The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1877-02-22
The Temperance Revival.

The temperance revival in England and
,bo United States nearly equals the dimen
ms Of the religious revival to which pub.
T., attention has for more than two years
ison drawn. 1t has taken in Ireland the
sbone of Sunday closing movement. In
s,is M all classes-Catholics and Protestants
Cbnrchmen and Dissenters-have joined
Parliament still hesitates to pass the neces-
aorv law. but the petitioners for Sunday,
ojosinr act persevere In England, Cardi-
uaI Manning has given himself up to tenn
france work with an ardor not unlike that
IF Father Mathew. Several Of the Eng
I;sb bishops fully equal him in zeal A
Church of England Temperance Society
has been formed, which aims to check the
excessive consumption of spirits by the
Common people. Bishop Magee has sided
with the opponents of repressive legislation
bnt his declaration that he would rather
s,e England drunk than enslaved has not
hoan received with favor Public opinion
sots in favor of restraint upon the trade in
liouor. The question "what to do engages
s,me Of the best minds Of the nation Mr.
Lowe has written upon it in the FortaighHg
Perie,o Mr.. Bright has made a speech on
the "Gothenburg' plan, and the Queen has
become the patron of the Church of Eng
land Temperance Society. There is q
Growing conviction in England that some
Thing should be done, and the English peo-
ple. in their slow, persistent way, are set
ting about it.
The statistics Of Knglish drinking, if re-
ports can be depended upon, are fearful
In 1860, with population in England and
Wales of -, 900, 900, the number of com
initials for drunkenness was SS,36l in
1919. with population of 24,000,000, the
committals were 203, ,SS6 At this rate of
increase there is no telling where the evils
Of excessive drinking are going to end
Their bearing upon the industrial and com
marciaI as well as the social and moral
interests of the nation is very clear. Among
the plans of relief is that described above
as the "Gothenburg," so called from the
citv Of that name in Sweden 1t proposes
that the selling of liquors shall be taken
out IF the hands Of individuals and be as
sumed by the local authorities The advan-
tagcs claimed are that each municipality
adopting it can at once reduce the number
ofIiguor shops, prevent the sale of adultera-
ted liquors, and in mlnv ways keep the
trade under restraint. Mr. Chamberlain
member Of Parliament. is the chief advo-
cate Of this scheme. The Town Council
Of Birmingham recently voted in It's favor
In our own country the temperance
revival has been more confined to hard
drinkers They have taken up temperance
as a question Of selfreformation. Mr.
Moody has also in his meetings given
prominence to this subject with the very
best result. Whatever inspires Incorporate
men with the confidence that they can re-
cover their manhood is an unmixed benefit
to them. Experience has proved that they
have j peculiar power to reach each other
In the past two years the Reform Clubs
Of Eastern Massachusetts and Maine have
wrought a great change in the social habits
Of the workingmcn and fishermen the
sane effects arc already visible among
lumbermcn Of Michigan, the workmen and
miners Of Pittsburgh and the adjacent
region Of Pennsylvania and Ohio. The
spectacle Of two nations endeavoring at the
same moment to throw off the burden OF
a great social vice is one which must arrest
the attention of both philanthropists and
statesmens.-N !. Tribune.