The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1874-05-27

little weight to experience and well
established facts It is q common
| thing for certain grades of mind to be
governed by desire and not by reason.
II Is from this class of PERSONS that
drunkards are made. The man who is
capable of reasoning from cause to
effect, and who is governed by reason
rather than impulse and desire, will
not be a drunkard. The road leading
to drunkenness and degradation is not
an unknown one. Every observing
person knows where it is located-its
starting point, its direction, and its
terminus. And yet thousands upon
thousands enter upon that road annu-
ally. Why? Because facts and expert
ence weigh nothing with them. They
baye seen the cup, they have tasted it,
| and they have been pleased with its
effects. The qualification of selfish
desire blinds their eyes to the terrible
results attending such gratifca-
ton. .Ez.- -.sf.
$50 it is with many who shun this
road toruin and who would have 9TH
ers shun it, Without stopping to
inquire as to what they can do. they
declare that they will compel men not
to travel on that road. They do not
consider their ability, or the means at
their disposal. They rush into the work
with zeal, but not with discretion.
Stern facts and convincing experience
| weigh nothing against blind zeal; and
the weak minded zealots are always
| proseriptive. The moment any one
calls halt for reflection, he is de-
nounced as '.whiskeyite, "rumsuck-
er," or something Of the sort. Igno-
rance and prescription are twins, aud
they are never separated. Now, why
| not reason and reflect as to the best
method to be adopted in the treatment
| of the liquor traffic? Does any sane
mind need additional or more conclu-
| sive evidence that the traffic cannot be
| suppressed by a single enactment of
that subject worth nothing? Why ig
have been tried and failed in every in
stance? Can any real good be gained by
by rushing madly into errors which
have been exposed by experience?
| Public sentiment is the source from
whence our laws are derived. and it is
we'll to consult that sentiment when
laws are made; for every one must
| know that statutes cannot be enforced
| against public sentiment. This has
been fully demonstrated in the enact
ment of laws by different States for the
| prohibition or regulation of the liquor
traffic. We have to-day in Ohio just
as good a prohibitory law as any legis-
| lature could frame and adopt; but it is
not, and cannot be enforced. Still,
there are many men in Ohio who are
clamoring for a ''prohlbitory law. !"
| They seem TO think that law upon
the statute book will close the saloons
whether there are any persons to en-
force that law or not.
| with knowledge of the fact that
prohibitory laws have everywhere
| failed to stop the traffic in Intoxicating
drinks; and with the additional fact
| that they have proved, and are proving
a de; dieter upon statute books, ope-
| rating as license for any and every
person to sell ardent-spirits when and
where they please, is it not time for
| sensible men and women to inquire as
to what can be done, and not continue
to waste their energies in efforts TO
accomplish impossibilities? fprohibi
| tory laws can not be enforced, and ex-
| perience demonstrates that such is the
fact, what can be done to restrain in-
temperance and finally eradicate the
evil? This is the practical question
for temperance men and women to
consider 1t is our belief that the best
results can be reached through rigid
| license system Such law can be en-
| forced, and it would result in very
materially reducing the number of pla-
ces where Intoxicating drinks could be
| had. 1t would reduce the saloons to
| about one tenth their present number
| it would insure responsible persons as
proprietors of those saloons; it would
| rob the traffic of its political power; it
would gradually stimulate the growth
of temperance sentiments and habits;
| and the result would be redemption
from the evils which now attend the
traffic. We do not claim that all these
benefits would flow from a license law
Immediately upon its adoption, but we
do believe that it would gradually aud
certainly carry public sentiment for
ward to the point where prohibition
| would be possible rsu