The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-08-27

oU ................ o.o If.A =.
{"Deterioration and Race Education" /"
Samuel Royce, third edition, Boston, 1880
Vol. I, p. 49,.
The temperate man at twenty years Of
age will outliye the drunkard nearly
three years to one.
Truly does Mr.. Royce say that drunk
enness is the bridge which connects pau
perism to insanity, and these three to-
gether threatened the complete destruc.
tion of the human race.
We all know the extent of the evil.
The question is what is the true remedy
Mankind in all countries and at all
ages of the world have required stimu.
lants. Eminent authorities, among 9th.
ers DR.. Balfour, contend that the mode.
rate use of stimulants tends rather to
healthy action than to excess, and actu.
ally keeps the people temperate by salts
flying reasonable requirement of human
nature.
Another able writer says: "a nation.
al love for strong drink is characteristic
of the nobler and more energetic popu.
lations of the world" Again, "it accom-
panies public and private enterprise,
constancy of purpose, liberality OF
thought and aptitude for war"
DR.. Parks has shown by experiments
with soldiers in the British army, living
upon constant diet without and with
alcohol, (of course in moderate quaint.
ties, that there was no perceptible differ
ence between the two classes,
DR.. Dupre has discovered that when
persons abstain from alcoholic drinks for
six weeks, and even in the case of q tee
totaller, a substance is formed in the hu.
man system s'giving all the reactions or
dinarily used for the detection of the
traces of alcohol"
Alcohol is latent in vast number o1
vegetable productions. 1t is principal
of animal life. A wise Creator would
not have placed it there unless it were
useful TO man. Having to deal with O
natural desire for stimulants, and one
which when indulged in moderation
produces good instead of harm, it seems
to be the part of wisdom rather to direct
men to a safe method of gratifying this
natural craving, than to attempt the i'm
possible task Of altering the natural in.
stincts implanted within US by the Crea
tor himself.
All movements in the direction of so
called temperance, but in fact tttal alb
stinence, have thus far ended in failure
And from the very nature of the case
must ALWAYS prove Intellectual.
Prohibition only drives the liquor
traffic out of sight. just as usury laws
increase the rate of interest to the Dor
rover, because the lender has to charge
certain amount to cover the risk of detec
ton and punishment consequent thereon
so does the liquor.seller add to his usla
selling price enough to bribe the police
or if not that, at least to idemnify him
self if detected against the expense O
prosecution and the fines and penalties
which follow upon conviction. Both tht
money.lender and the liquor.dealer vii
be sure to charge too much additiona
profit rather than too little. Thus tht
unfortunate inebriate pays for his indul
gence still higher price, and the tenn
perate man is compelled to pay for the
sin of his drunken neighbor. The sale
of the liquor is not discontinued nor ever
reduced, but the wife and children of al
drinkers, whether temperate or inteWper
ate, are mulcted for the sake of an i'm
practicable idea. Prohibition does no
prohibit.
annex few examples clipped from
recent newspapers, and will add my owr
experience. In the town of Sumter w
tried prohibition one year. During tina
time there were eleven barrooms regu
larly plying their vocation. I he mex
year we fixed the license at six hundred
dollars per annum, and we had only siz
barrooms open.
The Washington National Republican
says that prohibition in Iowa has proved
to be an utter and absolute failure, pro
ducing much evil and no good. The frs
year Of the new system expired on July
4, and the statistics show that the number
of drinking saloons increased during the
year, that drunkenness has been more
common than before, and that not one o.
the good results which had been foretole
has been realized. The temperance peo'
pie in Iowa, if the Republican is correct
fy informed, went too far and too fast.
A whosale liquor house in Atlanta sell'
a carload of white jugs month. They
are filled with whiskey and are sold prin
cipslly in the prohibition counties. The
dealers say that sin addition to getting
cash for what we sell we charge from
fifty cents to one dollar gallon more
when we sell to prohibition County
than we do when we sell to any Other
section."
In like manner, as usury laws add te
the difficulty of borrowing money excep
at very high rates, the immortality o
law.breaking by both borrower and lend
er, so does prohibition not only increase
the cost of liquor, but degrades both buy
er and seller by converting them into
knaves and liars,