The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1883-01-10
The Temperance Question.
BY hon Jvo. r. BEAsLEy.

About eight or nine years ago we had
the pleasure of reading Randa!Ps Life
Of Jefferson, and we we're very much
impressed with the views OF Mr.. j. on
the temperance question.
81 rejoice as moralst, said he, lat
the prospect Of n reduction OF the du-
ties on wine by our National Leglsla-
ture. II IL an error to view tax on
that liquor as merely tax on the rlcli' |
II is prohibition Of its use TO the MD
ding class Of our citizens, and con
demnation of them to the poison q 'cll!S'
ky, which is desolating their houses. NO
nation is drunken where wine is cheap
and none sober where the dearness OF
wine substitutes ardent spirits as the
common beverage |! is, in truth, Me
oaiy untiiote to the bane Of whisky. FIX
but the duty at the rate of other mer'
chandisc, aud We can drink wine here
~ cheap as we do grog; and who VIII
not prefer it. Its extended use 'o'I
carrg health and comfort to a much more
enlarged circle. Every one in easy cir
cumsiances Gas the bulk Of our citizens
arc) sill prefer it to the poison to which
they are now driven by the Govern
mcnt."
Mr.. Jefferson was right in saying
whisky is poison. Senator Blair, Of
New Hampshire, 10 whom we are in
debted for many interesting facts in re-
latiOn to the temperance question, says
Col. Dudley of New York City has
published valuable pamphlet collating
the opinions of the leading medical
writer's Of the last fifty or seventy-fve
years, all Of whom agree in deciding
that alcohol is al acrid poison; and yet
more than one hundred and sixty thops-
and saloons and tipping places are ed
uca;ng the children Of America in hab-
its Of imtoxication.
Dr. james Edmunds, a distinguished
English physician, says:
" OF course you know iutoxicant is n
modification of the Greek word toricOn
The man who is intoxicated is poisoned /;
We simply use a Greek instead Of a Sax
on word for it. We see a man intoxi-
Gated. What are the phenomena we
sec then? A man lies on his back
snoring, helpless, senseless. If you set
him up he falls down again like sack
Of potatoes. If you try to rouse him
you get nothing out Of him but grunt.
Is that the effect of stimulant do you
think 7 should think it is the effect
Of paralyzer that you have-mind,
aud body, and nerve, and muscle, all
equally and uniformly paralyzed right
through. If man takes somewhat
larger dose, what do you see then
You see that snoring and breathing
come to an end, the spark Of life goes
out, and the man cannot be resuscl
tated. There are more men poisoned
in that way by alcohol, so far as know
English statistics, than are poisoned BY
all other poisons put together"
Ii is q remarkable fact that until the
last three centuries spirituous liquors
were unknown to the nations of the
earth. Here is what distinguished
scientific gentleman says about Alcohol
"The discovery of distillation Of wine
has been attributed to Albucasls, OF
Casa, an Arabian chemist and physi
clan of the eleventh century, but many
centuries elapsed before the process o
distillation was applied to produce thos'
stronger drinks which under the nam,
of spirits are now in such common US,
in daily life, Brandy is late term il
European literature. Gin was unknown
two hundred years ago Rum is al
American term applied to an American
invention; and whisky, Celtic wore
-uisge water has not been angliczc'
more than a century anda half. Meth
err rum, brandy, gin, or whisky hav'
been in common use as spirituou
drinks, nor any alcoholic drinks of any
thing like similar destructive power, un
I'll comparatively recent modern times.
But now, says Mr.. Blair, there ar,
five hundred million dollars, probabl,
one billion, vested in the traffic of spir
ituous liquors in the United Statcsx
traffic which causes threc-fourths of al
the crimes known to the law, which ha
converted SIX hundred thousand persons
into habitual drunkards, and which il
the cause of more than half the insanity
we have.
These are great evils. Aud now
what is the proper remedy? Mr.. JET.
ierson says wine. Substitute fermented
for distilled liquors as the common bev.
eragc.
The fermcn;cd liquors in common use
are wine, cider, ale and beer, and are
FIR less powerful and destructive to
mankind than brandy, rum, gin and
whisky. The new American Cyclope.
dia says Professor Brande found from
| to per cent. Of alcohol in small beer;
4 in porter; 6 to in ales about u
in the light wines Of France aud Ger.
many; from II to % in port and sher-
ry and other strong wines and from 40
to 80, and occasionally more in brandy
gin and whisky.
We agree, therefore, with Mr.. Jeiler.
son. Let fermentcd liquors be substi
tuted for distilled liquors MS the coin.
mon beverage, and let the manufacture,
importation aud sale of brandy, rum,
gin and whisky be prohibited, except
for medicinal, mechanical, chemical and
scientific purposes
We know there IRE those who say
we ought not to drink anything, and
that alcohol, even in n fermenled form,
was curse to the world before men
learned to distill it; but "therc is high