Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1881-02-23
INGERSOLL ON ALCOHOL.
Scsthng Denunciation of Intemperance and its
Causes.

Causes.
Colonel r. G. Tngersoll, in speaking
to jury in case which involved the
manufacture of alcohal, used the follow
ing eloquent language:
81 am aware that there is prejudice
against any man engaged in the manu-
facture of alcohol. believe that from
the time it issues from the the cOiled and
poisonous worm III the distillery until it
empties into the hell of death, dishonor
and crime, that it demOralizes every
body that touches it, from it's scorrce TO
where it ends. I do not believe any,
body can contemplate the subject with
out becoming prejudiced against that
liquor crime. All we have to do, gen.
tlemen. is to think of the wrecks on
either bank of the stream of death; of
the suicides, OF the insanity; of the pow
erty, of the ignorance, of the destitu-
ton; of the little children Juggling at the
faded and weary breasts of weeping and
despairing wives, asking for bread; of
the talented men of genius it has wreck
ed, the men struggling with imaginary
serpents, produced by this devilish
thing; and when you think of the jails,
the almshouses, Of the asylums, OF the
prisons, of the scaffolds upon either
bank, 1 do not wonder that every
thoughtful man is preiudiced against
this damned stuff called alcohol. In
temperance cuts down youth in it's
vigor, manhood in it's strength. and age
in it's weakness. 1t breaks the fathers
heart, bereaves the doting mother, extin-
cuisines natural affections, grasses coniu-
gal loves, blots out flial attachments.
bights parental hope, and brings down
mourning age i'll sorrow to the grave.
1t produces weakness, not strength;
sickness, not health; death, not life. IT
makes wives widows; children orphans;
fathers fends, and all of them paupers
and beggars. 1t feeds rheumatism,
nurses govt, welcomes epidemics, in
vites cholera, imports pestilence and en-
braces consumption. 1t covers the land
with idleless, misery and crime. It fills
your jails, supplies your aims houses and
demands your asylums. 1t engenders
controversies, fosters quarrels, and cher
ishes riots. 1t crowds your penitentiar-
les and furnishes victims to your scat
folds. 1t is the life blood of the gam
bier, the element of the burglar, the
pIOp VI UAt lldIl dIlt tue
of the midnight incendiary. 1t coun-
tenances the Lar, respects the thief. es-
teens the asphemer. It violates obi
cations, reverences fraud, and honors
infamy. 1t defames benevolence, hates
love, seorns virtue and ISLANDERS inno-
cence. It incites the father to butcher
his helpless offspring, helps the husband
to massacre his wife, and the child to
grind the paracidal axe. 1t burns up
men, consumes women, detests life,
curses God, and despises heaven. 1t
subOrns witnesses, nurses perjury, de-
files the jury box, and stains the judicial
crime. 1t degrades the citizen, debases
the legislator, dishonors statesmen, and
disarms the patriot. It brings shame,
not honor; terror, not safety; despair,
not hope; misery, not happiness; and
with the malevolence of fiend, it calmly
surveys it's frightfnl desolation, and, I'M
satisfied with it's havoc, it poisons felici-
ty, kills peace, ruins morals, blights con-
fdence, Stays reputation, and wipes out
national honors, then curses the world
and laughs at it's ruin. It does all that
and more-it murders the soul 1t is
the son of villainies, the father OF all
crimes, the mother of denominations, the
devils best friend and Gods worst
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