The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1886-02-25
EFFECT OF VINE DRINkING.
OUGHT EVERY FARMER TO MAKE
VINE FOR HIS TABLE,
VII the General Manufacture and II
OF tne Prove an Effective Temperance
Measure

Ii~oN. \. t-, Feb 20 1855 iii the
ChRnNI,-E af Feb, ilth find the follow
NJ from Your Washington correspondent.
An interesting meeting, of tile vine crow
er- and wine producer w.9 held Iu tia. cts.
last week. Hon I.eIal Il stanford y ho has
5.oJt acres in Il vinegar ln California "a ~
PRESIDENT of the Association Nj Stanford
showed hat In the great vslne--rtAv iltr conn
tries OF Europe drunkenness j. unknown.
have always conteuded THAI tAe most eifec-
tive Was - stop intemperance in this couH-
try was 10 encourage the use 81 pure wines
at the dinner table. t.Ntrs farmer
ought 70 make enough to suppl Iii. own
iable and 10 sell at least enough 20 clothe
hl~ family with the proceeds. The opinion
advance y. Il few sentences above. ] have
heard the Wl~e-t men iu Our state endorse.
Al travelled aud we}l read men Euow that
the temperate use OF wine j. the strongest
safeguard against Iutemperance. Besides
u = the best preventive OF ay ySpcp>Ia- the al
most universal American complaint"
Now, Mr. Editor, The above views have
50 frequently found expression IN the State
press and have 50 long gone un4 questioned,
| feel constrained To put on record word
OF most earnest dissent, and to give some
testimony on the other side The writer
does not claim 10 be travelled and we'll
read, but he has long had access to the
writings of those who are justly entitled
TO such designation. And their reading
and observation have led them to couciu-
sions just rle opposite to those reached by
Senator Stanford and your correspondent
THAT in the great vine growing coun-
tries of Europe drunkenness i. "Nor"
unknown, and "that the most effective
way to stop intemperance in this country
IS ''NOT" to encourage the use of pure
wine at the dinner table. Let US see what
others have said Of this matter.
Moses, Il - great Jewish law giver. was
certainly travelled and we'll read, beng
LEARNED in all the wisdom of the Egyp-
tians, and having journeyed nearly 10
years on his way from Egypt 70 Canaan
More than three millenniums before the
art of distiiling was known, he wrote
Noah began to be hushaudman, and he
planted a vineyard, and he drank Of the
wine and was drunken. This first post
deluvian "hllsbandman" seems to have
thought, like your correspondent, that
every farmer ought to make enough wine
to supply his own table" bur he seems
not to have found like all modern '-tray-
elled and Woi-tead men, that 'thc TEN
perate use of wine is the strongest safe
guard against intemperance. And, it is
a suggestive fact that in this first refer
ence Of Holy Writ to drunkenness it seems
to have resulted from 'the use Of pure
wine, made by ''husbandman' or far
mer," and possibly drunk by him ''at the
dinner table. This is certainly not a very
good beginning for the new-old method
of ''stopping .ntemperance, for which
Your correspondent has always contend
ed Nor was the experiment of Lot
whose case Of drunkenness is the second
oae given in the Bible-also put on record
by Moses. more satisfactory than the one
o. Noah. The result seems TO have been
worse.
Take the testimony of Solomon, who, if
not ''trayeled and we'll read, was Ger
tainly as wise as the wisest men in our
State" lie, instead of advising that We
use wine ''at the dinner table, as a whole
some drink, says: ''Wine is a mocker,
and warns us to ''look not upon it or be
',deceived~ by it, giving US a long cata
logue of the evils it produces.
Isaiah, possibly less travelled and we'll
read than Moses, and not 50 wise as Sol
onion, but as fully inspired as either, says
Of the people of his day: They have also
erred through wine, and thr0Isa strong
drink are ont Of the way; the priest and
the prophet have erred through strong
drink. they are swallowed up Of wine,
they are out of the way through strong
drink; they err in vision, they stumble in
Judgment For all tables are full Of vOmit
and tilthinesS so that tA2ta is 40 place
clean.' liut little need be said by "ay Of
comment on this striking and pregnant
passage 1t may not be amiss to suggest,
however, that the Hebrew term, (shakar),
here and elsewhere rendered ''strong
drink" does not refer to such strong
drinks as whiskey, brandy, etc, which
were not then known, as the art of distil-
lation was not discovered till nearly 1000
years later. Critics tell Us that it is gen
eric term applied to other fermented
drinks than the grape-lulce such as Palm
sap, date juice, etc. 1t may be noted, too,
that his 'seffectiye' instrumentaity for
''stopping intemperance" was so utterly
ineffective that even ''the priest and the
prophet'--the one representing the people
to God, the other GOD TO the people-were
50 Swallowed up of wine as to ''err in
vision and stumble in judgment And
it is a rather suggestive coincidence that
while your correspondent insists on having
wine upon ''the dinner table, " the prophet
says that through wine the ''tables" of
this people were ''full of vomt and filth
ness" a learned critic, in commenting GA
this passage OF Scripture. says truly: This
picture crowns a series of prophetic decla-
rations which conclusivelv negative the
statement put forth By some writer's and
speakers WITHOUT ANY HISTORIC Al GROUND,
THAT WINE COUNTRIES ARE SOBER COT NTRIEs,
and that the insidious progress Of the lust
for liquor is not to be dreaded III the na
tive shabitals of the vine Neither beau
tiful climate, nor sanitary and social laws,
nor special teaching, nor religious prlvile-
ges, nor peculiar circumstances, We're
! safe guards against the growth of the
drunkard's appetite in all ranks
/ But possibly your correspondent refers
| TO uninspired and more modern travelled
! and well-read men," as better authority
! on this subject And possibly too, no
reference was had to the effect of wine
! drinking in Asia, as Senator Stanford only
showed that in the great wine growing
! countries Of Europe drunkenness is un-
/ known" Wen, let US have the testimony
of such men touching the effect Of wine
growing" in these countries. How Is It
In Italy.
Many wears ago Mr.. E. c. DeIayan, 8
prominent and well known gentleman o.
Albany, y Y. went to that country tC
satisfy himself touching this matter
He says that while in Rome Cardinal Ac
ton, who was then supreme Judge, assur
ed him that '',EiRLY ALL THE CRIME Il
ROalE ORIGINATED ~ THE USE OF WINE
Also that the Judge directed him to a par
of Rome that would compare well with ths
Five Points in New lorh. says he: =
visited that district, and there | saw men
women anG children sitting in rows, SWIL
LING AWAY WINE, MAKING Up ~ QUANTITY
WHAT WAS WANTING IN STRENGTH; and sucl
was the character of the inmates OF thos'
eio,,- no tyssf1a l4rt~aI Iar /.