The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1877-03-02
NUMBER 25.
TALKS TO HUSBANDS, SONS, AND
BROTHERS,
IContributed.1

as much sin and sorrow as LIQUOR? Is
there anything that can as quickly
transform a gentleman into an object of
disgust? Is there anything that should
be as universally condemned as even
the moderate use of alcoholic drinks {?
If you were to set about choosing, from
a crowd of men, one who best rep
resented your idea of a real man-intel-
ligent>and honorable-think you your
selection would fall on one about whom
hung the fumes of whisky?
1t is an old saying, that "where ig-
uorance is bliss tits folly to be wise,n
and 1 sometimes think it would be for
tunate to be blessed with a nose that
was not too acute in its sensibilities, so
that person might remain in blissfuI
ignorance of much of the dram-drink-
ing that is constantly going on. But to
be so organized that you can tell when
a man has changed his breath" as
soon as he comes within a rod of you,
keeps you continually mentally moral
izing on the greatest evil of our day.
1 have sat and listened, time after
time, to men telling of the days when
they were young-how seldom it was
that you ever heard of a man getting
drunk. "And yet" they would add,
1--WE always kept it in the house, and
everybody drank it when they liked"
Are we not reaping some of the fruits of
the seed so plentifully sown in those
days? An inherited appetite, increased
as it is handed down from generation to
generation, has much to do with our
present system of wholesale liquor
drinking. But the "social glass" has
more to do with it, L think; and were
that custom abolished, a long step
would have been taken towards a cessa-
tion of the practice of fdrunkard- making.
Observe two or three men cOnversing
on a street corner; if you watch long
enough you are almost sure to see them,
before they separate, adjourn to the
nearest liquor dealer-for what purpose
can be readily imagined. A farmer and
his wife come to town; and if he is ever
known to "indulge," as he calls it, in d
dram, when he is ready to return home
with her, his ''gude wife" catches the
smell of whisky on his breath, and
knows that he has found some one to
treat him-a compliment (?) which be
/ ia hnnnn n A nd 10 tod
many and many a time during the year,
Notwithstanding, on account of the hard
times, he has to deny himself and fam
lily many a luxury, even perhaps q
much-cOveted newspaper.
But men claim that the law of Gus.
tom makes it binding on them to drink
when they are invited, and they cannot
refuse without losing the respect of the
one who tenders them the invitation.
Is man to be slave to custom, how
ever baleful it's effects ? Is it not better
to preserve our self-respect than the re-
spect of the whole world? At any rate
it seems to me it is hardly necessary fol
lot of men, in order to preserve the
good will of their fellows, to accept the
invitation of a noisy, half-drunken fel.
low, and go with him to the nearest sa.
loon and drink at his expense. Have
you ever met such crowd as this OF
the street? Did you note what a sheep
ish, hang-dog look they had?
| man an6 bOuS uO, bO ba
mothers and sisters, or wives, surely
you do not wish to become a disgrace
to them as well as yourself. Call tt
mind the most disgraceful crimes you
have ever known to be committed
Was not intemperance the cause of mos
of them? If you never drink a droI
then you are sure you will never be {
drunkard. OF course, no one starts on
with the intention of becoming an in
ebriate; bat the fact that so many mel
do become such, shows that there il
danger even in occasionally taking {
"social glass" For, although you may
never become miserable sot, you arr
in danger of allowing the habit to grow
on you until all your finer sensibilitie
are blunted out; you feel as if you cal
not live without the use of alcoholic
stimulants, while everybody, but your
self, sees you are killing yourself by
their use. The worst of it is, the poo
slave to liquor never realizes that ht
himself is in danger. The most miser
able drunkard will tell you that b.
knows when he has had enough. You
only safety, then, lies in TOTAL ABsTI
NENCE from the use of all that can in
toxicate.
Much as I regret the fact, it seems t,
me that while the law recognizes liquo
dealing as a legitimate business, it is o
but little use to try to restrict the sal
of it. We must strike at the root of tn,
evil, and since it is at most universally
conceded to be curse to our land, w
should begin to educate the people NJ
to the idea of sweeping it off of Ameri
can soil, just as at one blow the shack
les were stricken off of our slaves. Blu
as long as ours is a masculine govern
ment, we need not look for such granC
reform as this would be. But when /
shall have become necessary for ou
brothers to take US into their councils
tI,o,, for eoro