The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1877-01-20
The Effects Of RIM Traffic

The effects of this traffic are we'll
known. The public mind has been.with
remarkable intensity. directed TO this
subject for ten years in this land. and
the details have been laid before the
American public. II Is believed that no
vice has ever been 50 faithfully 9uaoed.
and the details 50 we'll aScertaihed, A.
the vice of intemperancc in this nation.
1t is far better understood than thc eN-
tent of gambling. or piracy, or robbery.
or the slaye-trade. Ii is established now
beyond the possibility of debate. that
ardent spirits i, Il poison. a, certain. as
poison. II may be more slow III lis ci-
lccts. but il is not the less certain This
is established by the testimony Of an
physicians and chemists who have eN-
pressed an opinion on the subject. Iii
not necessary for the welfare of man IL
an ordinary drink. This is proved by
the like testimony. by the example oi
many thousands who abstain from IL.
and by the fact that. before it, inven-
ton. the Roman soldier. the Scythian.
and the Greek. were as hardy and LONG
| lived as men have been since. Ii di-
rect tendency is toproducc disease, lrov-
crty. crime and death. Its use tends to
corrupt the morals. TO eniecble the in
tellcct, to produce Incidence. Wretched-
ness and woe in the family circle: 10
shorten life, and 10 hurry 10 Il lOathsOmc
grave; to spread pail oforief over fam
lilies and nations. 1t is ascertained 10
be the source of nine-tentls of all the
pallpersm. and nine-tcnths of all The
crimes in the land. 1t fills olr streets
with drunkards. our alms-houscs with
loathsome wretches, our iails with poor
criminals, and supplies our gibbeis with
victims. 1t costs the land on which We
live more than 100 900, 900 of dollars an
nually. and renders Us no compensation
but poverty, want, curses. lcath>omc-
ness and tears. In any single year in
this Union, could the effects be gathered
into one single group. they would pre-
sent TO the eye the following affecting
details. An army of at least 30000u
drunkards-not made up of old men. OF
the feeble, but of those in early life OF
our youth. of our men of talents and in
fiuencc an enlistment from the bar the
bench, the pulpit, the homes of the rich,
and the iire-SideS of piety: the abode~ OF
the intelligent as we'll as the places of
,obscurity. and the humble ranks-all
reeling together 10 drunkard's grave.
With this army Napoleon would have
ovcrrun Europe. In the same group
would be no less than 10000 criminals
made such by the use ofardent spirits
criminals of every gradesand die. sup
ported at the expense of the sober. and
lost to morality. and industry, and hope
the source of lawsuits. and the iOull-
tain of no small part of the expenses OF
courts of Justice. In the same group
would be no less than 20o.o00 pauper,.
! in land abounding in all the wealth
that the richest soil can give. and under
all the facilities which the most favored
spot under the whole heaven can fur
nish for acquiring a decent and an hon
est subsistence. Paupers. supported at
the expense ofthe sober and the industri-
Gus, and creating no small part of our
taxes, to pay for their Incidence. and
wretchedness and crimes. And in the
, same group would be no less than six
hundred insane persons, made such by
intemperance, in all the hOrrid and re-
, voting forms of delirium-the con-
science destroyed, the mind obliteratod.
and hope and happiness fled forever.
And in the same group there would be
; no less than $4,000 of our countrymen.
who die annually, rs the direct effect of
the use of ardent spirit. Thirty ihou-
sand of our countrymen sinking TO the
, most loathsome and dishonOred of all
I 2lNNtN. llt gravy VI lliN vi illN
is Just summary of the obvious and
sure effects of this vice. The innumer-
: able woes that il incidentally causes the
weeping and prcans of the widow and
! the atherless; the crimes and vices
which il tends To introduce into abodes
that would. but for this. be the abodes
, of peace, are not. and cannot be taken
into the account.
. Now this state OF things, If produced
= in amy other way, would spread weep
" ing and sackcloth over nations and CON
tinents. Any sweeping pestilcnce that
a could do this, would hold a nation in
/ alarm and difiuse, from one end of IL to
IS the other. trembling and horror. The
r world has never known anything else
i like IL. The father of mischief has new
. er been able to invent any thing that
~ should difiuse more widespread and
+ dreadful evils.-[Dr. Barnes.
e Initiate the example of a locomotive
T. H. ,utno olono whistles Ovai. his xx-orlg