Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1872-03-08
THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC TEN.
PERANCE CONVENTION.
ADDRESS OF MR.. F. NERHANY.

GndNOG OON v GN 44ON.
ADDRESS OF MR.. f. NERHANY.
The National Convention nf Catholic Total
Abstinence Sncietes, assembled in Baltimore
city on the morning of the 22l ult., and clos
ed it's sessions at midnight of the 23d The
Convention, attended by some three hundred
and fifty Roman Catholic temperance men,
embracing inthe number representatives from
State and local societies, was presided over by
Rev. James McDevitt, of Washington, D. C.
The objects Of the Convention are fully set
forth in the very able Address of Mr.. F.
Nerhany, which we here give:
ADDRESS.
70 the Catholics of America:
In the name aud on behalf of the Nat
ional Catholic Temperance Convention,
assembled in Baltimore. MARYLAND, on the
22d and 23d of February, 1872, we res
pectfully address you on the important
subject of our earnest and anxious deli
berations
AS the primary object ofour assem- blage
was the, advancement of the blessed cause
of Temperance throughout the Catholic
communities of America. so in our honest
and jealous efforts to fulfil the noble task
assigned to US by our several constituencies
we have striven to follow the light of truth
and to avoid the dark ness of error. We
have tried to shun the Scylla of fanaticism
on the one side and the Charybdis of su-
pineness on the other. and to pursue that
calm. moderate and conservative course
which alone promises assured success in
any great reforma'ory movement. There
Is nothing partisan or political in our plars
or purposes. Coming together solely as
Catholic Temperance men. we have re-
garded the subject purely as moral one,
appealing for countenance and support to
the enlightened judgments and consci-
ences of the Catholic people. In this spirit,
and in this spirit only, have we .labored,
and do we propose to labor
Our motto is :'moral suasion." Under
this banner. as unfurled by the Church
OF God. we wage war against the demon
OF intemperance. With probibitory laws,
restrictive license systems and special
legislation against drunkenness, we have
nothing whateverto do. We stand upon
the soldid and enduring rock of the an
cieDt faith. and We WELD only the weapons
which religion place in our bands. We
regard the temperance pledge, administer
ed under Catholic auspices, as the initia-
tory step in the practice of the more solemn
and sacred duties imposed by the Church,
and in the faithful performance of these is
an assured security for unwavering fidelity
to the pledge of total abstinence.
As the result of our most earnest thought
and careful consideration, and after full,
free and frank Interchange of sentiment
and opinion among the delegates to the
Convention, representing every section Of
the country, we present herewith the draft
of Constitution designed to secure the
formation of Total Abstinence Beneficial
Societies in every Catholic parish in
America. and to aggregate them in a
National Union. We bespeak for this
Constitution your generous approval and
hearty cooperation in the noble work of
which it is intended to form the substan-
tial basis.s
That the proposed plan Of organization
will commend itself to the Intelligent
Judgment and powerful influence of the
reverend clergy we feel perfectly assured
and we therefore confidently rely upon
them to guide and direct the movement
now inaugurated to grand and glorious
success.
One of our chief aims in gathering and
consulting in general convention has been
to devise some simple and feasible plan
whereby all the Catholic societies of
America may be aggregated, consolidated,
bound together in the holy bond of charity,
united and harmanized in common bro
therhood, having but one thought, one
hope, one ohject-the spread of temper
ance throughout Catholic communities. /
This is our great. our primary purpose,
and as incidental to it and promotive of it |
there is attended with the proposed plan
of organization the attractive feature of /
mutual relief. Thus. Temperance and
Benevolence, lovely twin sisters, go hand
in hand together along the bright and /
beautiful path over which we invite our
Catholic fellow citizens to work. with us
IN peace and security.
Shall our invitation meet with cheer
full, hearty response2 Will the Catholic
community Of every parish 10 America,
headed by its pastor. at once establish a
temperance society upon the basis indica-
ted in thesaccompanying constitution from
State Union and ally itself to the grand
Central Union founded by his Convention?
We bope and believe SO, because We have
observed. with inexgressible qualification.
that in almost every Diocese of the Amer.
ican Episcopacy, through all the pastoral
addresses recently issued. the authoritative
voices Of our revered Bishops have been
lifted up in emphatic warning against the
terrible siceSof intem perance, which. like
mighty food is sweeping over the fairest !,
portions of the United States, marking 4
lts course with the wrecks Of once noble |,
manhood, filing the land with desolation