New-York tribune., 1884-02-17
THE HEATIESr CLOG ON PR0GRESS


Many people who pride themselves on their
practicality are wont to sneer at the opponents
of the liquor traffic az mere "sentimeDtalists.
| No doubt there is much sentiment in that Cppo-
sition but it is sentiment based upon the hard
est of facts. The truth Is that if all the other
evils that aflict society put tOgetherthey will
not nearly equal in weight and sinister effects
the one enormous and universal mischief OF in
temperanCe. Mr.. Matthew Arnold holds that
Pbil.stinsm, he calls it, is rampant in England
and the United States; but the truly humiiiat-
ing fact in regard 10 these EngliSh-speakinE
peoples is their profuse expenditures upon IN
toxicants, and the place which the business of
selling and making intOHicants occupies in their
national life. Americans spend 100000, 900
year in this way, and Englishmen even more
in proportion. Yet all legislative bodies in
both countries, and all journals, and hundreds
OF societies and associations, are constantly
| engaged in discussing remedies for evils not
! only Of minor importance, but manyif not most
Of them the GiIect or indirect results OF this
fIightful waste of capital upon degrading and
demoralZing agents
Herc in New York, as the speakers at Cooper
Institute the othcr evening one and all al
mitred, we have actually arrived at a local
government based upon the worst and most
pernicious eminatiOns of the liquor interest
We have come TO be ruled in accordance with
the views Of mon whodcrlvcall thciT power from
| their success in rum-sciling. and whose follow
ING largely consists OfthOse ewhoseintcIHgence is
habituauy clouded by the same poison. And
because the passion for rum is so strong among
a large proportion Of the masses. every effort
to shake ohthis corrupt and shameful dosp0tism
has hitherto failed and drunkenness and dis
honesty go hand in hand, and laugh TO scOrn
every reform movement.
OF what uso is il to talk about poverty, des-
titutiOn, sQUalOr, misery, here and there, when
it is notorious than tens Of thousands are 50 en-
slavcd by vicious appetite as to be incapable
Of helping themselves, Indifferent to the nature
Of their surroundings. dead to every progress
siye aspiration. How can we reasonably COM
plain of any minor evils while this gigantic one
continues to hamper the Nations advance at
every step; willie this vast drain continues to
carry off capital, one years application of
which would solve every social problem that per-
pleXes US? Ii this is not practical question,
then there is no such thing as practically. 1t
Is the one OyCTshadOWing evil whose existence
of necessity prevents the success of reform ef-
forts in all other directions. 1t is said that the
condition of the working classes is unsatisfac-
tory, that they do not prosper as they might the
answer must be that they can never utilize their
opportunities until they are freed from the
curse of rum. If it is said that our politics are
corrupt, trivial, mean, it must be assumed that
our politics are too deeply entangled with the
liquor traffic to be other than what they ere.
If sanitary questions are concerned rum still
stands in the way of improvement. If religious
progress Is discussed the fact remains that the
saloons empty the churches. If educa-
ton Is considered, it is notorious that the same
degrading agency seduces thousands of our
youth.
Wherever we turn, in short, we encounter
this subtle and sinister agency. 1t is blight
which lies heavy upon our civilization, and
which will have to be cleared away before that
civilization can become an object of Just pride
and satisfaction. And the question at issue
really is whether this great evil shall be dealt
with summariy, or shall be approached by slow
degrees. All sensible men are agreed as to the
necessity for getting rid of it, but opinions diff
fer as to the best method. Meantime, it pro-
ceeds without the least misgiving or compunc-
tion, never checking itself, giving full play to
all ITS myriad influences, and opposing to re-
form a solid and brazen front. Its safety thus
far has consisted in the want of harmony among
its opponents This has given it time TO es
tab.ish itself and grow strong. But sooner or
later II will he necessary for the intelligent and
elements of society to drop all lesser
enterprises and combine in one determined as
sault upon that vice which is to-day the heavi-
est clog upon progress, and the deepest disgrace
Of the nineteenth century.
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