St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1886-08-19
RUM AND THE VICIOUS CLASSES.

ma lie vicious Glasses are OuTlSlld
born. Think for a moment, that thi
ChristendOm has authorized by Law
and sanction of the state, the creation
of this frightful pest gang; that it ha
provided for its creation that it i
here not in opposition to, but of he
NJ will that by formal and deliberat,
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 virtue
and employs million minions TO dc
this dreadful work that she has done
this and continues to do it with hel
III eyes open, and with full knowledge
and purpose; that she has prepared
and planned and deliberated in gov
eminent chambers, for the production
II of these desperate classes that heI
Il employed and licensed miniOns do this
b for pay.
For a generation Christendom has
been hearing low grOwl from the ken
mel, where she is battening these wild
n beasts of passion a grOwl in the ken
a mel as they have crunched their vic
n tins. "What means the roar to- day
a along Trafalgar Square and London
s. streets n 1t is the beast, loose and
shaking his name. Pampcr him lit
tie more on Government joints, and no
kennel bars will hold him. Fitted for
E raven, he will raven to the full. Rum
H engenders poverty poverty and rum
Il engender crime. From the govern
ment rum-shOp, the wild beast hunts
n his prey. Is ChristendOm struck with
II judicial blindness, that she sleeps
Are her eyes holden, that she cannot
see 7 There are armies marching and
marching, with banners on
which are emblazOned dynamite, an
archlsm, communism, nihilism, labor
"A league, no Sabbath, down with the
n Church and State, recruited from the
e slram- shop and Differed from the ken
I'll nel. Are we SO deaf that we do not
"a hear the tramp of the gathering le-
q gions Nations that license murder for
q pay will be murdered for plumber ma
lions that batten the wild beast of pas
& sion will be devOured by the wild
a beasts of rapine and ruin. The rum
III hole must be closed, or the rum hell
II will engulf ChristendOm. What shall
be done with Christian rum, is i'll the
II problem. What shall become of the
Vi christian world Answer it with Ii
IS cense, or authorization, or tempering
81 policies, is it difficult TO see the end
HI Strike it down, cage the beasts that
vend the frenzy in the only place to
"A which they belong, the criminal cell,
81 hnd the kennel will dispense. There
is but one remedy. We have had ex-
perience enough to have learned what
"a that is. The nation must put an end
q to Transforming men into beasts by
law, and must put the beasts who do it
IA ntO a limbo where their sOrceries will
81 eease. The conflict is now upon us. 1t
IN ii 4,
"a ernment is on the side of the beasts
the people make the government. Shall
~ the rum miniOns, at the still, behind
e he bar, at the bar, in the gutter, or in
"a he mansion, rule9 Or is there enough
pf manhood among us to save Chris
IS tendOm from the damning shame The
# answer we make to that question de-
IA termines fate. If Christianity has not
.power to save ChristendOm, where is
our hOpeP With what face, then, can
# we go to the heather? There is no devil
wOrshipper in Africa more degrad-
ed, more lost to all sense of shame than
the demon wOrshipper of rum no high
priest of the sOrceries of heathenism
more diabolized than the miniOns of
Christian states authorized to manu-
facture and vend the poison. Pagan
4 ism can muster no miscreants from all
4 her realms more debased than the rum
u army /; no fostering pest-hOuse--nOtI
even the Chinese opium den-more
deadly to virtue than the Christian
rum-hOle. Must it be endured longer ?
Must the race be doomed to go into the
future with this milestone fastened
about its neck by Legislators of Chris
tian states 2 Are our tyrants too much
for us Then farewell to hope.
Who doubts that there is remedy
Il for this state of things? 1t is not un-
known. The evil is rampant not of
necessity, but because we have not the
courage or the desire to apply the rem
n edy. 1t is simply needed that right
minded people combine to do the
work and in this as in every case of II
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 recognized guardian.
1t cannot be effected by moral sua-
sion, 10y prayers, by sermons, or by all
] stinence of the well-disposed. 1t is IL
case where the arm of the law and force
# oppressive is the only resort. 1t be-
Il longs to the department of crimes
ilnd must, of necessity, be met by Grim
a 6nal law faithfully executed. The
rumseler is Il criminal, and must be
held amenable to criminal law.
The traffic must cease to be treated
as Il question of rights and liberty of
individual choice, as the pursuit of a
Legitimate calling, as much so as theft,
Il or murder, or any other crime. 1t be-
longs to the same category and nothing
but sOphistry can give it any other
place. The rumseller is an unmitigat-
Il ed enemy of society, dangerous to pub
VI lie welfare there is no criminal of
IS deeper dye. He has been petted by
# the state; responsibility has been
# Thrown around his most atrociOus
crime he has been protected in it by
law, has been authorized by moneyed
license to practice it. He has been
Il permitted to live among It's as free,
respected citizen, pursuing a legitimate
Ealing; to hold up his head and walk
the streets as the equal of respectable
men has become the boon companion
of law makers permitted to appear in
court and sit OF juries as virtuous
citizen. He has been allowed to open
his doors upon the public streets, and
drive his business i'll open day, the peer
of honorable tradesmcn. So long as
this remains his business will flourish.
III There is no moral power that can reach
him. He will continue to he defiant
and grow more cOntemptOus of decency
every day.
There is but one road of deliverance
from this pestiferous evil. 1t is not
obscure it is the plain, straightfor-
ward road of simple honesty in dealing