voices to de-
nounce it as born of hell! NoVwhile
being lasts and opportunity offers, we
aciU hurl it back in their teeth with de-
tiance, and bid them crawl with the
worms at our feet, for they are like the
ladder" only waiting their time to bite.
Those under the dominion of this tyrant
are like those punished in a foreign
country for certain kinds of crime.
They bind the living to the dead, face
to face, and the criminal carries this
around with him, even in in its putre-
faction, till death releases him. Thus
is the drunkard bound to the dead, even
to its corruption.
LET it alone!' Why? Because no
good will come of it," is the answer.
"Ahi but good l0iU come of it." They
cried this years ago regarding slavery ;
but to-day thousands are enjoying the
blessed gift of freedom from chains and
the masters lash. This was the cry of
rebels during the war, but to-day there
is one nation where two would have
ruled. Lett alonew No! Agitation
will bring good results. Touch it on
this side and on that and it will writhe
and snap, and in its frenzy it will snap
at itself, and its own poison shall be its
death-blow. No! The moral interests
of mankind demand that it shall be
crushed. Fathers, sons and brothers
are being taken by its influences, homes
widows, children made orphans. 1t
saps up the life-blood, leaving only the
wreck of the former man, and he dies
from the wounds. Thus it commits
murder and goes unhung. He who
gives to his fellow this soul-and-body-
destroying stuff, should be branded as a
murderer. In that great day he will
stand before that impartial tribunal as
! guilty of murder. There will be this
and that one there as witnesses against
+ him; that it was at his door they began
the downward course, and We're laid to
rest in a drunkard's grave. Murder will
stare at him at all points, and his cap
then will be full, even as he in his time
filled the cup of another. Tell me there
is no future punishment" for such ?
Eternity will be too short to give them
the full measure of their woe.
Let it alone" No! Not while men
of talent and genius fill the high posi-
, tons in our country and disgrace them
selves on the floors of Congress with
the drunkard's gibes and ribaldry. No!
Not while four-fifths of the inmates of
our prisons arc there from its effects.
Not while the returns to our govern
ment show that the sales reach the enoF-
nous sum of nearly fifteen hundred mil
} lions of dollars. Not while these things
stare us in the face can we or will we
J ''let it alone" Never. while there is a
vestige ofhope left, will we cease to fight
every inch of ground intemperance
seeks to occupy. We must battle
against it till the nation is educated up
} to the point, where they shall see it in
all its hideous deformity. Our laws
must be so stringent that all will under
stand that it cannot be tempered with
store" or '.grog shop it makes no differ
ence. The serpent's fangs are only half
cut, and the evil is reduced only little !;
it is n serpent still and will crawl along
with as great subtlety as before.
"Let it alone" No! Two railroads
are vending their way toward Emporia.
The friends of intemperance are hoping
to bring in some article or other that
shall turn the contest in their favor. Let
me say to you who love your fellows
and the cause of Right: Stand firm: do
not give way in the least: make your
fortress strong and be ready for battle.
Ladies' of Emporia, it is your privilege
to cote in this matter. Never sign your
names to any paper that shall be the