The Cecil Whig., 1886-07-31
WANT 1T RESPECTABLE DO YOU

OF the KUN Ta11lC. MOI Ill us lowest
phase, but, as they say, respectfully car
ried on. This is the position taken by
a large number of those who advocate
high license. Upon general principles
they profess to be opposed to Rum.
They don't use it habitually, but occa-
sonally take a drink and when they
do, they want respectable and genteel
surroundings. They draw the line at
the low gin MILL They make nice
distinction between the immoral influ-
ence Of the traffic in low-priced grog,
and the high toned article. They ar
cue in this WISE 1--WE ought to put the
whlskey traffic in the best hands. If
man wants to sell it he ought to sell
the best. These low places ought to
be broken up. If want to drink, |
want to do it openly and in respecta-
bic bar-room, where any gentleman can
be seen without loss of reputation.
Why should a gentleman who has the
money to pay for good liquor be de-
prived OF the place and opportunity to
take drink of it, if he SO desires.
"Gentlemen zVIX drink and they should
do it in gentlemanly way" Now the
simple fact is, that men who take this
view, are unconsciously the worst enc
mics of Society SO far as the drinking
habit is concerned. They are social
men, and don't care for money when
appetite is to be grati6ed. They are
the class of men everywhere who main
tain by their habits and sustain
by their purses, the pernicious Amer
lean Custom of Treating" one of
the social curses of this country,
and one too strictly and solely con
fined to this country. 1t prevails no.
where else, and is tolerated here, only
on the suppositlon that it originated in
the popular idea of good fellowship, ,and
that it looks mean for a man to drink
by himself. The consequence is that,
being created" yourself, involves the
obligation to treat every other good
fellow you meet in a respectable bar
room, and many thoughtless young
fellow, generous and liberal hearted, be-
comes habitually addicted to the use of
Rum, solely through this Custom OF
the Country" Werecall at this moment
genial, kindly man who a few years
ago lived in Elkton, but who fell vic
tim, as do thousands of others to this
Social Custom. He was the prince of
good fellows, mirthful jolly compan-
ion. And yet he did more TO demora-
lie and injure the young men of his
time, than any man of his generation in
Cecil County. You would almost have
broken his heart, had you charged him
with this. But it is no less true. HIS
humor was contagious, his jolly COM
panionship was pre- eminent in bar
room. And yet his high social qualities
were inspired by Rum. Not by Gin
and low priced grog, drunk out OF a
black bottle in dark corners, under the
shadow OF night down behind the old
carriage shop, or back in the livery
stable yard, but sparkling champagne
with gilded seal, and the finest old
Bourbon drawn out of cut glass de
canters that decorate the respectable
barrooms where gentlemen Of the finest
cloth are want to indulge a cultivated
palate for Rum.
Now what would your genteel advo-
cate OF high license do for Cecil Co. at
this tlmeo Make the traffic like himself
respectable? Why vain man doesn't
he know, that mis- son, and your sons,
are thousand times more exposed to
the evil of Rum drinking, when you
rrSbccta6Lci-c the traffic, than when you
outlaw it,
These respectable advocates of the
license system know, that Rum is now
on the run in Cecil County. That it
sneaks behind dark corners, and
lodges behind blank walls, to deal out
Its fiery juices. They know that self
respecting young men must perforce
come down to the social level of the
Illicit Rum Nender,to get into his con-
fidence to beg or buy a drink of his
fuSil oil.
How in the name of reason and of
desires the welfare of his community
who in words comedies the magnitude
Of the Rum evil when allowed fnll
swlng,-want to return to the License
System, when he knows that it neces-
sarlly promotes the respectable (?) use
of Rum, and facilitates the respecta-
BILE p means of getting it. If he be-
lieves in the use of Rum. If he be-
lleves that its sale promotes the happi-
ness and welfare of his fellow-men, let
him say SO, and act accordingly. But
let him not take refuge behind the pre-
tence of opposition to Rum, and vet
IN the same breath advocate its restora-
ton in Cecil, as respectable( p means
of cursing his fellow men.
To be a Red Hot CAMPAIGN.