The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1883-03-29
Temperance.
The Temperance Revival.


times is the rouse attention o. the peO-
pie to the dangers and duties of the
hour, i'm view OF the gigantic evil of in
tenn ance. The revival is not in our
own country only, but is felt in England
and Scotland, an there is a cloud at
least the size ola man's.hand over the
continent of Europe
The hold the sub ect takes OF the pub
lie mind OF this country would surprise
u.s.. did we not perceive the magnitude
and ca ms of the subject so clearly as to
tiled with wonder rather that any
are in iitlerent. rather than that any are
awaken 'ng out o sleep. And it is not the
least of the remarkable features of the
ca-e that so many of the Western States
are making mighty efforts to arrest the
evil. In those vast agricultural regions
the power of reform is in the hands of q
different class of men fro that which
dominates State where the Vot ma
iorit es are in cities an | large towns.
But cit, or country. farms or iacto les,
foreign or native born, whatever the
nature and chara ter OF the people or
their employment, til y must dim n sh
the desolating uen OF the use o in
toxicating drin s. or the drinks viii be
the ri of the IlntTy.
What is the reason that the very men,
tion OF the sub ect S distasteful, not 10
say disgusting, e. a Ia ge number o.
good people. We have not a doubt that
hundreds who saw. the words at the
head o. this article rne away to
something else; AMI that other hun
d eds have quit it be ore they have read
thus far. VIII this contempt for s b.
ect which ne<t to the revi, al OF relig-
ion in the soul is the most urgent
moral q, est on in tie world? We have
10 admit that the manner in which it
has been dIscu sed by the friends O
Temperance has alienated many-that
the par les into whi h the camp is d.
vided spent strength in warning against
each other that should have been en-
employed on the enemy OF both ut
it is so wit h religion itself TO the shame
o.! the Church. And all this tine the
evil has been growing, mt | it now as
sumes such vast propoi tons as 10 appall
the heart. and almost destroy hope OF
success in making IA stand against it.
no State or town is the ev great
er than here ) ew York City. We
have oald OF Comm ssioners who
are authorized, on certain condit ons,
to grant licenses to individuals to sell
liquors. These men take The ground
that they are appointed to Ii 'ensc, n t
to reStrdtn the sa ae. Thereto e. the
more persons they license the more
faithfully they d harge their trust!
This absurd ut fatal construction they
put upon the law, and in proc. OF their
I deity they point to m re than 5000
licen es now granted by them in this
CITY! To tn s mber we may add at
least thousand uni censed liquor sa-
looms. But take the legalized places
only. 1900, and that g YES one saloon
to every 1873 ! ersons in tie city. OF
this number many must be minors to
whom they are not allowed to sell,
AMI w men and men who never buy,
and when these are deducted it will
be found that we have one Ii uor saloon
for every fifty or seyenty-five OF the
drinking population! If these saloons
or hotels or shops take in twenty dol
lars day, on an average, they get fifty
four mill ons of the peoples money ev-
cry year! Such figures appear incredible,
but one can verify them by a simple
use of multiplication and divisio on. And
this money comes mostly out OF the
WAGES OF the poor They work. earn
and drink. A poor man gets more of
what he wants out of gallon of beer
or quart of whisky than he does out
of a peck of potatoes. Fe drinks to
make him feel b tier. and then to help
him 10 forget. The destruct. on of the
poor. is their poverty. They destroy
themselves. And a vast pro- ortion OF
these fifty 'our millions goes to deaden
the sensibilties of the suffering, and 10
deepen the misery into which they are
sunk. ,HG " .. s.
Let it be granted that things are worse
in such CITY as this than in anv other
city, and tenfold worse than in the coun-
ry, East or West. it is still emphatical-
ly true that it is high time for every
city, town, village and community TO
ha Q thorou h temperance revival
! he press and the pulpit ought to be
heard. and with no doubtful sound OF
trumpet. With all the facts now be-
fore the publ mind. with the testi-
mony of couris an commissions that
three fourths of taxes and crimes are
the immediate results OF the Ii nor
saloons, there is no possible ground for
to restrain and dimini nish, and as~far as
possible destroy, this evil, which is a
civil, pol teal and social as we'll as
moral evil The law now en-
courages it in most of the States.
But if the Law licenses. it may
hedge the cense with such condi-
tions as to render the license a h n
drance, 1t may render it hard to be
obtained 1t may prohibit he license
altogether The constitutionality oi
such . law has been a undantly sus,
tame |. The only question is the ey.
pediency of such laws. And if the evil
to be assuagsd is civil and social, the
| exped ency is to be determined, by The
public sentiment of the State Un'ess
thdt will uphold and enforce the law,
there is no good in haE ng it. But the
enlightened mind OF he people must be
educated to the advantage Of such leg
islation as will help the poor to- live o.
sobriety, as W II save the fam lies of the
| poor from the cruel su erings now
brought on them by DIR uken husbands
and fathers, andwil convert the mil
ions now worse than wasted into streams
OF wealth to enrich and bless the people,
This viii follow q Temperance re
viyal. for VIII ch let the people labor anC
pray.-M T. Observer.
| -+------s-S - E t-l
SOCRATES (450 years before Christ
sa d of intemperance;f Doth it not rol
us of cur reason, that chief eXcelienc,
of man. and incite us to commit ths
4 ha rkn