The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1886-03-03
The Negroes OH Tenn perance.

ifany of our readers have ever
doubted the possibility and feasibility
of the heGrG's being educated to and
established in right views of moral
and soeiai questions, we ask his ntten-
tion to the following extract from tho
report on temperance, passed at the
session of the Savannah Annual Con.
ference of the NJ. 4. Church confer.
ence composed entirely of nsgros., The
report has the right ring. 1t says:
Intomperanee causes wounds in
trrual, external, erernai ana mcIrSbie
II wastes the substance Of men. 1t
impedes the progress of the Church. 1t
is the persistent foe of progress, and
arrays itself against all moral reforms.
The effects Of liquor on parents and
and their offspring are alarming. The
operation Of the laws of heredity which
visit the iniquity of tbs fathers upon
the children to the third and fourth
generations are awful in their cons
sequences. Tie poison Of rum is get
ting into the blood of the race. 1t is
poisoning the channels Of inheritance.
Disease, idiocy, insanity and the drink
crave arc threatening our people, and
demand speedy and decisive action
againt the traffic. In the face of these
threatening perils..
ReSolsSG, /. That we, as ministers
ofGod and helpers Of humanity, pledge
ourselves and our church to earnest
and uncompromising york against the
traffic in every form.
2. That We promise to faithfully fol
low out in our practice and preaching,
the principles laid donp in our disci-
pline, believing that both science and
experience unite with the Holy Scrip.
tures in condsmning all alcoholic bev.
srages being nsithcr useful nor safe,
and regarding "voluntary" abstinence
froW al! in..Sisants as the true ground
of personal temperance, and oiT7ff1+S..s.
legal prohibition Of the traffic in alco-
holic drinks a. The duty ofcivll govern
meDt.
3 That we believe tho local prohibi
tory laws OF our State TO be right, wise
and practicable. Right, because the
Supreme Court of the United States
has over and over again confirmed the
right ofthe State to prohibit; because
the right inheres in US a. citizens, the
right Of protec,ion: because prohibition
is based on principles Of common law
and jsstic'; right, because the facts of
heredity and the crime, pau pcrism and
mora! suhversion Of society by the
RIM traffic, not only justify but demand
it's prohibition Wise. because it treats
the ram traffic. as other crimes against
society, not dignifyiEgit with protec.
tion, but branding it n. public enemy
aud putting tho zeal ofignominy upon
il; wise, because it strikes Mt the root
of the evil, and is Wholesome in its
educsiive influence upon the ycung.
Practicable, because in more than one
hundred counties Of this State, we have
seen chat prohibition does prohibit.
4. That we condemn mere license
and regulatiye laws as wrong in prin>
ciple and a failure in practice.
5. That we rejoice in the great vic.
tory just gained in the capital Of our
State. We feel that it Offers rsnsyed
encouragement to unremitting work
in all Of our cities and towns to rid
them Of this curse.
6. That we shall preach upon this
subject from our pulpits, work for total
abstinence and prohibition among our
people, and in every CONTEST take a
firm and unsquivocal stand in favor
of laws or the abolition Of the rum
traffic Wesleyan Christian AdvoeG!c.