The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-04-16
Some Plain Talk to the Temper
ance Ladies'.

ance Ladies.
The agitation which is likely to be-
come widespread over the country,
caused by the aggressive action OF the
ladies IN the temperance movement"
is sufficiently important TO demand very
serious consideration. It Is very ngtural
when virtue Is arrayed against vice
that we should at once espOuse the
cause of virtue. And yet, before giving
our sanction to an act, does not common
prudence demand that we first consider
what Is likely to be the result Of this
antagonismY The question does not at
all involve the abstract principles Of
right and wrong, but it Is purely
question Of expediency. The more one
becomes impressed with the evils Of
intemperance Just so much more SER
iously must any proposed mode Of sup
preston be considered. Are the means
employed adequate to the ends desired ?
If 80, God speed the good work If not
then IL Is better to avoid an attack than
TO suffer a defeat In eradicating any
evil we must proceed as we would to de-
strOy an obnoxious shlub-strike at the
root. If we Top off some of the bran
ehes we are only pruning, and so defeat
ing our own purpose. The ladies have
made their attacks against salOOn-keep-
ers, the middle parties between supply
and demand. But it is easy to perceive
that so long as supply and demand exist,
just so long viii there be ehapnels of
communication opened. It is Just as
natural for demand to find supply as It
is for water to find its own level. "Re-
move the cause and the effect will cease. ("
Either adopt some means which will
efiectually prevent production or, what
Is the most effectual try and kill out the
demand, and when you once strike this
vital part the whole system reels under
the effects of the blow. This, of course,
is a matter of extreme difficulty It Is
comparatively an easy matter to keep a
pond from overlooking our land by
damming up the channels, but while
this might be a temporary benefit the
effect would be permanent should we
succeed in the more difficult task of
drying up the pond. This is precisely
analogous to the ladies' temperance
movement. Their work may be produc-
tive Of good, but we lear the benefits
viii be only temporary. There is an
abundance of whisky in the land which,
so long as 1t exists, is bound to find its
way to the thisty thrOats demanding it.
The points of attack then, lady leaders
In this movement, are very simple I:
either stop the manufacture of intOxicat-
AAAA AAAAolS "a uAACIb your cAAOlNe a. llAlcb
the consumer, and bring the whole
weight of your moral force to bear
against that unnatural appetite which Is
the root of the whole evil. Destroy
this and neither distilleFs nor dramsell-
ers will need your further attention.
Do you ask how this can be accomplish
edP We can tell you readily how it
can not be accomplished. This curse is
not TO be removed by declaiming against
it in public and tolerating it in private.
Treat the gentlemen as they treat you;
measure them by the standards by which
you are measured by them, and the
accessiOns to the ranks of temperance
viii surpass your most sanguine ex-
peetatiOns. If a woman is addicted 70
the excessive use Of ardent spirits, are
men still ready to take her to their
bOsOms with merely a sigh of pity
No; the sentence Is more stern and
severe, and-shall we add-mOre Just.
She IS banished from respectable society,
and her character considered wrecked.
Have you not sufficient nerve and NOR
al force to exact as high standard Of
vitue from them? Instead of boiling
over in public and being lukeWarm in
private, boil, If you wish TO, but try the
effect of freezing. You ladies who are
unmarried would acquire sufficient dig
my anu otANA fsbfA VI OAstANOeCA " ACAdoC
to associate with dFunkards, even If
they have sober intervals. Let young
men understand that, If they love ardent
spirits better than they do you, you con-
slider them already welded to q more
alluring mistress and are not disposed
TO become a bigamist. Is this asking
too much of you? Then go on in your
crusade against the rumsellers, pour ont
the walls of wrath upon the accursed
traffic, and compel the vender TO close
his 'front.' doors. Then in the evening
rest your head upon the bosom of his
sOdden patron, and, while you are in
haling the sweet fragrance Of Bourbon
and lager, let your mind repose under
the consciousness of duty well done
COurier-JOurRGl.