Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1878-08-15
mOra Asylum:

Efforts to relieve the community of the
taxation, the public crime, and the prf-.
vate suffering due to drunkenness are not
confined to Mr.. Murphy, DIR. Crosby land
the Father Mathew and other temperance
associations in this country. An fmpor-
tant bill has just pasesd the House of Com
mons in England, which is supported by
the London Times, and which therefore
may be supposed to represent the general
English feeling upon the subject. The
emperance party in the House proposed a
bill which authorized the restraint of the
habitual drunkard against his will. The
compulsion was stricken out, and passed
the Commons without an opposing vote
1t provides for the erection at private cost
of retreats for the victims of the habit,
and authorizes the foreiBle detention in
them of any inebriates who Voluntarily
applies for the benefit of the seclusion.
1t is a law which enables man, at a time
when he cooIy estimates his peril and
the power of the appetite, to secure, a
year of total inability to gratify it. The
principle is not unknown in our own in
ebriate asy1uns, and it offers the only
practical chance of escape to hosts who
are by habit or congenitally ensIaved by
the appetite. 1t may well be doubted
whether, if years abstinence will not
break the bond, it can be broken at all
except by an indefinite continuance of
the restraint. - z.a
The Times speaks of cynicism which
is Indifferent to all such enterprises be-
cause it feels that a man who has once
fallen under the power of the habit be-
trays an essential infirmity. of will which
makes radical reform improbable, and
which of itself should be a reason for
Withholding effort, since such men must
always be an inferior class. This is dire
full reasoning, for it would equally apply
to the sick and the 1nfirm. It's return to
the old Spartan barbaTfsm of abandoning
infants to the elements. 1t takes care not
only that the ffttest shall survive, but that
the unfit shall not. Nor is it true. The
appetite is not peculiar to an inferior
class of men, nor to men of weak wills
Undoubtedly, all excesses, it gradu-
ally weakens the will, bnt it is tempta.
ton that besets some of the best and
ablest men. One of its fatalities, indeed
is its insidiousness, so that the very men
whom the law is meant to help would
eajole and sophisticate themselves to re-
fuse its benefits. -
| There is one aspect of the subject Of
legislation to restrain. drunkenness which
is significant. It is peculiar to the North
ern and English-speaking races, in which
the instinct of personal liberty is strong
est, and which constantly resists the leg
islation. Drinking, it argues, is per
sonal matter. Nobody need intoxicatt
himself if he does not choose to. If III
does so, it is at his own risk. If it is hi
choice to ruin himself, we are very sorry
but it is his own affair. Some men do i
by drink, others by extravaganza, other
by stupidity. Society cannot undertake
to regulate the private conduct of it
members. When they interfere with 9th
ers, they may be dealt with, but not be
fore. We might as well be called upol
to prevent men IS extravaganeein in eXpens
as their immOderationi in drinking. This
the instructive reply of the Anglo-SaxOn
as we cali him, to the argument for com
/ DulSOry temperance. DuOHe Is dilSWSI6
upon his own ground. He is shown tina
drunkenness Of others invades the equa
, rights of every man in the community b
necessitating enormous taxation to punis
the disorder which It produces. The An
glo-SaXon common-sense, therefore, reg
ulates the sale of liquer, and thereby re
stricts the individual freedom of drink
ing. All subsequent restrictions, up
, Itotal prohibition of the manufacture an
of the consumption, is merely questio
= Of Harper's Weekly. t-f
/: esThe fact is the Democrats advocate
: Greenbacks long before the Natiena
= were ever heard of."-Ohio Statesman.
Yes; and the Republicans InventC
e Greenbacks and passed laws authofiAin
. their issue in opposition to every Dem
f erat in Congress-; and have stood by the
9 work ever since, and Republican legisl
f ton and Republican policy have MAJ
4 | Greenbacks worth their face in col
e That is the kind of Greenbackers we ar
: NetO Lexington Tribune.
.