The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-04-27


ing throughout the country upon the
subject of temperance. Men who
have been dead in trespasses and
SINS" are putting on the new man,
and turning with disgust from the
"broken cisterns" of debasing habit,
and the slavery of demoralizing
trade. There is nothing spasmodic
about this movement-no shouting,
or prayers, or fanaticism. 1t is the
expression of the best classes that
many of our worst evils are the pro.
duct of the sale and use of liquors !;
and to cure the evil the use of them
must be stopped by the prompt and
efficient exercise of the law. There
are men in our town and county who
ought to be above selling it, but the
profit is large and the lazy life it pro-
notes takes all the manhood out of
them, and they drift along content
to be accessory to the debauching in
huences of their trade as long as it
'pays.". But they are about to be
assailed in their stronghold, and the
paying portion of the community are
not willing to bear the burdens of
these wilful and pestilent manufac-
turers of crime, pauperism, poverty
and their attendant evils any longer.
They will compel the proprietors of
"Bar Room Saloons" "Doggeries,"
or ANY fancy name they may apply
to their "hells," to assume the re-
sponsibility of his unholy traffic and
bear the burdens that his traffic i'm
poses on the community. Let the
people of Garrett county look over
the levy list of this and last year and
see how much of the county expen-
ses are incurred for the support of
these dealers in rum, and the net
amount of their contributions to the
liquor traffic will astonish them.
We may as citizens, not care to inter-
fere as between the rum seller and
the law, and become an active mis-
sionary in the cause of temperance.
But when they find that because of
this traffic in rum their taxes are
burdensome and we are daily asked
to contribute from our hard earned
assets SO much in each year that this
or that man may have his "free
drinks" and the other may reckless
ly punch somebody's head, or yet an.
other may exercise the high p.'ivi-
lege of breaking his neck or making
beggars of his children, our voters
will, we think, hesitate before they
become accessories to so foul crime,
and contribute willingly to its con-
They will, we think,
willingly incur the obloquy of re-
their free citizens career
of crime, even at some loss of profit
to him, and remind him in O gentle
way that he cannot with impunity
neglect or override his duty to his
1t may be "royal" privilege for
a keeper of one of our bar rooms to
send a fellow mortal home roaring
drunk to mistreat his wife and bru-
tally maltreat his children and it
may be that this privilege ought not
to becurtailed ; but when we consider
that the tax payers of the county
have to support the pauperism and
crime and pay the costs that these
two brutes may make, it seems to US
to be simply Just that they should
have a 'say" as to giving such a
privilege.
The men that keep bar rooms or
saloons do not intend the mischief,
they may say. But the traffic in
rum produces these results Just as
sure as it is followed, and no sophis-
try, no excuses, no palliations ought
to be received from those who so de-
grade themselves and aid in degrad-
ing their fellow man. Let a man
who has the slightest spark of man.
hood left in him preserve it at any
cost by keeping out of the business.
Let him do anything rather than
that. 1t is better for him to follow |
4 monkey-show at ten cents q day |
and no dinner, than to keep ''grog
shop" with cut-gass decanters, mar
Die counters, billiard tables and other
,oncomitants and through agencies
such as these give, his own time to
he destruction of families and towns,
he character of its people. and in
act, free "gat eway to hell"