Morning journal and courier., 1881-12-12
Unusual Temperance Preaching.
The Baby Theory Denounced-The Drunkard Responsible for His Own
 Sins.
From the Christian Union.]

From the Christian Unionl
 By most ardent workers for his reforma- tion the drunkard is taken to be helpless child. He is ''the unfortunate victim of drink ;'' the 'sslave of an ineradicable thirst" the "bondman of an ungovernable passion for liquor" He is regarded as.the predestin- ed elect of moral and physical weakness. AS a consequence incorporate men look upon themselves as helpless pitiable but not cul- pablo. q can't help it., is formula learn. ed as often from temperance platforms as from other sources. The drunkard does not need to conj1re up excuses for himself they are furnished ready to his lips. So long as we din in his ears that he is helpless and powerless, sosong will heItake us at our word, and throw of all sense of personal responsi- bility.
 The largest sufferers in wordy battles are the s'rumsellers, D the ttmoderate drinder, :" and that large body of the clergy and laity who hold themselves aloof from modern temperance movements because of the false and pernicious methods they use and sanc- tion. The drunkard who squanders the money that should clothe and feed his fami- ly, who parts with his wages for the drink that makes him a brute and his wife and children real sufferers, is coddled by temper ance orators as more sinned against than shining and apologized for by the heads of Christian families The man who sells him liquor is lashed for the drunkard's act, and every one not total abstainer is reviled because of his "pernicious' example. It seems full time that some of the fault should be placed where it belongs.
 Put whatsoever of righteous blame belongs, then, on the manswho makes his living by sell ing intoxicating drink, and on that one who uses wine upon his table as others use tea and coffee, and the guilt of drunkenness must still be laid upon the man who buys of the doI.1 &1,a, aT1e{ {ho one is forced to buy liquor of the one nor follow or exaggerate the custom of the other. A thief Is not the victim of the lady from whom he snatches pocketbook, nor of the gentlemanly embezzler whom he initiates afar off. If the pocketbook had not existed there would have been no temptation but people of common sense do not hurl volumes of abuse at the one who suffers the loss because she acted as bait to crime. The analogy Is not perfect, but it illustrates the principle that every man is individually responsible for his own wrong doing. Let every man bear bis own burden.
 Grant that in some cases inebriety is a dis ease. No total abstinence society, even with full paraphernalia of ribbons, pledges and lectures, is competent to deal with the disease Who would propose pledge against cons tinuance of consumption? /? When intemper ance has developed into disease no most sol emn promise will stay it's course. The me. cnaQlSm or temperance TeIOrm cannot QeG with it. Yet, if it be an inheritance, why dc not the daughters as well as the sons oi drunkards inherit it We constantly meet Swith men having an alleged hereditary taint whose sisters are modest, chaste, and free from such desire. Logicians admit the possibility ] of proving too much" and it is just possi ble, in pushing this plea of ''heredity,' the apoIogist of the drunkard is making this mis take. But, these two classes aside, by fal the largest number of drunkards are obvi ously so of their own free will.
 Drunkenness is sin. There is no strong CT scriptural anathema against theft or adul tery than against the crime of the drunkard.
 fNor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit such acts they are sinners. The drunkard is criminal, as well as the thief; deliberate. 1y breaking law of God and of man. Indi. rectly as others may be responsible for the deed, he is infinitely more Q sinner in that act, than anyone else can possibly be. He raises the glass to his own lips fully aware o1 it's inevitable effects; knowing, too, that il may lead him into crime and that it certain 1y will lead him and his into sorrow, and tears, and wretchedness. He is not baby to be coddled, but sinner to be punished.
 There is no terror of punishment or out lawry to the drunkard as there is to the thief The latter will be imprisoned perhaps at hard
 
 clothes, and urged to coin money by retail ing to mixed audiences the story of his own degradation. The thief is summed on the streets, and shut out of society. The fallen women are swept into the gutter by respecta- ble skirts. But one has only to look on upon almost any temperance gathering to see the ssreformed'' drunkard entertaining learned doctors of divinity and Sunday school super. intendents with the history of his debauch- cries. It would be easy to name men who have made comfortable and even Luxurious living of credulous clergymen and temper. ance organizations, and, when tired of the role, leaving these generous patrons to mourn over the total depravity of humanity while they returned to the bondage of the bottle. This is no rhetorical picture, but sad, stern fact The drunkard is treated as the ward instead of the enemy of the public; cared for, cheered and caressed, while many an honest sober, Iaboring man is sorely pinched for food, clothes, and sympathy. The latter, indeed, must think in bitterness sometimes that his condition would be materially better ed by his getting intoxicated, and then pass ing through the saint creating machinery of temperance reform.
 The facts in the case are simple enough. The drunkard is law breaker, in spite of John Stuart Mill, and the blame for his crime must be laid at his own door, where it belongs. No other sin is attributed to every cause but the rightfuI one as is this one. The ssappe- tite for drink'' is so poor an excuse that it is no excuse at all. An "appetite" for falsehood or profanity or adultery is just as fair an apology for these sins. The "temptationi offered by the rumseller is still less an excuse; the thief can plead the temptation of the dia- mond owner, or the bond dealer, with as much show of reason.
 The moral treatment of the drunkard, as such. needs the attention of our zealous re- formers. So long as he is taught that he is not personally to blame for brutalizing him self and impoYerishing his family, but that he can turn the odium over to the man that sells him liquor, just so long Will the cause oi t,~ 4.v.,,a-o,,oe fha xvaakened so long will