The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-03-15
tFor the Republican,
Alcoholism.
NUMBER II.

though convicted of bad character,
still has the brazen presumption to
lay claim to public favor. Let us see
how false is this claim.
l. 1t calls itself "a good creature OF
I God" The very opposite of this is
the case: it is of all things in the
world, one of the most deadly enc
mics of what eyer is good and true.
In order to its production, there is
destroyed enough nouriSiting food ia
satisfy the wants of all the needy. or
cheaper the bread of the worlds toll
ers by 25 per cent. In its maDufac-
ture and handling are engaged the
most deadly enemies of the public
veal, and its consumption as bever-
age results in producing the most de-
based and dangerous elements OF
society. AS well call the bowie-knife
or the pOcket-revolver "a good crea-
ture of God" as alcohol ; rs well call
the bawdy-hOuse or the robbers den
"retreat" for the public, as the hell
mills that make it, or the soul-traps
in which it is sold. "a good crea-
ture of God!" Indeed? Call it by
its right name-credture of the devil.
2, 1t claims to be food for man.
Yes. food for foul passions, for brawls,
and for murderOus intentions, Food
why it is the child of decay and
death! Anything that will rot will
make whiskey. The stop of the dis
tillery will fatten swine or cattle but
who has ever heard of the horrid stuff
that crawls like a serpent from the
still doing this? Bloat, it will, but
never nourish. Indeed it is an ex-
celIent bloater: it blOats the purse of
the maker and the vender, and the
person of the deluded consumer. Let
this lie of the monster be branded as
a genuine article, and itself fatal
delusiOn.
3. 1t claims to be an indispensable
help in the practice of medicine. And
this is as false as any of its other
claims. Because it has been long and
widely thus employed, is no proof
that it cannot be dispensed with.
But the fact that many and many a
drunkard has been made in the sick
bed, may be striking proof of some
thing else. DR.. Richardson, of Lon
don, has for years conducted large
general and hospital practice without
the use ola drop of alcohol; and many
other eminent physicians join him in
the verdict that the dangerous stuff
is not needed by the medical frater-
nifty or profession. Another false
claim demolished I!
4. 1t claims to be an inspirer of
genius. Lord Byron and Edgar A.
Poe are striking witnesses to this
claim. 1t puts fire i'm the brain-that
no one will deny, and it burns up the
brain, too. No work of rum .inflamed
genius has ever been worth a silver
to the world. Did DemOsthenes,
drunk, master the world in oratory :?
Did Michael Angelo fill himself with
wine when his cunning hand wrought
out of marble the wonderful creations
of his sublime genius? Did Job get
his inspiration from the rum-bowl,
or David, or Isaiah, or John? Or
yet Milton or Bunyan? No: the
sober mind leads the world.
5. 1t claims to be an antidote for
trouble, or to be allie to bring COM
fort to sorrow. So is any poison-so
is the deep river! Let a man take
enough of the one, or go deep enough
down in the other, and trouble and
sorrow will be effectually cured. In
very fact. however, as the blindest
of the blind must see, alcohol is the
author of more trouble and sorrow
than any other iniquity that bares it's
brazen front before the face of the
modern world. 1t dr0tc1aS trouble, as
swill browns squealing in the sly: it
heals sorrow, by reducing the rational
to the state of the occupant of the sty.
6. 1t claims 10 be promoter of:
Health. Men believe this only be.
cause "they believe lie more than
the TRUTH" and because they care
more for taste than for fact, or for
themselves. A promoter of health !!
Then why does cholera and yellow
fever decimate besotted communities.
while but one in fifty or a hundred
fall among the sober? And Oft
Wealth. This is an old trick. I'M
derstand Congress dare not legislate
against whiskey because it pays a
large revenue, Yes, they take in a
million of this "blOnd-mOney." and
pay out two or ten million for c0rree.
tiOu of rum-crimes, the healing OF
rum-sorrow. and in pensions for muir.
dered rum revenue collectors fam.
lilies. If there were no -rum-lovine
Members and Honorable Senators
there would be no such false senti.