The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-01-20
fTor ~ Dtspsschl b
,R60rs0 % sAs PshMo sJ WE geslls.is-
9 - 81 She 0fAN4 DaSfsssn 1sshes !. =

Il 4 p q - K
1885, @ sAs Psssfo. sE sas Gscassais-
- 81 She orsRA Dayfsssn DssW ri
T&mpeEaDce. ssss5
iThe undersigned, 10 committee appointed
~ .the Grand DIvision Sons Of Temperance
gtate OF Virginia, TO prepare and publish 80
nSIdress 10 the people OF the State, ha3e enc
honor TO present the following to the ais,
V,asaIonate confederation Of all gooa aug
people within the limits OF tGssno'
bic old Commonwealth. 90
" It Il NOS the purpose OF this connKk1ss W
urge the repeal OF any existing aW, vsals
enactment Of any new law 10 Dessr Sn .ns
question, but 10 call the atlenttoh W tnoee
whose high aim Is the pnpic sou W une
important fact, taken nom the most excs,iens
report OF the State supertntenaenS OF Eau,
cation for the year 1879, and a few additional
suggestions which the committee desire 20
aaY before the public. BY reference to sald
report It will be seen that the money ex"
pended annually for strong drink as oeyer. !.
age In this State would pay all expenses Oh
our State Government for several years, m
Guiding interest on the public debt. The
following extract from the same report we
riye in the terse and powerful language of
the report itself:
!. Tbere is another sort Of damage, Which,
a].hcucb sometimes exaggerated, deserves 70
he taken into account. 1t Is the injury done
40 public order and to private health and
enterprise by the drinking usages OF society :.
This SOFT Of injury IS only too familiar TO
every mind; but If q calculation could be
accurately made of the time wasted 40 con.
nection with drinking, the injury to bust
ness, and the cost Of crime, pauperism, in
sanity. sickness, aud litigation resulting from
in,enperance, it is believed by statisticians
that these incidental evils would prove more
costlp than the liquor itself, enormous as It's
direct cost has been shown TO be-"
We are painfully conscious at the outset
of our inability to deal properly with this
momentous question. We expect deep
seated opposition, possibly violent contra
slictioD. from those more Immediately IN
ferested in the sale Of intoxicating spirits;
and we know that in everything appertain-
Ing to earthly Improvement time and eliort
are essential elements Of success. Yet, II
no other good shall follow the undertaking
than a more careful examination of this
question, which is Mt present both chal'
longing and receiving the critical examipa-
ton Of those responsible for the protection
OF society in all parts of the civilized
world, from the humblest magistrate to
the minister Of state. we shall feel
that our labor has not been in vain. That
the evils which afi1ict society by intempe-
rance are manifold, alarming, and afford am
ple reason for the deepest concern to those
who value the true prosperity of society
above individual gain, we believe no rational
person Of the present day will deny. ltcan-
not be doubted that very much of the want,
crime, vice, degradation, despair, and ruin,
oh sr 70 no nr inI
to the use of ardent spirits, is of such cha
rncter and exists under such conditions that
an approximate estimation would he hazard
Gus, as on the threshold it battles specula-
ton and defes exact determination; yet a
careful examination from known and posi-.
tive data reveals IN amount Of evil in diver
sified forms beyond the power of the pen 10
portray or the most gifted orator 10 oe-
scribe.
1t was the purpose Of this commlltee 10
have given the public statement III uetalI
of the results of their examinations IN the
criminal statistics of different States ana
countries OF The world, but want OF space
forb;ds the undertaking. 1t will hardly sur
prise any TO learn that in whatever direction
or among whichever people the inquiry was
made. even if only moderately critical, each
result is practically counterpart of its an
tecedens. The fatal Upas tree, unlike its
physical prototype, houlishes in all countries,
is common in oil climes, and bears in alt sea- !
SONS its too-abupdaut fruitage of disease and
crime, desolation and death. The only raria- |
ton of m apparently universal rule is that
the tree flourishes best and produces more
abundant and fatal fruit in those countries |
and among the people in all other respects
most refined by culture and more advanced
in civilization. If it be true that history |
teaches by example, lessons have come down |
10 us through ages not wise to ignore or |
safe to cast aside without examination. |
If there has been ut any period in the
past a time when the influence eXerted on
society By the use of intoxicating drinks was
of bcnefcent character it is unknown to
this committee, while to prove the reverse is
only to scan in an indifferent manner the
pages of the past, whether they be the pages
of sacred or proiane history. That the im-
moderate use of strong drink is the parent
of innumerable evils we fearlessly assert. /
That the moderate use leads in the greater
number Of cases TO use immoderate we be-
lieve none will deny. 1t is fact too well
established to be for moment denied that
the elements, ingredients, aud poisonous
employed in the adulteration Of
liquors are ofttimes of nature peculiarly |
dangerous and deadly, and the increase and
consumption in our country is maryelous1
beyond conception. We make this, then,
the basis Of our appeal, and to enter into
extensive elaboration appears to us q Work5ll
of entire supererogation. - 81, !,
The liquors sold at the present day are
only another name for poison, not as apps |
rent in their immediate effects as arsenic,
or corrosive subiimate, but as cel-s
tain, and in some respects more 10 pe uo,
plored. The person who resorts to the mSIe
active poison to terminate this phase ol tne
usually succeeds at once; !. he fingers NOV "
tight, rob, gamble, steal, squander, aest.Oy,
wrong, and murder. until he WRAPS tne uask
mantle of wickedness around NAN ciosei
than the robe of Nessus, and becomes . pup
lie curse ia private form. BE taxes not ne
bard.earned pittsnce0 of his Trail wife or deli
cate children To use in obtaining means 20
crafty his denrayed and brutal appehte
while they are driven TO beg tor bread or
sua for sbeIter. Arsenic does not MI
% repletion our atTnshouses cnaritaDie
institutions. police. stations, ana penn,
tentiaries. with its Victims Alcohoi
rioes .T3,a money expended dor ardent
snirits IN most. III not all Of the STATES OF
thia' country woinild soon pay Its public IN
iy establish and endow institutions
n .iearnine. hospitals for the sick, asylums
FOR the INDECENT, educate the young, and
s IN sti,s elimination from the police res
cor1,s. of most of the crime chat now stains
mr. cIyilization. The demon of intempe-
.s IN, ID q, annually drawing down to dishon.
~, ersyas thousands OF the most gifted
uonnr men or the nation; those who might
"a ,araone tie best guardians Of our civil
those Wt,e might aid to control and |
opIda 40 ths highest and purest channels our |
our art those who might
stand as wntcdmen on the walls OF Zion and |
adorn any and every exalted vocation In life. |