The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1884-10-15
Womens Christian Work.
A Strong indictment.

-. 81. =
Hete is our case; state it ~ briefly
as possible. The liquor traffic is tre-
ntendous public and social mischief. It
lives only by spreading broadcast in the
community, poverty, pauperism, suffer-
Ing, ignorance, degradation, insanity,
crime and premature death. Is there
another side" to that No. there isn't;
nobody denies that to be true. 1t wastes
the wages Of labor, disinclines to steady,
patient industry and by-and-by render,
industry Of any kind impossible; convert
ing the soher worker, whether by hand
or head, INTO tramp and vagabond.
1t creates no value, but it wastes and des-
troys the values, created by others; il
subsists upon the earnings ofothers, earn.
ing nothing ITSELF 1t sends an infinite
misery into the world, which but for il
would be- comfortable, prosperous and
happy. That's our side of the question
is there another side? The liquor traffic
inficts more suffering upon the people
year after year, then comes from war
pestilence and famine, those three great
scouragcs of mankind. The London
Times says that some months ago, and
afterward Mr.. Gladstone, the present
Prime Minister of England, borrowed
those words, adopted them as his own
and repeated them before an immense
audience. That is one side of the ques.
ton; has anybody ever suggested that
there is another side? Never.
John Wesley said more than one hun
bred years ago: Liquor sellers are pois.
oners general. They murder his males.
tvs subjects by wholesale. Neither does
their eye pity or spare; their gain is the
blood of the people" Lord Chesterfield
in 1927, in a speech on the "Gin bill" in
the House of LORDS, called liquor dealers
artist in human slaughter" From John
Westleys time to our day; no one has
denied or doubted that all this is true.
Mr.. Senator Morrill,, Of Maine, on the
floor of the United States Senate, said:
1.-THE liquor traffic is the gigantic crime
ofcrimes." ALI this has been repeated
a thousand times or more on the pulpit
and platform, but no man has dared to
say it is not true The liquor traffic in.
ficts more suffering upon the people, and
misery in thousand ways, then come
from all other evils combined. That is
our case; does any one pretend that there
is another side to it? No one has ever
dared to do so.
The prohibition of this business is
founded in the belief that there are vir-
tue, intelligence, piety. and patriotism
enough among the people to induce them
to combine in order to deliver the COM.
munity from the malign influence of this
devilish trade. 1 call it so because its
sole tendency is to drive out from among
the people every good thing and to SUBJ
stitute everything that is bad. It con-
verts good citizens into bad ones; good
fathers, good brothers, husbands. sons,
into bad ones. After all this terrible ar
ray of evils coming inevitably from the
liquor traffic, we demand Of its friends to
show the good that comes from it, and
they are dumb. No man can show good
to the value Of shilling coming from the
liquor traffic to nation, state or people.
Why then, in heavens name we ask,
should society longer endure this dread
full scourge? Why should it not be put
In the list Of prohibited industries with
lotteries, gambling houses, brothels and
obscene books and pictures? There are
piety, intelligence and virtue enough
among the people to accomplish this, if
they can be brought together unitedly
upon it. This we are striving to accom-
pllsh. Meal Dow.