Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1874-04-01
The Total Abstinence Campaign.

u hNhth
, up among the friends OF temperance l
, this and other cities Of the EGst. afford
sufficient proof Of the wide divergence o
conditions which the same questions pre-
sent In town aud country, and 10 whieI
we have frequently referred III these col
umns. One D0riOr of Divinity anon!
us, than whom there are few ADLER au'
none more devoted. u man with opinion
of his own, and with the courage of hi
opinions, has frankly stated lis belief tha
moderation Ia the use Of intoxicating Ii
Quors. aud not abstinence. is the manll
aad Christian-like way of meeting tempt
alton and setting a good example TO ones
n~eighbors. This position has been vic.
Iently assail9d by many Others of equa
sincerity, with perhaps too strict a con.
structlon of the letter of the Gospel, moi
to say with too little reliance upon it's Inc.
giving spirit. The question is not Sc
much one OF principle az Of circumstance
The temperance movement of this year,
which has effected such great aud. upon
2 nv "fOiNf cdiuialN lNoui'C. uuN DttI DNt-
essarily u movement for total abstinence.
1t could not be anything else FROM the MA.
ture Of the case. 1t had its rise in the
townships of the West, where there is,
strictly speaking, no moderate drinking.
Society is divided there into TWO classes.
the large majority who drink water, and
the minority who drink whisky. There is
10 middle camp. The dinner-party, which
one of our great historians has called the
highest manifestation of modern civiliza.
ton, is unknown in every rural residence
west of the Allegheny mountains. Even
the sideboard of uur forefathers with its
decan'er Of Port and MADEIRA is obsolete
in all that region. The two national bev.
erages which survive are whisky and wa-
ter. The latter is drauk in most cases ut
home, aud the former at the grocery. The
one is universally recognized as the proper
and wholesome drink Of men. The othe,
is never defended aud never drank with.
a certain degree Of shamcfa cedness
The very names gwen to the places where
1t is sold show how the public opinion Of.
the drinking classes shrmks from avowiug
it. They are never called whisk .shops,
hide their true character under such
ouplomisms as groceries" and "sa.
Ip. ....4.F
The active campaign against liquor has
been carried Gu by women. who are the
sufferers by Its ravages They
ire all in favor Of total abstinence for the
reasons. Their fathers. sons,
md brothers. who have made their lives
miserable, never drink with moderation.
therefore they carrot believe such
moderation possible. Their self.!ovo re.
at the thought that others NAV use
blame q beverage which transforms
hose dearest So them iuto frnds and
.ruies. They shrink IRON admitting that
heir men are weak or depraved hey onI
heir Fellows. They seek therefore for
.me reasonable explanation FIR their fall.
nd some person 70 hold responsible for II.
hese are at nee found in the rumseIler
.ho supplies the means Of debasement. and
he moderate drlnkcr. the mythical char.
cter whose example has Iu,cl the incrn.
Gus TO ruin. All who have heard the
importance lecturers Of the Western viii.
&c will remember the vigor and fire with
Inch these travelling orators always de.
to paint the deep aud emuIous de-.
IT these two classes of nalclactors i
he drunkard was much moro kindly 9
Gated. Tie was usually represented as :
SOLDERING innocent, who woald reform =
I'd live clearly if it were not for the
mptatiOns held out by the dealer, and !
e hnneful example set BY the cold-heart L
aristocrat who "onlv drank what was u
od tor him.. These were The only !
eeches relished by the audience, and b
nsequently were about the only cues ;
ide. They pleased the wives and mo- II
ers Of the drunkards. who formed the II
Tx OF the audience. They met with no :
position from the rumsellers, Tor there II
re none In the m%eetiog. aud none from "
moderate drinkers, for there were none Ii
town.
The question whether wine is, as the "
Massachusetts statute styled it, ST
good creature Of God is entirely irrel- :.
ant TO the temperance crusade in
Wet There i so little used ia IT
%counir, gros-shops that it is not worth
1t is more talked about than u
INK. Young tepers, whose steady diet "
will say they /" take a glass Of
le when they want it." aud it is from
mild and evasive expression Of their
dependence that their won ankind con-
We so fierce a hatred for the very name ;,
VINE. But wine is rarely tasted by II
habltucs Of the bar.rocms. There is. Ii
short too little moderate drinking. and
little use OF wine to fern any SUI stan.
public opinion to resist the march of
crusaders. The water drinkers SYM or
hize with them, he i~runkards do MT wi
e to oppose them, and SO grog. shop az Ii
grog'shop is swept OUT of the way. The sp
ait is so good and 50 praise worthy that
It people do not care to question the
logical accuracy OF the processes Col
Oh have led 10 it. The only lhlng Oh
ch can DC insisted upon is that they 40;
keep within the law in all their Oh. =
atoms, and this they have genefalIg Oh
e. They have relied. in mos; eases. of
n The efficacy Of prayer, and upon the int
iagions enthusiasm bred hy rAcir own Pc
erity and ardor, to accomplish their 40,
poses. They are not perplcxedb by the -,
pllcated conditions which prevent heir Ut
from succeeding in our greui cities, ly
we would do we'll, in considering the old
means open to us TO Obtain similar