The Russellville Democrat., 1878-12-05
TOBACCO AND WHISKEY.


 these two articles ever tblnk of the amount of money annually expended for the poor pitiful privilege of daily gulping down glassful of rum, and pulling cigar or chewing a quid of tobacco. Ii there was anything creditable, or eleyatng, or dignitled, or beneficial about it, it would not he so surprising; but to think that man, the most perfect specimen or the handiwork of the Maker of the Universe man, the highest tgpe of human intelligence man, made and created after the image of the Crea tor himself, should voluntarily make himself slave to these abject, de basing and contaminating habits is passing strange. We have not the statistics at hand to give the amount of money expended annually in our State for these two articles, but 1t stops not at thousands nor tens of thousands, millions upon millions are thus worse than wasted. Sup pose every tobacco chewer and smoker, EVERY SNUFF TAKER, and. every whiskey driuker in our State would lay aside these habits for one year and devote the sum of money thus spent to the procurement oi such home comforts, adornments, and improvements, as arc now ua- known to thousands of hoaseholdsl What change it would make, How much squalid poverty and human miser, might be relievedi How many comforts and conveniences might be added to homes which are now cheerless and comioCtless as an Arab tent! How many neighbor- hoods now destitute oi schools and churches might be supplied with these civilizing influences! Or, sup pose by some patriotic impulse the entire population of our State should come to the conclusion to stop the use of tobacco and whiskey for one year, and apply the money thus saved to the payment of our State debt. How easily we might pay every just debt we owe and place our State upon the broad, firm highway of prosperity and progress Or, if, moved by the appeals of humanity, a determination should be made to apply this money to the purpose of building and furnishing a State In sane Asylum, what q lus.re of honor it would shed upon our intelligence, Christianity and beneyoence, But we might fill fifty papers the size of this with arguments to show the folly of being slave to tobacco and whiskly ant to depict the good that might he done with the mcnry ex pended iu this way, and yet those who are now in this degrading slavery would not declare their free dom and b. men enough to absolye themselves from the habit. TEerc is class, however, to whom we may appeal with some hope, and that is the boys and girls who have not yet contracted these pernicious habits. To the hovs we say never take the l first chew of tobacco or the first glass of liquor. Don't allow any one to .empt you 10 the first trial. 1t will ada nothing to your dlguity--noth- ing to your misunderstanding to the estimation in which you are held hy sensible people; but it will make you a slave and cause you 10 regret it ten thousand times. lou can use your spare dimes and dollars to far better puIposes--and before you be come successful business man you will find that you will need every dollar you can save.
 To the little girls we would say; Don't have any eompanionship with that little boy who hefouls his mouth and contaminates his breath with tobacco juice and cigar fumes--aud especially don't associate with the ones who drink whiskey. Show that you think more of the little boy who has too much self-respect to form such ugly habits. You can thus help to bring about a reform which will give us a generation of people who will be free from slavery to many of the pcrnicious habits and customs of the present day.