The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1874-09-02
TEMPERANCE.
Congressional Interference in
behalf of Temperance Reform,


4 hduringsthe last deesIdey lIas harll " failed
to note the steady progress of our. ma
tional ideas, towards that form and sys-
tenn of government which is said to have
been the pet idea of so great statesman
! as Alexander Hamilton And however
much we, whose thoughts offlnational
| policy have been.mouIded after the Rind
/ of his more. successful rival in the w0r k
/ oflgiving shape and perIhananey to our
republican. institutions, may look with
suspicion and dread upon a centralized
po%er,and the consequent down
! of the. Intervening, framework of the
authority of Individual States, the fact
/ will not be denied by the ohseFvant Tead-
| er,tthat, practically speaking we have
] already succeeded to centralized. gov
ernment; or at least that the currents of
thought are everywhere setting in in
| that direction. F.fstfsf-r.s sss d -itif a-.
The very talk about.as third term for
! the present incumbent of the White
House, philosophicallyc considered, owes
! its inception perhaps to this direction of
the national mind, which, by, the mere
force of circumstances, as it were, is be.
ing compelled into the strong current OF
Capitalization f-- r,as..- f..aifs- oir.lp
Without stopping to inquire, whether
this will be good, in itself or not, and
whether. as, a, people, the government
viii be better for being centralized, con-
solidated, put into the hands Of the Con-
gress and President, let it be our present
aim to consider how we can best. avail
ourselves of the salient points in the new
position of things, and turn the political
power in the hands of the National Con-
gress to the good of our fellow-citizens,
Bad men have endeayored to control
it to mischief-how shall good men coun-
teract the evil, and make this power,
which is in the hands of Congress and
the President, available for the ends of
morality and virtue, and that to the
greatest number? Can it be done? We
believe it can, and in this ways. Through
the eGi71est, and true friends Of Temperance.
The greatest question of this age, per
haps, is that of Temperance reform. 1t
is a question which every honest, sober,
industrious man in the United States is
deeply interested in. The philanthropist,
the patriot, and the christian, start to-
gether here, or should do so, and all that
is needed to shape and control the legis-
lation of the country, SOFAS to insure the
suppression of the dreadful national vice
of intemperance, is for the friends of
humanity to combine, for the sake of
humanity, i'll the suppression of the evil.
But they. have certainly tried long enough
and failed often enough, in their divided
and distracted cOunsels, and efforts to
reach the root and source of the evil
through municipal laws, State enact
ments, lectures, moral suasion, and the
like. -4sop's fable of the little thief
who minded not the pelting with clods
and turf, but who quickly came down
from the apple tree when the stones were
resorted to by the patient husBandman,
may furnish some Instruction here. In
tehip6rarce Should be dealt with as a
crime against society, and its aiders and
abettofs as criminals iiibt' only in the
ssf$htof the moral law, but Of tile 7stdttite
law, as well, If men would hope to see it
'banishcd from the world
Now, if temperance men choose, they
can reach this great" evil through the
| National Congress, and more Veffectually
than any other way. In fact, it is the
| only way that the issue cam be fairly
made, and the end aimed at attained.
| Congress holds the key to the situation.
| 1t car legislate for the whole country.
Here is field for the Temperance re-
former as broad as the continent Who
| will first show- his faith in God and Fth6
good cause of his fellow-plhn who among
the politieians-ofz tlse-tlsy, zby-stepping
forward and Qcfqipyipg this feidlof Tenn
peFaneee erefoTFppn- -aflf F,ctn sIF3 uiGgg ~
Congress can reach the, question, eitheF
directly 1y Lagisag sucA a tfr, upon the man
ufactarss ,sqIe,qnd traffic IN distilled liquors
as. viii, simply amount TO prohibition,
(and let po, one who is at heart an enemy,
or openly 50 to this great cause, say, in
defence.of the, whisky seller, and manu-
faeturer, and in opposition to the drunk
ards Yife and helpless children, that this
so0uld be to rob people Of their property, sup;
posing that whisky is property, for the
law can, be ;fraEed so as to take effect at
u future day, if thought necessary, or
the question can, be, reached by propos-
ing an amendment TO the Constitution of
the United States which shall forbid the
mannfacture or sale of spirituous liquors
within the limits ef the United States,
except under sneh; restrictions as, ,slla Il
effcctually arrest, this great national evil.
These thoughtsIare thrown abroad not
without careful consideration. They are
for yopF, earnest attention, Temperance
friends, and all who desire, the good fOf
tlieiR fel llow,men, We shall have more
to say perlkaps,,at an FearlgsdaF.-tfer
.h6nr3t raft 5 W.T. II.
+ .i.llzsf. T71IT TIT. 81 - .,i1lsJy ed