The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1873-08-01


fiddle to keep themselvs ava Ike. hue-and-
cry is raised about woman-suffrrge, as II any
wrong which may be involved IN womans lack
OF the suffrage could be compared to the wrongs
attached to the liquor interest!
Does any sane woman doubt that women are
suffering q thousand times more from Lis uah
than from any political disability!
The truth is that there is no question peioro
the American people to-day that pegins W
match IN Importance the temp erance question:
The question OF American slavery was never
anything but a baby by the side OF this anu
we prophesy tliat within ten years. II not Will
in five, the whole country wall be awake 10 H.
and divided upon it. The organizations OF the
houor interest tho vast funds at its command,
the universal feeling among those whose busi-
ness is plttod against the national prosperity
and the public morals-these are enough TO
show that, upon one side OF this matter, at
least. the present condition OF things and the
social and political questions that lie III the inn
mediate future arc apprehended. The liquor
interest knows there IL to be great struggle
and is preparing 70 meet it, People both in
tins country an IN Great Britain are beginning
20 see the enormity OF this business-are be-
ginning to realize that Christian civilization is
actually poiso ned at its fountain, and that
there can be no publication OF 1t until the
source of the poison is dried up.
The country is to be sincerely congratulated
on the fact that the wine interest OF the United
States does not promise much. Little native
n e,,J 10
a gentleman's table. The California wines are
disappointment and failure, and the
Western wines are the same. Neither the dry
nor the sparkling Catawaba takes the place OF
anything imported. They are not popular
vines, and we congratulate the country that
they never can be. The lager beer interest is
endeavoring, in convention, to separate itself
from the whiskey interest," claiming to be
holier aud more respectable than that. They
are all to be Jumped together. They are all
opposed to sobrlety, and, IN the end, We shall
find them all fighting side by side for existence
against the determined indignation Of long
suffering people
respectable English magazine reports, as a
fact OF encouraging moment, that Of the fifty
thousand clergymen OF the Church OF England
as many as four tho usand actually abstain
from the use of spirits! SO, eleven-twelfths OF
the cergymen OF the English Church consent
to be dumb dogs on the temperance question
How large the proportion OF wine-drinking
clergymen may be in this country we do not
know, but We do know that wine-glass stops
the mouth on the subject of temperance, who
ever may hold it. wine drinking clergyman
is soldier dlsarmed. He is not only not
worth a straw IN the fight he Is a part OF the
inpedimenta or the temperance army. We
have good many such to carry, who ought to
be ashamed Of themselves, and who very soon
will be. Temperance laws are beng passed by
the various Legislatures, which they must sus
tain, or go over, soul and body, to the liquor
interest and influence. Steps are being taken
OH behalf OF the public health, morals, and
prosperity, which they must approve by voice
and act or they must consent to be left behind
and left out. There can be no concession and
no compromise on the part of temperament en-
aud no quarter to the foe. The great curse of
our country and our race must be destroyed. |
Meantime, the tramp, tramp, tramp sounds |
on,-the tramp OF sixty thousand yearly victims |
Some are besotted and stupid, some are wild |
with hllarty and dance along the dusty way. |
some reel along in pitiful weakness, some
wreak their mad and murderous impulses on |
one another. or on the helpless women and |
children whose destinies are united to theirs |
some stop IN wayslde debaucheries and in
famies FOR moment, some 20 bound in CHAINS |
from winch they seek in vain TO wrench their
bleeding wrists, and all are poisoned In body |
and soul, and all are doomed to death. Where
ever they move, crime, poverty, shame wretch |
edness and despair hover IN awful shadows. |
There Is no bright side to the picture. We
forget: there Is Just one. The men who make |
this army get rich. Their children are robed 10 |
purple and fine linen, and i've upon daintles |
Some OF them are regarded as respectable
members OF society, and they hold conventions
to protect their interests Still the tramp, |
tramp Tramp goes on, and before this article |
can see the light, five thousand more of our
poisoned army will have hidden their hame
and disgrace IN the grave.