Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1883-09-06
The Liquor Traffic.

The Liquor Traffic.
l will tell you my idea Of the liquor
traffic very briefly. God forgive me,
do not speak of it boastingly, for my
sin is ever before me; seven years of my
life We're dark blank. l know what
the burning appetite for stimulant is; l
know all about it, and have sat by the
dying bedside of drunkards; / have
held their hands in mine; have tried
to lead them at the last gasp to the
Savior who never turned any away that
came to Him; and yet, in the light Of
my own experience and the eXperince
of others that have received through
my observation, I could say: "Father
in Heaven, if it be Thy will that man
shall suffer, whatever seemeth good in
Thy sight of temporal evil, impose it on
me; let the bread of aflliction be given
to me to eat; take from me the friends
of my old age; let the hut of poverty
be my dwelling-place; let the wasting
hand of disease be laid upon me; let
me walk in the whirlwind, live in the
storm; let the passing away of my well
fare be like the flowing of stream and
the shouts of my enemies like rain on
the waters; when l speak good let
evil come on me-do all this, but save
me, merciful God, saveme from the bed
of adrunkard! And yet, as shall an
swer to Thee in the day of Judgment,
had rather be the veriest sot that ever
rceled through the streets than l would
be the man who sold him his liquor for
a month. [Applause.l
think it is the most awful business
that Il man can possibly engage in.
There is no good in it. How much ben
eft is it to IA town that man shall
start Il saloon? L wish Mr.. Bowen,
when he gives the next grand enter
tainment, would invite some Of the
liquor-sellers of Connecticut to come
here and show the benefits of their
business to this people. Let them
bring few specimens of their work.
They can't do it. The raw material is
always worth more than the manufac-
tured article, always.
AS boy SAID: 81 know So-an-so's
saloon is finished" "How do you know
it?'' 81 saw fellow coming out of it
drunk" A Aliquor-seller way very angry
with a boy who, when ne saw a drunk
en- man had fallen down in front of a
saloon, sad: "Mister, your sign has fell
down."
There was in Connecticut, l think, a
man named Solomon Camp, who put
up a sign rs Camps Tavern" The
painter forgot to put the dot in after
the initial S, and everybody read it
Scamp's Tavern" 1t nearly broke up
his business; he had to have a dot put
in; but that didn't do, as the letters
were too close together. and he had to
have new sign painted with wider
spacing and the dot in. Let them show
the benefits that are derived from the
sale Of Intoxicating liquor in this coun-
try. l hate it because we have no re-
dress. There is not mother here that
has any redress. There is not a wi1s
here that has any redress. A woman
went into g-shop-and ] give you
facts that / can prove-to plead with
the liquor-seller not to give her hus-
band any more liquor. He took tum-
bier of dirty water and threw its con-
tents in her face. She told her boy, and
he thrashed that liquor-seller so he was
on his back several days. Then the
liquor-decler prosecuted the boy for as
sault and battery and got the damages.
They tried to prosecute him for throw
ing water in the woman's face. They
failed. because she was intruding on
his premises. There is not a liquor-sel-
Ter that can't sell your husband drink,
and you may plead with him if you
will. You talk about moral .suasion.
Make it your own case. A young man
once said to me: 81 believe in moral
suasion. / believe we have no right to
attack these men. l told him little
fact that occurred, and I asked him:
Suppose that was your mother that
was kicked out of the rum shop when
she came to plead with Mr.. Leonard not
to give her boy drink, and when he
made her little boy nine or ten years
old drunk and sent him home out of
spite because she tried to prevent his
selling liquor to her boy, what would
you do?" He said: 81 would shoot him
as would woodchuck." I said: 81
would not, l believe in tee simple way.
| believe in the annihilation of the traf-
fic in intoxicating liquor; and the soon
er we get rid of it the better.-Fron,
John B. Coughs Fourth-cf-Ju1y Speech
at Woodstock, Conn.