Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1874-10-02

The excellent talk which comes 10 the
public from various quarters. 70 the
efec; that 1.-THE Gospel method j. the only
true way to reclaim drunkard- and drunk
ari-makers, l. doubtless often sincere. l.,
would be more effective. perhaps. if not 50
exclusively confined To- this kind Of offence
against manhood and against society. We
hea- ver7 little advocacy Of the duty or pro
Uriety of combining our la5Jrs with burglars
To moral sua~i1u Yet the burglar crime Is
tile result Of bluntei 10y depraved or per
yerte3 moral sense Why Is it not the best
way in has case To q 70 him kindly. work
upon his conscience. show him that there
are Legitimate and properu~es for his wedges.
and drills and jimmys, rouse his religious
natare and point him TO higher iile.-and
20 DO 10 more? Doubtless this method. OF
moral saasion. should not be omitted with
any criminal but men do not confRe them
selves to tins method. because in practice it
has NOT been found sufficiently effective
Penal laws are made and enforced. because
men wil NJ, always yield either to the still
small voice within, or To the uplifting
Christian hand without. Society must pro
Tee, itself and if men Will Dot hear they
must be made to fJrbear. For the same
reason. laws repreSsive Of the SALE of int1z-
icating drinks become a necessity in all
civilized communities. There is 70 civilized
land in which, TO some extent or at some
time. tine necessity Of checking or forbidding
the sale Of intoxicants Is not recognized.
To some extent. by Sunday laws. by fixing
hours Of closing dram shops, by pol ice regula-
tions. by authority to arrest drunken men,
the fact that the trade in Liquors cannot
safely be put on the same ,oting as the
trade in nonr. i recognized. Even where
all laws are suspended by milit Ary authority,
the order OF the military col nmander takes
the place Of the repressive- statute. The
rules and orders of every camp and every
snip of war show that zen military com
munities cannot exist an answer their pur-
pose with free rum.
The only practical Q nestion is as TO the
extent and mode of repression. In this
State, our law after Ipts to confne the sale
Of liquors to eerta N authorized agents, for
certain purposes ,cognized by the majority
Is necessary and proper. 1t is based on the
same principle 5 every repressive law and
for him who O. nieS the right Of society TO
protect itself oy such law there is no stop
ping place be tween prohibition, - so-called,
and free ruiA. The law Is a wholesome one.
1t deserves the support of courts and legis-
iators and Of all law-abiding citizens, with
out which al laws fail. 1t binders not-at
least 1t on ght not TO hinder-any amount of
kindly AZ d Christian effort with off .nders.
The evil Of intemperance is many saded,
and u.ust De fought with all lawful and
avaIf4ble weapons. Let persuasion be ,tied
BY those who are good at it, and till for
bee rance ceases to be a virtue Let US tench
by example, often more powerful than pre-
cept. Let Us try appeals to self-interest and
material good, where higher spiritual incen-
iives fail Let us try to remove temptation
IRON those who are weak of moral purpose
let US try to instil good habits in early life
by family training let us have the strong
hand Of the law for cases where moral
motives and Influences fail.