The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-04-05
Incentives TO Action,

IhStS 10 all evil WHlCil Ildye seen
under the sun and it is common
among men,"
In the crowded streets of the city
it has told its story of misery and
degradation. In the homes of hun
dreds of helpless children it has
brought nothing but sorrow and des-
olatiOn. To the lives of many noble
men it has been the fatal instrument
of destruction, and has dealt out sor-
row, sickness, and death wherever it
has gone. Many family that might
otherwise have lived in affiuence, has
been brought to poverty, and has been
made to taste the bitterness of want
by the presence of this evil among
the people. Beneath its hideous garb
crime has been conceived, planned
and executed. innocence has suffered
wrong, and justice has been defraud-
ed, For alcohol some men have bar
tered home, friends. honor, truth and
christianity all, all, the noble things
of earth for which we should live and
which we should ever cherish and
esteem. The golden grain, a blessing
from above, designed for the good of
men. for the sustenance and support
of life, is often perverted from its in
tended and noble purpose by mems
own hands, and instead of being
blessing becomes an injury to many
who indulge in the habit of drinking.
The things that are essential to the
well-being and happiness of all are
provided by the bountiful hand of
God, while how many men created
after the image of their divine Maker
and gifted with voition and reason,
those godlike attributes that place
them above the animal creation, have
fallen by the excessive use of drink,
and have drowned in the cup all the
finer feelings and sensibiIities of life,
until they are only shadows of what
God intended them to be. Their
strength of will has been weakened by
intoxication, and their powers of
reason have been surrendered to alco-
hol, their sovereign and king. How
complete is their subsection and how
helpless their condition. Surely in
such cases others must hasten to the
rescue or see their fellow creatures 90
to ruin. A man who could see his
neighbOr drown without even max
ing an effort to rescue him, would be
considered coWardly or Indifferent in
deed, and much more does he, who
sees his neighbor fastening on to that
end that not only destroys the body,
but also the soul, deserve to be con-
sidered cowardly or Indifferent. We
have heard the pathetic cry of moth
ers for help when they saw their sons
going the way to ruin, and none
seemed to heed the entreaty. We
have seen the grief of fathers who
were brought to sorrow in old age by
the existence of this evil in the land.
We have witnessed the suffering of
families, made destitute of a comfort
ablesupport by that insatiabIec craving
for drink. We haye heard the pite-
Gus pleading of children, whose faith
ers rum has converted into hopeless in
ebrates, who neither provide nor care
for them, but often mistread them.
We have seen the mute appeal of
the intoxicated man for help, as he
lay by the way side, deformed, de-
faced, and void of reason, caused by
the excessive use of alcoholic stimu-
lants. Are not these demonstrations
of woe enough to arouse men TO ac-
ton? Are not these causes enough
to awaken in the bosom of every citi-
zen who lives not only for himself,
but also for those around him, a de-
sire to employ some measure that
will check this evil and lessen the
bad effects that attend it everywhere?
They certainly are proofs enough to
show that it is time something is be-
ing done. But some say that they
are moderate drinkers and that if
others do drink to excess, it is neither
just nor fair that they should be de.
prived of drink on that account. The
moderate drinker is in current both