Smyrna times., 1884-01-16

count in favor of morals and decency
all the work done in the schools of the
State Ireply there is licensed bar
| for every school, a bar clerk for every
school teacher, and nine times as much
spent for rum as is paid for teachers
| salaries. If tax payers had to pay as
much for school purposes as is paid for
rum in the State there would be a re-
volt. L am not surprised that religion
and morals are tardy in their progress.
They go upon crutches; while the rum
traffic rides in the first chariot of the
realm, pampered by the recognition of
the aristOcracy and adorned by the er-
mine of the Judicial Bench. In the
history of civilization and religion we
find nothing, nothing, nothing that so
e1fectually bars their progress as the
rum-trade taken in all its bearings.
ramilicatiOns and influence. Is not,
therefore, the duty of every man, who
has any appreciation of social or relig-
lOus advantages, made clear? Take
away this legalized chock from the
wheels of the gospel chariot, and let
her speed onward to her destined tri-
umph.
The traffic is most cifcctual in pre-
venting reformation of character by
Overpowcring the human will. What
are the strongest resolutions of the
ordinary drinking man in the presence
of the ruby cup? He imagines he has
bound himself with fetters of brass. so
that never again will he be overcome
by the charms of the saloon. But its
destinations render all his imaginary
letters as burnt tow, and he is led Il
captive by this distilled thing as though
he had never resolved to cease.
The traffic involves the loss of MANY
millions of money. Sometimes men
are moved if you appeal to them from
a money view, when the most startling
statements of moral dcsolation fail TO
impress. 1t would indeed be com
paratlvely pleasant view to take of the
matter, if financial loss were all the
loss involved. Alas! how trining is it
when put over against the irreparable
loss in immortal possessions! But
some are here who will not treat light
ly this feature of the question. Putting
the minimum Of drinking saloons at
two-hundrcd thousand. and the aver
age minimum 0f SAlns a!a. .,.l,. in,,,ls-
and dollars ttnd The lttcs; calculation
Is that 81 900 is the average we have
sunk IN this bottOml@Ss pit the fearful
sum OF eight hundred millions of dol
lars annually. | say SUnk, and so far
as bringing amy revenue to the invest
or, save that of pain, pangs and penal
ties, II IS SlRk. Need we be astOnished
at the 'rocfUi raHt when we stand face
to face with this wilful waste. But LET
n 49,
lion bushels OF brc;tdstuff DESTROYED an
Hually by peryerting it from Gods pur-
pose to that of intOXicatiOn. This does
not include the luscious fruit that is
distilled from our vineyards and
orchards. These forty million bushels
of grain would make six hundred mill
lion four pound loaVcs of bread. and if
these loaves were put as closely togeth-
er as we lay paving blocks they would
cover road thirty feet wide and a
thousand miles in length. Allowing
an ordinary tWO-h0rse wagon to haul
this bread and dump it into the river.
making load every half hour. work
ing ten hours a day, it would require
one hundred and sixty years to remove
1t. suppose now we had piled in some
SNiNt't "'il tlONl9C III llll9 NltllitN IfleSe
GO0,O00,0O0 loaves of bread, and to-
morrow morning the teams should
begin to haul it down to the bay and
throw it overheard! Would there not
be such remOnstrance as this State
never saw? And vet we know the cx-
act equivalent of this very thing is
being done every twelve months. and
we think but little of it. Does ANYBODY
take exceptions to the statement that
these forty million bushels of grain are
'cdSted, i'll brewing, mailing and distill-
ing? / say they are rorse than rasted-
Tor it were wise thing to burn it to
ashes compared with the results os dis
tillation. How we would bemoan the
fact If drought, frost aud mildew should
destroy forty million bushels of grain
each year! And yet we see the lus-
clous cereals worse than DESTROYED.
and we hear of little lament These
are only hints concerning the great
waste of our nations God-given re-
sources. Think of the bread and
blankets, the comforts and cosiness.
the homes and the health. the peace
and the purity, and the untold blessings
involved in the wicked waste of
heavens bOunties in the perversion of
bread to brandy-blighting and blast
ing men forever"