Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-11-23
THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.
Remarks of Right Worthy Grand Tenn.
plar John u. Finch

par OOnn Is. Finch.
The Sixth-street NJ. T. Church was wei
hiled last evening by representative audi
enee to listen to the great temperance ora
tor, John 3. Finch. The lower part of tn,
church was crowded and the gallery seat
were nearly all occupied The reputation
OF being the most eloquent exponent of tn,
cause of temperance in the East had pre-
ceded Mr.. Finch, and the simple announce
ment that he was to speak was sufficient Il
draw large house He is a gentleman o
commanding appearance, splendid deIiy
cry, reasons by comparisons, intersperse.
ms remarks with anecdotes, sparkling Wi
ana whitening sarcasm. Below IS given q
! brief synopsis of his remarks
/ The Good Templar believes in love and
law. Love and patience for the erring and
weak law and penalties for the tempter
Prohlbltlon of the manufacture and sale OF
alcoholic beverages, being the only law
mat has proved effective in dealing with
the liquor traffic, is the only law for which
GOOD TempLars will work and which they
Will accept rs temperance law If the
| nquor traffic is a blessing we cannot have
TOO many blessings; if it is a school of vice
and crime it must be DESTROYED. In dealiro
with the liquor traffic Good Tempars ask
that 1t shall be held reSponsihleto the same
moral and social accountability as all other
trade; that the minister is as good as the
Grun kard-lnaker as long as he behaves
himself as well. If clergyman in this
city should preach the hated doc
trne Of free-loveism, and thereby
ruin your boys, debauch your girls
and break mp your homes, you would ride
hlm on rail or dump him in your river.
Is 1t any worse for a minister to retail q
doctrine that curses community, than for
a liquor dealer to retail a liquor which pro-
duces the same social results? The li6Cor
business is responsible for the attack Innn
it. But for its character and crimes il
would not be on trial. When it came to
this continent 1t was given as good a chance
10 be decent as any trade. As late as the
year 1916 a majority of the distillers in
New England were members of churches,
and liquor dealers nearly all belonged to
the church. To-day the business is social
outlaw even in the cities that license it.
From the day it was brought 10
this continent it has deliber-
ately and maliciously ruined homes.
cursed men, degraded women, stoned
children. You are asked to try il by the
record it has made-the record written in
the Police Court, the Jail, the penitentiarv,
and the archives where records of crime
are kept. The liquor-seller curses his Gus
toner, his customers family. and the State
of which that family is part. A repub-
lican form of government depends upon
the character of the unit of the govern
ment-the individual man. woman and
child. Anything that develops the charac-
ter and intelligence of the man is friend
of the Government anything that ruins
the character and intelligence of the man
Is an enemy of the Government, and the
man who, by vote or act, enables a business
to continue to rot the foundation of free
government is not true to his country.
The charges against the liquor trade are
plain and specific. If they are false the
liquor interest ought to be indicated and
temperance men silenced; if they are true,
the liquor traffic ought to be destroyed. The
liquor business never denies its guilt. but
with its hands stained with the blood OF
our loved ones asks: What are you go
ing to do about it, 1t controls the nation
by controlling the drunken and debauched
voters of our large cities. To-day a repub-
lican form Of government is farce in most
American cities. The saloonkeeper is a
more potent political factor than the
clergyman, the teacher or the business
man. Boston has had to Weld her
right of local sef-government be-
| cause of the saloons, and other American
cities are in q worse condition than Boston.
Politicians may laugh and sheer. but the
people must either destroy the saloon or it
will rule this country. 1t violates all law
| it has struck down the laws protecting the
christian Sabbath and dictates to parties
their platforms and candidates You NAV
say | am visionary, but viii not the history
of local politics in Sacramento corroborate
my statements. The saloon is simply a
school OF crime and vice, q hotbed of po-
litical scoundrelism. Taxpayers are as
Sessed 10 support free schools, because
voters must be intelligent in a republic. Ii
a republic depends upon character and in
telligence, state single argument to Justify
the licensing by republic of schools which
ruin character and intelligence. The issue
is raised and must be settled. No compro-
mise viii be accepted by either side. The
battle is battle to the death, and victory
over the liquor traffic is near at hand. The
issue cannot be laughed down, sneered
down, nor bulldozed down 1t must be
settled, and no issue is settled until it is
settled right Halfway measures will only
postpone final settlement, and prolong the
struggle. The whole question raised is a
question of fact: Is the liquor traffic
judged by the record it has made, such
an institution as a republican form of gov
eminent can allow to continue? Is the
liquor saloon the friend or enemy of the
republic? Try it as man is tried, and let
it stand or fall on its own record. Do not
let it plead the baby Act. Hold it to a
strict accountability. This will be done,
and the day will come when California will
no sooner license men to sell liquor TO
make drunkards of the loved ones of the
women of this State, than it will license
men to enter the womens dressing rooms
and steal the jewels from their jewel-cases.
Mr.. Finch's stay upon this coast will be
necessarily brief. He can deliver but thirty
lectures, and desires, if possible, to crowd
them into thirty days. His appointments,
50 far as arranged, for November are as
follows; Dutch Flat, 25th; Auburn, 9th ;
Sacramento 2Sth Grass Valley 10Th
Marysville, Both and 31st; December Me
ridian, ID San Francisco, Sd, 4th and 9Th
Newcastle, 9th; Roseville, 18th Winters,
Sth; Woodland, 9th; Birds Landing, 10th /;
Irvington, 1lth Gilroy, 18th; Solano 18th ;
Vallejo, 18th; Stockton, 18th. A formal
reception will be rendered the lecturer on
behalf of the Grand Lodge and the Good
Templars of California at the Metropolitan
Temple, San Francisco, on Thursday even
ing, December Sd.