The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1883-10-13
Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
LETTER FROM BALTIMORE.

BALTIMORE, October 10th, 1888.
Editors Union Il read with considerable in
terest communication in your paper of last week,
signed "Liberal Option" in which the writer dis
cusses the subjects of Temperance, Intemperance
and Local Option as now applied to temperance
in the of alcoholic beverages. The author of
that article took, certainly, what seemed to me,
very consistent and reasonable ground upon the
great problem of temperance No one, however
opposed to the reasonable consistent use of ardent
spirits, could find fault with the temperance views
there set forth. He advocated, what everyone
should, temperance an athings, but did not choose
to wholly adopt either total abstinence or local
option presented to those opposed to having
such measures unwillingly forced upon them
against their desire or consent. They wanted to
feel like freemen and have the liberty of acting
according to their own judgment, to do as seemed
to them wisest and best, free from what might
even have the semblance of coercion, regarding a
doubtful measure and one-tO say the least of it
involving so many salient points. The best way
to insure permanent and useful temperance is to
cultivate sef-control by carefully educating our
minds and intellectual faculties toward that end.
Let all men and women bring themselves to an
understanding of the evils of drunkenness of
intoxication by the undue of sprituous liquors.
by laying evils of debauchery flowing from intem-
perance naked before their own senses. Reaching
such a conclusion can only be reliably attained
higher faculties and moral powers, more likely to
prove permanent, and not by the mere spasmodic,
unthinking, physical exercise of excited mo-
ment Hence | am opposed to all such unstable
movements that, nine cases out of ten, fail in the
end. On the other hand, and for reasons above
stated, fully coincide with your correspondent,
"Liberal Option" when he so strongly and wisely
approves the great cause of temperance in all
things upon the permanent basis of self-contro
and cultivated intelligence untrammeled either
by local option-really kind of coercon-or any
other ephemeral ountebankism or dubious saliva
ton army clap-trap.
All men of good sense and Judgment valuing
character and moral standing, must despise
drunkenness and approve of consistent temper
ance, whether local option laws prevail or not
| feel confident that very large majority of
brewers distiers, hotel and restaurant keepers
and others who deal in spirituous liquors discount
tenance and despise drunkenness as much as any
other business men in the community. They have
their rights and must be protected in them well
as other members of the body polite Local OPP
ton, if adopted, would encourage grievous in
jury by depriving good honest men of their prop
erty and of their rights. Aside from the large
amount of capital involved in the brewing, dis
tilling, hotel keeping, ETC., there is a very extern
sive trade in hops, paying profits to those hand
ling and dealin&in them in various ways that
would be almost entirely broken up. So to a
great extent must be the coopering trade. The
truth is commercial, mechanical, industrial and
general business of our whole country would re-
ceive terrible shock by the breaking down of
these sources of labor and general industry that
could not be recovered from in decades of years,
if ever. The true plan, therefore, would be to en-
courage these branches of trade and manufacture,
requiring under legal restrictions and supervision
as in Germany and other parts of Europe-that
they be made purely healthful, medicinal and re-
~. Al. l. IL
no harm can flow therefrom. This, in my judg
ment, would be better, ultimately than either local
option or extreme temperance pledges, made only
to be broken, because, perchance, of intelligence
and moral honesty not having their foundation at
the bottom. Let all persons, therefore, as Glib
eral Option" suggests, encourage true temperance
in all things because of its intrinsic merits, and
doubt not will see less drunkenness and better,
soberer communities without the necessity of dis
turbng and jeopardzing other peoples just rights
in property, business and other things 1t never
theless is the right of all to vote on the question
as may seem to them best
1t is now quite certain that the Republicans and
Independent Democrats will unite on our NUM- |
cpal elections soon to take place, the Democrats
taking the Mayor-Mr. Heiskel-and half the
Councilman beside other nominees, the Republi.
cans the other half. They seem quite sanguine of
success. The Independents, however, have lost |
some strong men who aided them last fall, chief
of whom is Bernard Carter, who has gone back to
the old ring regulars. There is no doubt of many
liberal Republicans preferring Gen. Latrobe for |
Mayor rather than Mr.. Heiskell. They say they
know what Latrobe has done in making an able
executive, and that Mr.. Heiskell at best would be
an experiment. think, however, that the City
Council and others may possibly be elected half
and half. The Republicans demand the States
Attorney, who may be too useful to them in poll
tics to surrender. The whole matter may be ad-
justed in day or two and theindependent fusion
lists put in the field. NEsToR.