The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-04-14
LINCOLN ON TEMPERANCE.

] ! Z
What He Said Before His Election, ana
| Afterwards While President of tho
| United States.
Rev. DR.. James B. Dunn, in his his
tory of the Temperance movement in.
the Centennial Temperance Vol
ume," says:
When the committee of the nominat.-
ing convention came to him at Spring
field, ILL.,, to inform him of his
nomination, some of his neighbors, ac--
quainted with his temperate habits and
consequently unprcpared to give a
| political committee the usual treats,
sent to his house some bottles of cham.
payne, but he said: alt won do here,''
and ordered it back where the COM.
mittee might be assembled. When Of
tered wine at Cincinnati on his way to.
take the reins of government, he said:
"For thirty years have been Tenn.
perance man, and l am too old to,
changes" again, when asked by a
friend, after his Inauguration, "if he.
was not overawed in addressing that.
immense audience of intellectual
men?" mot half so much" he re-
piled, Gas he had been in addressing q.
Temperance meeting"
At the celebration of the twenty-first
anniversary of the order of the Sons of
Temperance, in Washington, the,
Grand Division, under the chief-mar--
shalship of F. M. Beadley, marched
with music and banners in large num-
bers to the White House and presented
an address to President Lincoln, in
which they asked that drunken officers.
might be discharged from the service,
and that facilities might be extended
to organize in divisions and hold
Temperance meetings in the depart,
ments and hospitals about the city.
The following is Mr. Lincoln's reply in
! full:
LAS m tier of course, it will not,
be possible for me to make response,
co-extensive with the address which
you have presented to me. If l were.
better known than | am, you would
not need to be told that in the adj
vocacy of the cause of Temperance,
you have friend and sympathizer in
me.
when l was a young man-long
ago-before the Sons of Temperance,
as an organization, had an existence,
l, in an humble way. made Temper
ance speeches, and l think l may say
that to this day have never, by my
example, belied what then said.
lin regard to the suggestions which
you make for the purpose of the adj
vancement of the cause of Temperance
in the army, l can not make particular
response to them at this time, To
prevent intemperance in the army is
even part of the articles of war. 1t
is part of the law of the land, and
was so, l presume, long ago, to dis
miss officers for drunkenness. l am
not sure that, consistent with the pub
| lie service, more can be done than has
| been done. ALL therefore, that | can
promise you is Gf you will be pleased
to furnish me with copy of your
address,, to have it submitted to the
proper department. and have it con-
sidered whether it contains any sug~
gestions which will improve the cause
of Temperance and repress the cause
OF drunkenness in the army any better
than it is already done. l can prom
Use nc more than that.
al think that the reasonable men of
the world have long since agreed that
intemperance is one of the greatest, if
not the very greatest, of all evils
amongst mankind. That is not u mat
ter of dispute, l believe. That the dis
ease exists, and that it is very great
one, is agreed upon by all.
THE mode of cure is one about
which there may be differences of
opinion. You have suggested that in
an army-our army-drunkenness is a
great evil, and one which, while it ex-
lists to very great extent, we can not
expect to overcome so entirely as to
have such successes in our arms as
we might have without it. This, I'M
doubleday, is true, and while it is, per-
haps, rather a bad source to derive
comfort from, nevertheless, in a hard
struggle | don't know but that it is
there is some intemperance on the
other side, too; and that they have no
right to beat us in physical combat on
that ground.
"But have already said more than
l expected to be able to say when | be-
gan, and if you please to hand me
copy of your address, it shall be con-
sidered. l thank you very heartily,
gentlemen, for this call, and for bring
ing with you these very many pretty
ladies'"
A NOTABLE lesson in Temperance
was given the other day at Honolulu
by the Consul-General of Japan, Mr..
Ando, who is a native japanese. He
had received as a present from some
friends two casks of liquor; but for