Smyrna times., 1886-09-29
For the Smyrna Times.
War and Intemperauce.
BY ]. w. I.

War and Intemperauce.
BY ]. w. I.
From time immemorial, war seemed
to be one of the inevitables. 1t anti
cedes its companion in this article
thousands, perhaps millions of years.
Long before God said " let there be
light" we hear Of war among the
heavenly bodies. Long prior to the
to the period when the elements were
called into order we have knowledge
of one Lncifer being cast out Of
heaven to make his abode in the earth.
Since then we have more intimate
and direct knowledge of the elements
of warfare. The earth has been full of
it, and the nations have cried aloud in
anguish of soul, as a result of it.
We need not talk of Moses, and Joshua
and Saul, and David and Gideon, or of
the barbarOus waIiares of foreign and
heather countries, but we will content
ourselves with the Civil War Of the
nineteenth century and find sufficient
in it to satisfy US of its magnitude and
destruction of life and moral principle.
In this article we design to contrast the
results of the dead, iUOuAded and miss
ina, and reveal the fact that the results
Of intemperance are manifold more dis
tructive to life and property than the
wars that occasionally break in fury
upon certain sections of the land, and
bring such appalling disaster upon so
many families. War comes suddenly.
In temperance is gradual and cOnfin-
uOUs, doing its neiariOus work not only
in one section of the country, destroy
ing or burning one city, but it is found
all over the land, in cJery city, town
and hamlet, seldom is seen crossr0ad,
hillside, or valley free from its work of
devastation and death, poverty and
crime. Intemperance is unlike war in
the fact that it does not come once in a
lifetime, and lasts only two, four or
seven years. 1t is never absent from
US. 1t is here Notwithstanding the
law 365 days in eUery gear Of our nat
ural lifetime its influence is more gen
orally felt by the inhabitants of the
earth. 1t is impossible to eXagerate
the evils of intemperance-its blighting,
withering, deadly effects are felt all
over the land. 1t not only affects one
class ofthe population, but all classes,
male and female, white and black.
The Civil War as ended in 1865, was
one of gigantic magnitude. Well do
we remember how eagerly we watched
for the mail that brought us the It'd
ings Of victory and death-hOW care
fully the wife and father and childrend
examined the lists of killed, wounded
to l-r,rvrv e.
of their dear ones were among them
how the heart ached even during the
perusal, but who can tell how much
more it panged the heart when they
saw the name of husband, son or
brother. How we wished and PRAYED
that the cruel war was over. Its work
Of devastation was great and yet it
stopped at $4,000 lives annually, while
intemperance is sending almost, or.
perhaps altogether, that amount into
eternity through the one cause-a
drUnkard's graUe-say nothing of the
many who directly, or indirectly lose
their lives through the influence ofrum
and poverty, crime and accident.
The wounded of the war wno after
wards died amounted to about $4,000
or $4,000 men who died with honor
and clothed with patriotism while
those who died from wounds received
at hOrse-race, or dance, or bar-room
fight, died in shame and disgrace, out
numbering the honorably wounded
soldier. The war had its line of battle
and its artillery upon only few battle
fields, one here, and one there. Intem-
/ perance and rum have the line of bat
tie dotted all over the land. New
York city and Philadelphia alone will
/ furnish a continuous line of saloon ar
tillery 80 miles long-you may suspect
the varacity of the last statement and
it may be well to give an example.
With $4,000 saloons in New York and
Philadelphia-lS,000 by % feet front
equal 100000 feet front, divided bv
$3.50 feet to the mile equal IS miles
and fraction over. Adding s streets
fifty feet wide, and s alleys 10 feet
wide, to every mile of building. it will
make fraction of 7 miles to be added
to the 80 miles, making in all 90 miles
OF death and destruction, with only
room to get between to haul in and
out the munitions of carnal warfare
pennsylvania liquor men claim 10000
saloons and hotels, giving them 10000
votes, or pieces of infantry with
which to cope with the determined
christian voters of the State.
1t is asserted upon the best statisti.
cal authorities that in Canada and in
our country that nineteenth of all the
male and nineteen-tWentieths of all the
females who find their way to prison
are wounded in character and dis.
graced through the saloons. Out o,
25,OOO prisoners, $4,000 owed theil
shame to the liquor traffic. 100000
men and women are yearly sent tc
prison IN consequence of strong drink
2OO,OOO children are sent to the poor
house, 800 murders are committed. and
400 suicides, while 100000 orphans are
bequethed to private and public char.
ity, so that the wounded of to-day out.
numbered the destruction of the war {
to one and yet how lothe to legislate
against the evil. The American politi.
clan stands upon his dignity and wit
nesses the saloon traffic casting forth
Its liquid fire, destroying every honor
able and virLuous principle in mankind,
generating, and belching forth from
each end of the saloon battery (fron
the front and back doors) poisons of q
deadly character, producing murder,
suicide, widdOwhood, Orphanage, crime
poverty and disgrace. If we should
lengthen this article and call into line
all the States of the Union with hel
Territories and large cities and towns
we should see the well-fortified bull
works of iniquity, and we would moi
wonder at the defiance of the liquor
men, or at the timidity of the old
worn-ont parties of the Republic. The
most recent statistics from the U. S
Revenue Department taxes and licen
ses 164,761 retail liquor men in tn,
States and Territories and if any ON,
will figure out as in the former exam
pie they will find that if the saloon,
are placed in line of battle it will b,
over S51 miles in length, so formidable
that it will require united effort on th,
part of Gods eOnquering host. N,
wonder that the day has COM
when New York Republicans can carr,
a banner at the head of q procession
An Act to Protect Republican