The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1885-02-18
The Evils of Whisky.

bItlOn and favor free whisky; and sec
ondiy call attention to some of the evils
which the use of intoxicating liquors
has inflicted upon society. 1t is an his
torical and well authenticated fact that
every great revolution, the tendency of
which HIS been to elevate society to
higher moral and intellectual sphere has
met with fierce and stubborn Opposition.
There has always been a class df men
who cling with fohdness and with stub
born tenacity to whatever is antiquated,
and oppose as fanatical every effort for
Its overthrow, however strong NAV be
the reasons in favor of innovati on.
Christ himself who inaugurated the
greatest revolution known to the world
met with the most bitter resistance
which eliminated in His death upon the
accursed cross Martin Luther the
greatest human benefactor, whose deeds
history ever recorded, and who set in
motion a wave of moral and godly in
tluence which will roll on with accel-
Grated momentum until time is swal-
lowed up IN eternity, met with an oppo-
Sitiuu which only his iHdomitable will
could have successfully overcome. The
prUmn cation of the doctrine Of the
Immortality of The soul cost Socrates hi-
life The great truths revealed To the
world 10y Gal'ie0. he was forced Ia re
tract nn beuded knees. The Americas
Revolution which liberated us fr"m he
claws IF the British lion had its tories
t" oppose it. So the great and good cause
of prohibition which is attempting To
free our country from the letters OF
whisky has also its tories. They core for
ward with opposition aseqrally fierce, and
with arguments equally fimsy a. those
with which Washington, Luther or
Christ had TO contend. They style our
cause fanatical; though it is advocated
10y men equally as great as those who
headed the reformation of the
sixteenth or the revolution of the eigh
tecnth century. They contend that the
vutaries OF our cause are blinded by
ignorance; though it is beaded by Glad
stone, whom they acknowledge to be
the greatest living statesman, and by
Moody and Spurgeon, whom they
confess to be the greatest living di
vines.
Chief among the objections urged by
these pro whisky men in opposition To
prohibition Is that the enactment of such
a law would he an infringement of the
personal and private rights of individ
uals. They say that this is free country;
and that consequently they have the
right to drink, sell, or manufacture
whisky if they so desire, and that any
restraint upon this liberty by the Legis-
lature is unjust and unwaran.able. Now
let us see if this is not merely naked
assumption. We lay it down as an
indlsputable proposition that no man has
a right to do that which is wrong and if
1t can be shown that it is morally wrong
to engage in the sale or manufacture of
whisky no one can with any degree of
plausibility contend that it would be an
invasion of his private or personal lib
ETY. to restrain him from so doing. We
are to judge a tree by its fruits says the
Sacred Writ. What, then are the fruits
of the sale and manufacture of whisky?
Let the 81 SOC, 100000 which is more
than wasted annually in this country
for the accursed stuff answer. Let the
100, 900 criminals it sends to Jail, the
200, 900 paupers it sends to the poor
house, the 10000 murders it commits,
the 300, 900 orphans it sends shelterless
on the streets. the l46 900 suicides it
causes; the $4,000 drunkards it says,
and tie same number of souls it damns,
all in each year proclaim the truth to
The world.
Further, it is well known maxim of
law that no one has a right to SO con-
duct himself As that injury will result
to The persons and property of individ-
uals. This principle of law Is fully
elucidated by the great Blackstone in
the first volume of his commentaries
pages eightynine and ninety; and we
find laws founded upon the same prin
ciple ON almost every page of our
statute book. We have laws in our
Code prohibiting of racing or shooting |
on public highway, against drun.en
ness in Il public place, against swearing
in the presence of two or more, and |
against the sale of unwholesome pro
visions. These laws, with many Others |
that might be mentioned, were enacted |
in accordance with the principle that |
government has the light to restrain |
men in the exercise of any liberty the |
enjoyment of which is
productive of injury TO others or to |
society. Society affords us protection |
against injury to our property and vio
lence to our persons, and In consldera-
tiOn of this protection demands in re-
turn that we yield up and refrain from
exercising certain rights or liberties
which in a state of nature, and discon
nected with society, we would have
right to enjoy. Ii prohibits US from
swearing in public place in the pres
ence of two or more persons, because
by the exercise of this liberty We cor
rupt the morals and infiict an injury
upon those in the presence of whom it
is used. .f the whisky vendor or man
ufacturer inflicted no injury upon so
ciety-harmed no one except himself
he might with more plausibility contend
that government had no right to restrain
him in the exercise of this liberty But
the necessary effect of his occupation is
the infliction of a greater injury upon
society than that of the gambler or