Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1874-02-07
PUBLIC LEDGER.
nurrrMaLRwAR ON WHISKY.

THE FEMALE WAN YIN MON Il
Those who Imagine that fanaticism be-
longed exclusively to the dark ages, when
men and women were tortured for opln'
ions. or to the era of the Duke de Alva,
or the period of WITHDRAWING in Pnrl-
tanical New England, will have the illu'
sion dispelled when they read OF the
socalled temperance movement con-
Quoted in a riotous manner by the
women of Ohio. There is nothing IN
the teachings of Christ or the apostles
to Justify such proceedings, and these
misled women have simply unsexed
themselves and violated the civil law in
a vain and foolish crusade against the
liauor traffic. Such alb ought to be
dispersed by the Sheriff, and every man
who has wife or daughter there ought
to take her home and lock her up until
reason regains its sway. Liquor selling,
however hurtful in it's influences, is
licensed and regulated by law, and
no set of men or women have
moral or legal right to injure the bust
ness any more than to attack butcher
for not selling fat beef, doctor for al
legged malpractice, clergyman for bad
sermons, grocer for selling stale pro-
visions, railroad company for not
keeping the track in good repair,
steamboat with defective boilers, gas
company for not supplying
good article of gas, or a poll
tician for being in the wrong party.
Followed out to its legitimate
sequence such spirit would suppress
the churches, eventually make war on
all the institutions of society that might
happen to be obnoxious to these violent
refermers, and bring all things and all
men to common level. 1t is similar to
Commune. except that the manifesta-
tions are made under the guise OF re-
ligion. Yet the movement is most in
tolerant. If successful the leaders
would next turn their attention to Sab
bath breakers, hold camp meetings fer
the salvation of all who desecrate the
holy day As yet no physical force has
been resorted to, but these women have
in one town, Hillsboro, Ohio, erected a
tent in front of a drug store, where
eighty.three Of them have passed whole
days in singing and praying for the
uDgodly proprietor. who, it seems,
is retail dealer in the interdicted
fluid. An Injunction was served on
them, and they moved on. While we
have great faith in the efficacy Of prayer,
notwithstanding Professor Tyndale's
theory and the infdel ideas Of the age,
and entertain in our secular capacity OF
journalists the highest respect for good
moral and religious movements, we
draw a grand distinction between these
and such psychological phenomena as
are now sweeping over Ohio. Great
moral revolutions are never wrought in
a day. Permanent reforms are not Of q
spontaneous growth. False teachers,
who would carry the kingdom Of
heaven by storm, continually rise and
fall. They are as evanescent and futile
for good as Jonah's gourd, which sprang
mp in a night and withered as quickly.
It is true, as regards the Ohio druggists
and saloon keepers, that several Of them
have closed their places aud promised |
to sin no more. What maf could
Withstand the opportunities of a
hundred ladies lying siege to
his place Of business7 But
this, in fact, is a matter Of force and
necessity, as much as if the doors we're
barricaded, for all business was for the
time driven of. What dra m-drinker
would think Of charging through a col
nmn Of ladies two or three times day |
for his bitters when he could walk a
square further and take his toddy IN
peace3 The movement has so much that
is ridiculous, impracticable aud un-
wise about it that we are surprised such |
things could occur in enlightened com
munities.