Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1882-02-24
PROHIBITION.
ny HON. NEAL now.

John Bright said: "If we could put
away from our country the evils coming
upon it through inlemperance, England
would no longer be recognized as the same"
The London Times says; 1--WE have suff.
cred more In our lime from intemperance
than from war, pestilence and famine com
bined, those three erent scourges Of man.
kind" Not long after the nreseht prime
minister OF England borrowed those words
and repeated them as hia own. 1ntemper-
ance come. from the liquor traffic, with
out which there can be none. Charles
Buxton, member of the Br,irh parliament,
said: In consequence Of the public house
(the grog shop), there are more than FIVE
hundred houses in this country (England)
where home happiness is unknown"
Now. prohibition, when first adopted ms
public policy in Maine, was intended to
put away from the people the Infinite evils
of intemperunce. II was clearly seen hat
intemperance, IN n general aud prevailing
wee, could never be diminished pernan-
emily to any considerable degree, while the
temptation to l., towit the grog shop,
shonld he permitted to continue. Poverty,
panperisn, crime, insanity, degradation,
brutality premature death and infinite mis-
cry cumes surely, constantly, inevitably
from the liquor traffic. 1t was the object
of The Maine law, and only ilnt-to relieve
sociey from this tremendous mischief.
It was mn experiment, looking only to that
end.
One would suppose that every patriot
and pliilan hropist, and especially that
every Chris: ian would eagerly watch and
wait and pray that God would bless this
endeavor To promote he prosperity OF the
state and the happiness of the people, and
that it might he eminenlly successful in
accomplishing it's pnrpose. But in fact,
there are grent many respectable people
as well as all the low, base and vile who 10
desire the experiment To fail that they lay
themselves out largely to make it fnil, if
possible, at least to pre- vent its trial in any
State where the friends OF temperance are
actively working for ills adoption.
We have in New England two or three
Doctors of Divinity who are conspicuous
in this endeavor. The eminent English
doctor, w. B. Richardson, said recently,
that an utter disregard of truth WAS a
marked characteristic oe all persons taint
ed with alcohol. They seem unable to
distinguish between truth and falsehoOd,
and lose all shame in connection with ly-
ing. No one who has had much expert
ence in deniing with Incorporate people
has failed TO notice tins special effect of
alcohol upon their moral nature. My OBJ
servaton of many years has led me to no.
tice that sy ympathy with the liquor traffic
has the same effect upon the mind and
heart OF men.
These Doctors OF Divinity, to whom l
have alluded, seem to have no scrnple in
perverting the truth, misstating facts and
iirming fasehoods, in order TO show that
the experiment of prohibition has utterly
failed in Maine, and that society has and
can have no hope or relief from the evils
of intemperance, because prohibition i,
impossible, as practical measure. 1t ia
in vain that we face these men down IL
their lies, and prove before their faces thai
they are guilty OF shocking and shameful
falsehoods, but M soon ~ our backs are
3 turned they repeat them.
To-day had a letter from Ohio, saying
that prominent Congregational minister
in u great assembly OF other minisiers il
that State, declared that in Portland
(Maine) it was free rum in spite of pro
, hibition. This was borrowed, suppose
from one of our New England parsons, wht
y said that ain Portland prohibition mean
: free rum" | fastened that falsehood mpo,
I him at the time, but through the column
= of the press the lie travels through tn
country, and other rum sympathizers calcl
il up and pass il along.
y From the day when the Maine law wa
enacted, June 2, 1851, to this day, not NJ
=, incident has occurred TO Justify the decara
. ton that il has failed on the contrary, |
I, has been u great and constant success
6 These shallow thinkers, with perverte
moral sense, say the law hns failed becaus
it has not yet driven the liquor trHfc Ell
lirely out OF the Slnie. But it has drive
ont of the State nineteen-twemtieths OF i
. and with few slight improvements in OIL
: machinery, we shall soon drive out I'll
remaining fraction. " i'll these men III
that telegraphy has failed because wire
i are often broken down and will not work
Tint ocean lelegraphy il II "hnmbug" be
cause the cables often break, and, becon
ing imperfect, are repaired ut great cost
That ocean steamboat navigation is II fni
ure because Il great many ocean sleamshi i
n are lost, and many hundreds OF lives NJ
e Annually destroyed by them. The Main
law. from the first, has met with no dlsni
y ter of any kind. 1t has destroyed nobod
d and nothing except thousands Of gallon
OF alcoholic poison smngyled into the Stat
TO "mulder" The people. 1t has injure
no public or private interest, but ON I'll
contrary has blessed and prospered III
State to an extent so great that no one ca
understand il who does not know what II
. condition WIS in the old rum time, an
what il has been since and is now.