Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1874-02-12
CORRESPONDENCE.
For the GalIipolis Journal
The Tcmperance cause.

WOiuCu CauuO ttkcbilcT W tCu thSh
wrongs, and devise plans by which
the moral pest houses of the city OF
Gallipolis shall be cleaned out, to the
end that.their husbands and sons may
escape temptation from q curse, that
does nothing more nor less than
breed death to mortal bodies, ana
damnation to immortal souls, q eurse
that has blasted more prospects, and
made more widows and orphans. than
any other agency since the time OF
Adams. transgression. This is a
strong assertion, yet | think there are
even keepers of groggeries n our
midst, that will subscribe to the state
ment. / do not purpose in this let
ter to picture to your readers the woe
that the trade in ardent spirits brings
upon the country every year, for
words will not do il. only aim to
relieve my mind of some thoughts
which 1 hope will aid the temperance
work.
Those individuals who are willing
to pay their way in this world by
pandering to the vices of their fell
low men-giving them poison by the
dram, and taking their money there
for, | fear are not prescriptions 10
regard to conscience, aud no srgu-
ment is necessary to convince this
people that such work is neither law
full nor manly. A thing may be legal,
in the sense of the law upon our stat
ute books, and still be very far from
right. We have an illustration Of
this fact in The back pay ''grab," one
Of the most audaciously legalized
robheries ever enacted since the
foundation Of the government. 1t is
incompatible to associate the word
honesty With the business of making
drunkards and town paupers, because
the fearful responsibilities Of those
who follow this branch of indus
try, (?) are not covered even by the
cloak of the law. Therefore, if it is
neither one thing nor the other
honest or lawful-what shall be said
of the responsibility of those who are
engaged in the traffic? We may the
orize as we will, over the position
and influence that money gives one
10 the affairs of this world, yet the
boarding of wealth, by absorbing the
hard-earned wages of the poor me
chanic, and reducing his family to
beggary, is nc feather in any mons cap!
/ hold that if one eve knows
how liquor tastes, there will he little
danger of craving it, and all who do
not observe this principle. are in
some danger all the time. Since the
days of Sir Walter Raleigh, young
men have thought it manly to smoke
and chew tobacco. They have the
same ideas respecting whisky, gin
and beer. Wby2 Because their faith
ers have taught them by their exam
Piles, that it Is manly. Fathers are
too often responsible for the vices of
their children. II they were never
e in dram shops, their son would
not GO there. With all the sad les.
sons of the past before us, is it not
strange that intelligent young men.
having their eyes wide open, and full
ly aware of the peril of the way,
with no respect for themselves, or the
prayers of their friends, will GO down
to destruction, as an OK goes to the
slaughter, and expecting at the same
time that their boys. will not follow
in the same footsteps. AS well ex
pect that a garden seed will not pro-
duce its kind, as to expect that the
little boys of to-day, and the genera
ton yet unborn, will not make topers,
unless men cease setting such exam
pies, and these schools of vice and
immortality are closed False teach
ing and bad examples, will never
produce true ideas and good habits.
1t is a moral a%bsurdity. "Train up
3 child in the way be should go, and
when he is cid, he will not depart
from it." is a Bible Injunction; train
up a child in the way that he should
not go, and he will not depart from
that either. One principle is quite
as true as the other.
Now, it is very proper for young
men to try to emulate their older
companions, and try to do something
that is manly, and | think that l can
suggest a laudable way for them to
distinguish themselves among their
companions. When it is considered
fashionable or popular for men and
thoughtless women to sip their cups
of wine and beer, and when these
young men are solicited to tip the
social glass, instead of initiating the
%depraved tastes of their friends, il
they would have the moral courage
to assert their manhood, by replying,
No Sir | dare not do it. and | do not
thank you for the temptation; be
sides, I'm too nice a man for that;
they will find that they have made a
mark that will furnish them with a
passport to good circles in life, ard
one that will be worth more TO them
than all the cigars and red noses in
the State of Ohio.
The agitation of the subject of
temperance in other places, has
reused this people from their slum-
bers. We have been sleeping, while
the devil and his industrious hosts
of satellites, have been sspping the
very foundations of society. The
women God bless their noble souls
we would be, a band of heather with
out them have always looked upon
the consequences of this abomina
ton with the greatest concern, and
they very wisely concluded that they
had serious business to do with GER
tain persons in our midst, and acting
| suppose upon the principle that in
union there is strength, organized,
and went to work. While they are
engaged in their labor of love and
pure good will, 10! and behold there
10 q great cry as of ono in distrasa