Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-08-06
Dome Department.
THE EVILS OF THE RUM-TRAFFlC.
BURNING WORDS FROM BISHOP FOSTER
OF THE M. E. CHURCH.
From the New York independently

COnfrOnts us everywhere. 1t Is the can
Ger on the face of Christendom. the bis
tering shame on the fair cOuntenance of
| Christian civilization, cngendercd of the
rum-shop, and the lust god of Mammon
and pleasure.
The vicious classes are Christian born.
Think for moment. that this Christcn-
dom has authorized by law and sanction
of the State the creation of this frightful
pest gang; that it has provided for its
creation; that it is here not in opposition
to, but of her WILL that by formal and
deliberate legislation, brought about by
Christian votes, she has opened. in all
her towns and cities, slaughter-houses of
men, women and children, and of all vir-
tue, and employs a million mnions to do
this dreadful work: that she has done
this and continues to do it with her eyes
open and with full knowledge and pur-
pose; that she has prepared and planned
and deliberated in government chambers,
for the production of these desperate
classes; that her employed and licensed
minions do this for pay.
For Il generation ChriStendOm has been
hearing low growl from the kennel
where she is battening these wild beasts
of passion; growl in the kennel as they
have crushed their victims. "What
means the roar to-day along Trafalgar
| Square and London streets?" 1t is the
| beast, loose and shaking his name. Pam
! per him little more on government
Joints, and no kennel bars will hold him.
| Fitted for raven, he will raven to the
full. Rum engenders poverty: poverty
and rum engender crime. From the gov
eminent rum-shop the wild beast hunts
his prey. l. ChriStendom struck with
judicial blindness, that she sleeps? Are
her eyes holden that she cannot see ?
! There are armies marching and counter
marching, with banners on which are
emblazoned dynamite. anarchiSm. COM
muniSln, nihilism, labor-lcaguc. no Sab
bath, down with the church and state,
recruited from the dram-Shup and off
cered from the kennel. Are we so deaf
! that we do not hear the tramp of the
gathering legionS? Nations that license
murder for pay will be murdered for
plumber; nations that batten the wild
beast of passion will be dcvOurcd by the
wild beasts of rapinc and ruin. The
rum-hOle must be closed or the rum hell
will engulf Christendom. What shall be
done with Christian rum, Is the problem.
What shall become of the Christian
world. Answer it with license: or
authorization. or tempering policies. it is
difficult! Strike it down, cage the beasts
that vend the frenzy in the only place to
which they belong. the criminal cell, and
the kennel will dispense. There is but
one remedy. We have had experience
enough to have learned what this is. The
nation must put an end to transforming
men into beasts by law. and must put
the beasts who do it into Il limbo where
their sOrcereS will cease. The conflict
is now upon Us. 1t j. ii lifc-and-death
struggle. The government i on the side
of the beasts: the people make the gov
eminent. Shall the rum tcnd still carry
! on his carnival of death: Shall the rum
miniOnS, at the still, behind the bar. at
! the bar, IN the gutter, or in the mansion,
/ rule: Or i there enough of manhood
among Us To save Chri>tendOm from the
damning shame: The answer we make
/ To that question determines fate. If
| Christianity has not power to save
| thriStcndOm. where j. our hope: With
what face, then, can we go to the heathen :
There j. no devil worship in Africa more
degraded, more lost toall SENSE of shame,
than the demon WOrShippcr of rum: no
| high priest of the SOrcrrieS of hrathcni>m
more diaboliZed than the minUnS of
| Christian states authorized to manufac-
ture and vend the poison. PagamiSm
can muster no miSCreauts from all her
realms more dcbaSed than the rum army
no fostering peSt-houSe, not even the
hineSe opium den, more deadly to virtue
than the Christian run-hole Must it be
endured longer: Must the race be- doom
ed to 90 into the future with this mill
stone fastened about its neck by lcgisla-
tors of Christian states? Are our tyrantS
II
Who doubts that there is remedy for
this state of things? 1t j. not unknown.
The evil is rampant not of necessity, but
we have not the courage or desire to ap-
ply the remedy. 1t is simply needed
that right-minded people combine to do
the work and in this as in every case of
a crying evil, the church must lead in the
reform. This is her most peculiar province
1t comes in the line of the great class of
moral issues of which she is the recog-
niZed guardian.
1t cannot be effected by moral SuasiOn,
by sermons, by prayers, or by abstinence
of the well disposed. Ii is case where
the arm of the law and force repressive
l. the only resort. Ii belongs to the de
partment of crimes; and must. of ne
cessity, be met by criminal law faithfully
executed. The rumSeller Is criminal
and must be held amenable to criminal
law.
The traffic must cease to be treated Il,
"A question of right and liberty of indvid.
ual choice, as the pursuit of IL legitimate
tcalling, as much so as theft, or murder
or any other crime. 1t belongs to the
same category and nothing but sophiStry
can give it any other place. The rum
seller is an unmitigated enemy of society
dangerous to public welfare; there is ne
criminal of deeper dye. He has beeI
petted by the state; responsibility has
been thrown around his most atrOciou,
crime; he has been protected in it by
law, has been permitted to live among
us aS free, respected citizen, pun suing
a legitimate calling; to hold up his head
and walk the streets as the equal of re-
spectacle men has become the boon
companion of lawmakers; permitted to
appear in court and sit in iureS as vir-
tuous citizen. He has been allowed Il
open his doors upon the public streets,
and drive his business in open day, the
peer of honorable tradesmfn. So long
as this remains his business will flourish
There is no mortal power that can reach