The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1884-03-07
Temperance in the Metropolis.

Temperance Society held meeting in favor
of the Roosevelt high license bill on Tuesday
night last. Henry Ward Beecher Dr. Crosby
and Judge Noah Davis were the speakers.
In his remarks Mr.. Beecher said: 1.-THE gen.
eral drift of all kinds of business is beneficial,
and only incidentally mischievous but the
sale Of liquor is only incidentally beneficial
and generally bad. Applause If were
to speak not of liquor dealers but of liquor
itself would charge it with almost every in
EQUITY known to human experience. would
declare that liquor is demoralizing, waster,
thief, murderer, a poor-house builder.
Applause. Now we are not fanatics. While
l regret that there are some fanatics in the
cause of temperance, some rash and hasty
men, such men are sensible compared with
the man or woman in this community who
does not care anything for this subject"
| AS the drift of Mr.. Beechers remarks are
| indicated by the above, it will readily be seen
that the Beecher at temperance meeting
and the fellow by the same name at politi-
cal gathering are two separate and distinct
individuals DIR. Crosby in his address was a
little more consistent with his previous utter
ances.
Judge Davis, however, in his speech which
was the speech of the evening, said: eff
have hope desire to see realized it is that
I shall live to see the day when no man, under
the sanction of law, shall put drop of intox-
icating liquor to his neighbors' lips. APP
plause That hour is coming-and before
Mr.. Beecher dies / hope to see it, and it is
coming with his sanction and support"
| After referring to Kansas Maine and Ohio
he said: Goods and mans law prohibits
murder, yet scarcely week passes but some
murder horrible and horrifying is committed.
Shall we abolish the prohibition of murder
on the plea that prohibition doesn't prohibit?
We prohibit burglary and larceny, yet every
day those crimes are committed, not only by
men who pick your pocket, but by men who
have taken solemn oaths to obey the law, and
yet steal and plumber the taxes in the public
treasury? Shall we, therefore, abolish our
prohibition of larceny? No, we will main
tain the law as far as possible and struggle to
raise the public standard of morality SO that
all living agencies of hell shall be closed alb
solutely, and we will enforce it SO far as hu-
man skill can. Applause. wish to de-
nounce nobody. But 1 would speak gingerly
of liquor dealers only as 1 would Of other
men who commit offences like to theirs. My
twenty-nine years experience as judge taught
me that of all the causes of sin and misery,
of sorrow and woe, of pauperism and wretch
edness, intoxicating liquor stands forth the
unapproachable chief. Within the last three
| Gays pour weeping 3AosAOi oohiC " Inc W
ask my help in getting her son pardoned out
of the state prison. I told him that if he
would give me the name of the man who
sold him the rum which led to his crime
would remit large part of his sentence, and
would impose the severest penalty the law
would permit upon the poisoner who served
him with the rum. Shall l be mealy-mouthed
when I speak of such men? By heaven, !
will denounce the rascality that sells liquor to
men, women and children, with as much vio-
lence as God gives me power to utter
II can't stop the sale of intoxicating liquor
here-no body of men can-but the hour is
coming when we can. l do not think this
high license bill will do as much as its friends
suppose, but it will do something. If you
take up list of the licensed iquor-dealers,
you will be startled at the percentage that
have graduated from state prison. large
percentage have brought their good characters
down from Sing Sing-ready made-for
they are tried men. Laughter.
NV mouth never shall be closed against the
evil that my position shows to be the chief
source of all the evil that drags my fellow
men down and opens the gates of hell upon
them" Applause