Oregon Republican. [volume] (Dallas, Or.) 1870-1872, 1870-10-29
J he Oregong gfpub!itau.
COUNTY OFFICIAL PAPER.
DALLAS, SATURDAY, OCT. 20.
The Cause of Ten perance.

Bills have been introduced into the
Legislature now in Session to regulate
the sale of spiritnous liquors, which, if
passed, would have had tendency to
prohibit the sale and use of that poison
Gus liquid to great extent; but they
could not pass and become law; and
why? because men elected as our pubs
lie servants fear they may incur the
of certain class of indi-
aiduals in society who deal in, and
freely use the poison. Now, in our
judgment, this is great mistake.
Thousands of men, who possess good
hearts, and who desire to do right, and
be useful in society, are entirely over
come by their uncontrolled appetite for
liqour; and while they are cognizant of
the fact that they are destroying their
usefulness, and are in the path which
leads directly to destruction, yet they
intend to reform, and wish in their
very hearts that ths community in
which they live would devise some
means whereby the destroyer could be
placed beyond their reach. And some
men seem to be perfectly infatuated
with the idea of dealing in spirituous
liquors and many men who do not use
il TO excess, and very few who make no
use of it at all yet many of those men
would rejoice if the Legislature would
pass law totally prohibiting the sale
Of the article, for then they would
engage in other business.
| Then there is another class of men
who know that the general sale and use
Of it have become great evil, and arc
fast poisoning the minds and bodies of
both men and women, but they desire
TO traffic in it for gain; and they argue
well, butlfrom false premises, th,t soci
ETY. has no right to prescribe what man
shall eat or drink, AMI at the same
time laugh at the timidity of the law
maker.
The fact is, a. large majority of the
people Of this country, including the
same proportion of those who deal in,
and are victims of, this deadly poison
acknowledge that the vending of liquors
as carried on at the present time, is ol
no benefit to society generally, but is
productive of great evil; that it is the
direct cause of more than one half o
the crime committed in our communi
ties; thatit fills our jails, penitentiaries
insane asylums and poor. houses will
miserable inmates; that it makes ba'
men, bad women, bad children, an,
poverty stricken families; and that i
takes from the pockets of the tax payer
annually large sum of money to pa.
the expenses of running our Criminu
Courts, in order TO punish men for tn
crimes they commit while under tn
direct influence of spiritnous. liquors
And yet society permits it; and ho,
long will they suffer this great an
growing evil, when it is well know
that the very men who are slaves
rum, whenever they are punished b
the Courts for any crime they commi
under its influence, curse the commu
nifty for allowing its use, and really an
actually charge society with the caus
of the at, whatever it may be. We al
satisfied, then, If our Legislators woul
take correct view of the matter, the
would come up boldly to the mark, an
put stop to this acknowledged evil, {
we have to many other evils of mint
importance; AID that in doing SO, the
would receive the blessings Of all goo
men and women in society, including
large portion of the very class who al
dealing with, and are being destroye
By, this monster. And to say that
mans natural right to eat and drin
whatever he pleases cannot be interfere
with, for the genersl good of society,
10 say that you cannot interfere vii
his natural rights at all and this pri
ciple would at once disorganize societ
and man would relapse into barbarisr
but some men, admitting that majo
ity In community ought to posse
the power to control and regulate Il
conduct of men, meet us with Il
argument, that the majority in socie
at the present day does not desire