The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1881-09-29
The DrunkarG.

we take the lolloNlhS AAoih 'iA
Jefferson Gazette. There is good
deal in it that we also endorse:
It may be that we are lacking III
sympathy for drunkards but we con-
fess we have but very little pity for
the wretch who not only sinks INTO
the lowest degradation himself but
drags his family down with him. We
remember drunkard who once lived
on the opposite side Of the street from
us. We never saw that man, drunk
or sober, draw pail of water or bring
a hod Of coal for his wife, pale faced
frail little woman. We have seen his
seven year old boy stop playing with
his companions and look as If ne
would sink into the ground with
shame as his father came reeling along
the street. If such man is insane
he should be put in a place OF safety.
lie he is not insane he ought to be
dealt with as severely as possible. a
reformed drunkard ss;d to us since, L
had an unlimited amount OF sympa-
thy at home, but if they had tried the
opposite course I think should have
stopped long before | did" We have
seen a great many remedies for intem-
perance but never found anything
quite equal to hard labor with ball
and chain. =.
The truth is, the drunkard is the
most selfish man living. Even bur-
glar will hesitate to rob his own fam
ily, but drunkards do it very often;
We have heard Of men who would
take the money that was to buy med
icine for sick wife and spend it for
drink. Now suppose we should make
an example of such man would II
not have salutary effect on the rest
It is often said that drunkard makes
a brute of himself. If that is true
then why not treat him as we do other
brutes and make fear prominent
agency in dealing with him? One OF
the worst drunkards we ever knew
never got intoxicated in the winter
because he had mortal dread Of be
ING frozen to death. Fear was tn,
only. thing that could hold a checl
on that man and shows how low h'
had fallen.
An officer of the law who has mad
himself terror to the lawless vii
still drunken men, let them be eve
so boisterous before his appearance
Now make the law as terrible to thos
men as it's officer and they will paus
before transgressing. A dollar fine o
five days in the lookup don't amour
to much, but if three months at har
labor was sure to follow every case o
drunkenness and disorderly conduc
we imagine it would work quite
change'in some Of our hard cases.
We know what answer will be mad
to this, men will say, "shut up the Sc
looms and the drunkards will dlsal
pear" Well, we have been legislatin
on temperance for over quarter OF
century and they tell us that inten
perance is increasing and the tide
sweeping down the young by thous
ands. If this is true it seems to us
If there was a screw loose somewher
We have let the drunkard go hitf
erto and laid his crime at the door {
the rumseller and the former too ofte
looks upon himself as a poor unfortl
nate not responsible for his acts. n
matter what he does we excuse hi
and say it was rum that did it. Nol
sense! He did it himself and shoul
be punished in proportion to his O
fense. We have legislation again
the liquor dealers, let us now try LEI
islation against the drunkards.
sounds harsh, but il a man makes
brute of himself how can we do othe
wise than treat him as such?