The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1871-03-28
pailp ARGUS.
uFFIClAL CITY g. COUNTY PAPER
"xhe temperance Question and tho
Press.''

&no Temperance &ueDVlon ana tho
Yress."
Ia Scribner's Monthly for April is an
article BY DR.. Holland, the editor, on "The
Temperance Question and the Press," from
which We quote:
The time for new departure ia come.
II is puncsuAtaG by the shifting and uucer
tain movements Of those who have "had
their own way for many years, and who
lind thsmselveI ss far from the goal At
which they aimed ss they were when they
started. The prsss, independently, must take
this question in hand, and educate the peo-
pie to temperance. The truth is that there
is not q country on the face of the earth
whore stimulants are needed so little, and
where they are. capable of producing 90 m n Oh
mischief, as III our own. Our sparkling,
sunny atmosphere, and the myriad incen-
tives to hope and enterprise in our circum-
stances, and stimulsnis of Gods own ap-
poiutment for the American people. This
pouring down Of Intoxicating liquors is ten
thousand times worse than wAste-it is
essential sserilegs. This strainiug of the
nerves, this heating of the blood, this stimu.
lasiJn or ssupefAorion of the mind, this i'm,
position of cruel burdens upon the digestive
organs, is a foul wrong upon Nature. Tens
of thousands OF valuable lives are sacrificed
every year to this Moloeh of strong drink.
The crime, the beggAry, the disgrace, the
sorrow, the disappointment, the disaster, the
sickness, the death that had flowed in one
uninterrupted stream from the bottle and the
barrel, throughout! the length of the land,
are enough TO make all thinking and manly
men curse their sourcs and swear eternal
en- NIFTY to it. The American people need to
have it proved to them that under no cir
cumssAncss are ths various forms of iutox
icAIing drink good for them. They are not
yet convinced Of this, although they know,
OF course, that the abuse of drink brings all
the evils that can be imagined. Every
Juvenile periodical, every newspaper, every
mag gazine, every review, owes it to the coun.
try TO teach this fact psrsistsntly. There
hAI been something In the way IN which the
temperance reform has been pursued which
has brought upon It the stigms of fAnaIi
c'sm. That stig ma ought to be obliterated-
so thoroughly obliterated, that the man who
weakly yields to a degrading appetite, or
wantonly courts such an appetite, aud the
danger and Disgrace it brings, shall teel tha,
hs bears a stigma which marks his degrade
tloD among q generation of clean and
healthy men. In short, tenn perance mus,
be made not only res pectAble, but fashiona
Bile The wine bibber and the beer drinker
as we'll as those of stronger stomachs and
oosrssr tastes, must be made to feel that they
are socially dIsgrsoed by their habits. IL
the family, in the school, everywhere, by al
the ordinary means of approach to youns
and plastic minds, the virtue of tenn peran o.
should be inculcared. It is fashionable fol-
the young TO drink wine to-day. 1t mus
not be tomorrow; and in order that it may
not be, the accepted leaders of public opin
zoo must tell the people the truth, and en-
force upon the people the obligations OF
duty. That world Of high life which sends
down it's powerful influence upon all the life
beneath It never was influenced by profess
ional temperance reformers, or by temper
euce organizations, and is not likely to be
The clergymeu it listens to, the papers, and
magazines, and books it reads, and thu
social authorities it respects, must inculcat,
temperanceSuntil it shall be q shame Il
place S wine bottle before friend.
0 Heaven for one generation of clear
aud unpoiluted men men whose veins ar
not fed By FIRE men fs to be the compAn
ions of pure women; men worthy to be tn
father of children; men who do not STUN bl
upon the rock of spoplexy at nid-sge, o
go bIindly cropping and staggering dow
into drunksrd's grave, but who can 81
and look upon the faces of their grand
children with eyes undimmed, and hearts
unoaukered. Such g generation as this /,
possible in America; and to produce such g
generation as this, the .persistent, conscien
tious work of the public press is entirely
competent, as An inssrumentslity. The pres
can do trhat it toiU +; and if it will faithfully
do its duty, Maine laws will come to b
things uuthought of, and temperance re
formers and temperance organizations will
become extinct.