The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1882-03-30
Two Evils.

The report of the items of expense At
tending the funeral arrangements for the
late President Garfield, reveals the fact that
wines and brandies constituted part Of the
account, used on the train by Members of
Congress and others invited to attend on
the occasion. while enroute to and from
cleveland. Ohio. The entire account has
been the subject of'criticsm, more as to the
aggregate amount. than of any particular ar
ticle that went into the details. Had the
objections to the bills presented been con-
fined to the propriety or necessity of the
items, there would have been ample
grounds for censUre and severe reflection
upon those prominent in position, social
and political, who SO forgot themselves as
to make a funeral train have more the APP
pearance OF a festive occasion than de-
monstration of respect to the memory of
the late President. 1t is strange that gem
tlemen who have been honored by the con-
fidence of their countrymen and who are
presumed to represent our national dignity.
decorum and intelligence should, on such
an occasion and such mission. allow sen
sual influence to dominate moral, and the
solemn associations present with them, not
to protest the indulgence which is implied
by the wine and brandy items embraced in
the account There was nothing appropri-
ate, nothing eXcusable. in the expenditure
referred to, and the only inference to be
drawn from it is, that there was the alb
sence ola proper understanding and appre-
citation of the representative positions they
held. as we'll as reverence for the dead, and
Difference for the solemn event which called
them to Cleveland.
We hear great deal about the immortality
Of Mormon life and the great crime Of POI
| lygamous practices, as observed ia branch
of the Mormon Church. and there is no cen
| sure so severe that we are not ready to en-
dorse it. But we doubt whether the criSae
is any greater for a doctrine to be lupheld
by those who profess consclehtiou2 beffi
| in t,than it is for those who attitudinize as
moral reformers. in the denunciation OF
| Mormonism, to be guilty of an indulgence
and placard themselves before the country
as wine-bibbers and tipplers, acknowledg
ing such slavery to the habit, as to benunb
their moral senses even in the presence OF
tragic death. There is no crime to which
liquor drinking does not lead. 1t is inf
nitely more far-reaching in its debauchery
and moral depravty than polygamy- anc
entails upon society and the country more
heinous wrongs than ever have ema
mated from the pestiferous habits of the
Utah Mormons. righteousness, adultery
murder. thievery. blaspbemy-indeed, eve
ry offence condemned by the decalogue, il
arraved in the train of crimes directly
growing out of the indulgence in intoXicat
ing drinks. We may point to the plura
wives and the offsprngs of them, as an as
sault upon the institution Of marriage as We
understand and nominally observe it. Blu
whatever wrongs to society. and whateVe
degradation may be inflicted upon the gen
tier sex and their children by reason of thi
usage, will find more than its counterpart
, in the desolate fam lilies. the broken heart
of mothers and daughters, and the sqnalor
|
, as The result of whiskey drinking. Thu
criminal courts of the country, the aims
houses, the jails and penitentiaries. the gal
lows, the suicides, tell story of moral OBJ
tuseness and human degradation and mis-
cry blacker and darker than ever sbadowet
/ the skies of the Latter Day Saints, or threw
!, it's saddening influence over the delude'
+ victims of Mormon prostitution. And thes
otfenses against God and man, may in th
most part. be traced to wine and brand.
indulgences, and the example given b.
those who ought to be regarded as the eX
amplars of higher and better social an
national life.
When the Congress of the United State
poses ia the role of a great moral refOrmer
| aud strikes a blow at the detestable institu
ton of po.ygamy as a blot and stigma upo
\ our national character, let it not lose sigh
of the startling fact that such an exampl
as was given on.the funeral train to Cleve
, land,i calculated to lead TO results possibl
II more depiorable in the influence fhey(ma
\ have upon the youth of the country, an
3 Dy sequence. our naClOhaI lie, imam eve
! | Utah moral putrescence may exert.
!. 1t is not out of place to call attention t
these delinquencies, and to invite calm ron
sideration to the moral evils both of p0lyo
] ! amy and intemperance. 1t may not b
= popular to do so. or to link the one wit
2 the other in a reference to matter of grea
S ! national sign ifcance. But while we ar
! examining the notes we should not los
E sight of the beams. and give each that re
Election that its Importance demands.