The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-05-28
Prohibition or no Prohibition.

put in question by a friend and relative
of mine in your paper Of May 7th,
whether or not We might not return to
the old way of doing that is, suffer any
man to make and sell whiskey who chose
to do SO. Our cousin is candid man,
and one who, having convictions, dares
to express them. We would not have it
otherwise. Woe to our people and to
our land the day. that free speech is de-
MED us. There is nothing at all wrong
/ in honest, fair discussion. SIN the null
titude of counsellors there is safety"
We do well to reason and to act wish de-
liberation. Because we. are going to pass
alaw, or we arc not going to make it q
Law, that will influence the veal or the
woe Of millions, and perhaps of a billion,
of human beings yet unborn. Under all
Democratic governments law is efficient
just as it has the full assent of the whole
people who make it and maintain it, Or
|it is inefficient and quasi nullay as it
has not foundation in the consent of the
people. The only fair way to find out
what is the. will of. the whole people
about the matter is, to openly and freely
discuss the proposition till the attention
of the voters is attracted, and they! made
fully aware of the important issue to7be
made,i and then fearlessly submit the
question to vote. s+-..sf,,;
We are the people ourselves concerned.
Suppose the law is made, and upon trial
is found TO. ! be Inefficient The same
popular will that, expressed through the
polls, made that law can unmake it.
Now this government is not an oligarchy,
but a democracy. .i .; ,s5s
Our cousin. asks if God did not pro.
nounce His work of finished creation
very good 3 As be adduces Bible proof
of course We admit it. But ne are un-
willing that he should quote Genesis
and leave off David and Solomon. See
Ecclesiastes 7th and 29th: "God made
man upright, but they have sought out
Ito themselves many inventions" Psalm,
1O6th and 18th: They provoked Him
to anger with their Inventions" He ad-
duces the use of wine mentioned fre-
quently in the Scripture, and the fact
that the Saviour by miracle on one occa.
sion Created wine. Very true. But by
the fall of Noah and the fall of Lot, and
by the precept of Solomon, He warns
men against the dangers attendant even
upon the use of wine. See Genesis 18th
chapter and 3Oth and 3Sth verses; Gen.
9th and 21st, aad see Prov. .20th and 1st !:
".Wine is mocker, strong. drink is
ragiug.n Prov. 23rd and 29tE-32nd !:
aWho hath woe? who hath SORROW !?
who hath contentious? who hath bab.
ling? who hath wounds without cause {?
who hath redness Of eyesl They that
tarry long at the wine, they that 60 to
seek mixed wine.nn-. =
Now, this is only wine, for whiskey
had not been invented. Weind frequent
allusions through the Scripture to the
wine.press and the wine.vat; but we do
not find allusion once to still, kettle or
still.worm. Now there is every reason
to believe that the ancients knew a great
deal about fermentation, and that they
fermented other materials beside the
grape, and made strong drink and liquors
Of certain kinds by process of fermenta-
ton, but no reason to believe that they
knew aught of distillation. It is written
land although we are far from crediting
every line of profane history that we
read, still we have no reason to dispute
this, that the process of distillation was
discovered by an Arab about four hum
dred years ago. The term Alcohol is
said to be compounded of two Arabic
| words, al (the) and caho5 misty substance)
It is the result of both fermentation and
distillation. photographers define it
pure spirit.
It is not only misty, but our cousin
knows we'll by obseryation-(he knows
| nothing by experience for I doubt if in
the nearly fourscore years that he has
lived he has ever once been even partially
| under its influence but we'll does he
know by observation that it will mystify
very completely the man that drinks
much of it; and that it will do it more
quickly than wine. Both result from
| fermentation, but in the wine the feImen'
tation is arrested at a certain point. In
the whiskey, or brandy, or rum, the
essence is highly concentrated. In the
wine it has never been completely sepa'
rated from the original whence it was
derived. And there is more than this
It has been discovered that by the intro
4 duction of small quantity of substance
that is highly poisonous, the whiskey tt
be obtained from any given amount o