The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1875-12-15
The Temperance Convention at
the Opera House To-day.

S@uHsH VI lHgempeERHCe' 4He HPeAkel
said that the underlying causes Of in
temperance are principally improper
food, lack Of pure air and proper exer,
else and overwork, "In the manufactur.
ing towns OF England pale, cmaciated
badly developed men and women crowd
the mills, and when they get chance the
ale houses also. The air Of these towns
in the north OF England is surcharged
with metallic gases, so that person ac'
cnstomed TO pure air cannot breathe il
for fifteen minutes without nausea, and
the work people are obliged to stimulate
themselves with
BEER IN LARGE QUANTITIES,
and when Saturday night comes they
seek relief by crOwding the ale houses
and drowning misery in drunken debauch
In the southern part OF that country the
agricultural labOrers work sixteen hours
day in harvest time, and support life
upon bread, potatoes and little sailed
bacon. They drink to excess every time
they get chance. From these facts the
lecturer inferred that lack OF strength in:
duced by want OF nutriOus food is a cause
0f temptation to indulge in stimulants.
Coming to this side Of the Atlantic he re.
terred to the sewing women Of this city,
who toll from early dawn till late at night
to make up an average, seVenty.Rve or
eighty cents day, Living principlly up.
on bread and tea, they break down every
two or three weeks from sheer exhaus.
tion. Yet these women are the mothers
OF the race, and children developed in
that condition come into the world bear.
ing upon them the effects Of that e1haus.
ton throughout their lives in the shape
OF weak constitutions, and continual
craving for that strength which should
have been theirs; and they naturally seek
to supply It's place with stimulants. In
this country, too he said, we have q class
OF small farmers that have lived upon
their land for generations. They are
really american peasants" and they can
be found fifty or one hundred miles from
New York city. They live upon salt meat
potatoes and bread two.thirds Of the year;
and what Ia the result2 When you look
at them narrowly you find they are AZ.
ilicted with 81. Vitus' dance, and fre.
quently lunacy, and that they are really
fast dying out, as Is shown by statistics.
The children Of these people, weak and
undevelOped, are very apt to fall into
ways Of drinking. Another important
point made by the lecturer was this:-
We are now tnrning out Of our common
schools class OF.
HIGHLY DEVELOPED CHILDREN,
we'll educated and with strong artistic
tastes. They arc the children, mainly, Of
poor parents. They go out Into the
world and meet with the competition that
exists in trade. They cannot bear the
coarse, low associations amid which they
are thrust, They suffer the most dread.
iul Of all privations-lack Of sympa.
thetic companionship. They arO untitled
for such work, and the result Is that hay
ing no occupation the world has no field
for them, they become discouraged, and
great number Of them are driven TO
drunkenness. There Is to-day, he said, a
fiction that all honest labor Is honorable;
but It Ia only fiction, because there are
certain trades and occupations TO which
a stigma il aLtaChed-suCh aS the barber,
the 6ootblack, the hOstler, the cook, &c.
Now, these trades are indiSpensably neces.
sary, and they are honorable, and this
stigma Is part Of an old prejudice that
has Aoated down to us from feudal times.
The speaker claimed that the lawyer, the
merchant and all those In the upper walks
Of life are dependent upon these classes,
inaqmuch as the lower classes perform for
them thousand offices which leave them
time to devote 10 their higher oCcupa.
tions. Driven into these Calllngs which
are looked upon as degrading, and losing
self.respect, the sensitive and educated
man resorts tO drinking ln despair. An
other great cause Of drinking Is the over.
straining OF the mental faculties. The
speaker agreed that this was fast age,
and a man finds It necessary 10 rise last
in his profession or be counted q failure.
The result Of this Is there Ia
TOO MUCH STRAIN ON ONE DEPARTMENT
OF the brain, that Is the department whose
exercise Is necessary 10 gain our bread.
The brain Is an organ Of different depart.
ments, and one faculty is rested by exer.
cising another. Business demands, how.
ever, will not permit this, and q man is
compelled to be all one thing or another;
that particular part Of the brain Ia over.
strained, the man breaks down and re.
sorts To stimulants. When a man finds
his true place in life, when his occupation
is congenial, he has one Of the greatest
incentives to true temperance. As an In.
stance Of this the speaker cited the fact
that professional aclors and singers who
have attained to eminence are very care.
ful about their physical condition.
The way TO cure this appetite, Mr.
Mulfor thought, Is 10 give the man q
healthy body and the exercise Of his will
power. This power, he contends, Is con.
stantly increasing by exercise, II man,
therefore, falls fifteen, twenty or one hum
dred times IL does not matter. Pick lin
ut again. II he abstains for three weeks
he accumulates will power enough to en-.
able him to abstain for six weeks alter
ward. The class Of people that Ia pro.
duced in the tenement houses and under
the various disadvantageous circum.
stances detailed, loses all Selt::reSpect
and falls into the mire Of drunkenness.
They are numerically superior 10 the
higher classes, and, being their political
equals, send their Representatives to
Congress, and these Representatives
make the laws 10 conform to their own
ideas Of life, which arc different from
our ideas. 49,,
In conclusion, he said that tile higher
classes must educate the lower classes up
10 their standard or be dragged down to
theirs. There was no alternative.
SECRETARY STANTON had a mighty curt
way OF doing things and a desire to attain
his ends by the shortest possible roads.
tf.no, Jo,h,insu b;s innIness for mono.