Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1872-09-18
Does President Grant Drink
too Much LiquOr?- The
Rev. Mr.. DenisOn Replies
to Senator Wilson, and
States More Facts.
I From the Golden Age.l

uTtSS lnC OAlOuSA OhO PupdiN Po'
pers. / therefore feel it to b
my duty to reply to you in tn
same manner.
We have known each Othel
for the last quarter Of a century
as outspoken advocates of the
prohibition law of the manufact
ure and sale, as a beverage q
all intoxicating drinks. 1t was
on this account that / called on
you several times, in the winter
of 1872, with a view to induce
you to accept the nomination of
the National Prohibition Party
as their candidate for President
of the United States. Our con-
versation related to public men,
to public measures; and, Of course,
to President Grant-who was
then seeking, as he now is, by
public appeal to the American
people, to be reelected to the
first public office in the land.
In one of those conversations,
held in your own room, open to
the public in Washington, with
out any intimation on the sub
ject on my part, you, honorable
sir, startled me with the remark:
president Grant drinks too
much" After a moments pause
You added: 81 have told him
So"
Another brief pause ensued,
when you again added: "The
President smokes too much
He is poisoned through and
through. When | demonstrated
with him about it, the President
said to me, 4 smoke mild cigars.
That may be, Mr.President, |
replied, 'but you smoke so many
Of them
These, Senator Wilson, are
the exact words used by you on
that occasion You can not
have forgotten them. 1t is of no
use for you to deny them. Nei-
ther can it be denied that the
Hon. VIM. E. Dodge of New
York, and other gentlemen de
voted to the temperance reform,
have sought to induce President
Grant to sign the pledge of to-
tai absticence.
In giving this statement of
yours to our cOuntrymen, MIR.
Senator, who have. known me
many years, are well aware that
| am actuated by no other de-
sire than to do what / can to aid
the voters of America to arrive
at right conclusions with regard
the men who solicit their votes.
Your statements to me, honora-
Bile sir, respecting the drinking
habits of President Grant are of
such a nature as to render it i'm
peratiye that / should give them
to the public. | have, therefore,
given your statements to the
press, in answer to call made
on me by a gentleman and man
of honor. You and /, sir, and
the parties we both represent,
must abide by the result.
Allow mo to reply, in conclu-
sion, to the opinion you volun-
teered, in your letter to me, as
to the character of the other
facts l adduced in my published
letter to Mr.. Yerrington. Every
one of these facts, sir, is literal
ly and strictly true. All Of
which are furnished to me by
gentlemen whose words no one
will dare dispute. One Of them
was handed to me by most dis
tinguished United Senator, whom
you and /, sir, know very well,
in a letter addressed to him by
a scholar of known repute in
Cambridge, Mass. And you.
Mr.. Senator, confess to the truth
of your own statement to me
with regard to the Well-knoWn
drinking habits of President
Grant, by admitting, in the let
ter to which | am now replying,
that he uses liquor as a beverage
to such an extent that you say
you had a mind to ask him ia
sign the total abstinence pledge,
and join the Congressional Tenn
perance Society.
l respectfully submit, that by
these confessions, you have es-
tablished my whole case.
l avail myself Of the opportu