Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-12-21
THE LIQUOR QUESTION.
Mrs. SwissheIn's Altered Views.
correspondence Chicago Tribune ]

Correspondence Chicago Tribune
LIEPsING, Saxony. Sept. 25, 1875.
| have now lived five months in
Germany, and have paid close atten-
ton to the habits of the people, and
am convinced there is not 1.-THE of
the Drunkenness among them that
there is with us; and, SO far as | can
learn, there is not now, and never has
been, temperance society of any
kind. cannot learn that there ever
has been an attempt to make the man
ufacture or sale of liquor disreputable.
There certainly is no odium attached
to it. The most respectable grocers
keep supply of fermented and half
liquors, and they are in universal use.
Beer is as staple an article of house,
hold consumption as bread or cheese.
Old and young, male and female, drink
it. They take it with their meals in
stead of tea; and, in the five months
in which l have been watching for
drunken folks, have seen two men
partially intoxicated.
There has been one frightful MUIR
der committed, in cold blood, for
money; but have not heard of any
one being killed, or seriously hurt in a
drunken brawl; yet the people do not
confne to malt and fermented liquors,
for brandy and whisky are as easily
obtained as wine, and have not been
able to learn that there is any more
restriction on the sale than on that of
tea or tobacco There is no disgrace,
no penalty, attached to the manufac-
ture, sale or use. These are reserved
for abuse. Each person is required
to govern his or her own appetite, and
falling to do so, bears the consequence
alone. 1t is the man who gets drunk,
not the one that furnishes the means,
who bears the penalty of drunkenness,
and the result of the system is GER.
tainly admirable as compared with
ours.
/ look about here and back fifty.fve
years to the time when there was
barrel of "cherry bounce" in the cellar
of my fathers house, bottle of whis
key in the kitchen cupboard, and wine
or cordial in the sitting-room closet
when my father, grandfather and
uncles all took "bitters" every morn
as conscientiously as they held family
worship, and compelled every child in
the house to take bitters. Not one of
them ever was drunk, or, if they were,
| never heard of it. My brother
always had to take bitters when | did,
and never learned to love them. In
fact, do not think either of us could
have overcome the disgust we acquired
for the taste of whiskey, for we always
had to take a spoonful with our castor
oil or Epson salts.
If any one came to the house on a
visit, or on business he or she was
not politely received unless offered
something to drink; and, when the
Rev. John Black came to make pas
toral visit and ask us our questions,
he took glass of wine and some cake.
| never heard of him being drunk, or
even ''the worse for liquor" In fact,
| never knew, in the list of our friends
and relations, of any one who did get
drunk, until long after | had enlisted
to reform the world through the
agency of temperance organizations
| Joined them early, and have, until
quite recently, labored faithfully to
promote their growth, and have come
to the conclusion that | had good
deal better have been otherwise en-
ployed.
think We succeeded in driving a
majority of conscientious men out of
the manufacture and selling of liquor
and turned it so largely into the hands
of INSCRIPTIONS persons that the adul-
teraion and poisoning of this staple
and human consumption became a
matter of course. To this adultera-
ton and poisoning are due the mad
ness and murder, and nine-tenths of
the crime traced to its use.
We raised excitement in which
hundreds of thousands signed solemn
''pledges," afterward broken. We i'm
posed legal restrictions, which were
evaded by thousands of the men who
voted for them and tens of thousands
of otherwise law-abiding citizens,
Prohibitory laws have engendered |
wholesale decentralization, in the tricks
resorted to for their evasion, and have
thus aided in lowering the standard
of truthfulness and business integrity, |
until purjury itself is scarcely regard
ed as a crime, and our business is
paralyzed for lack of confidence in the |
integrity of business men.
The temperance movement has GER
tainly aided in bringing about that
state Of society in which man con-
Victed Of having fatty contradicted
himself on oath can be the candidate
of powerful party for the highest
office in the land,
Let honest temperance men look
this matter squarely in the face. tits
not possible that a man can take and
break solemn pledge, without loss
of self-respect, and loss of respect
for the truth yet, under the influence
oftemperance excitements, how many,
many thousands have been induced to
take pledges, often ratified by a judi