The morning call., 1890-09-17
HIGH LICENSE.
Enthusiastic Mass Meeting at
Metropolitan Hall.
Interesting Addresses by Catholic and Epis-
copal Clergy-Evils Of 1ntemper-
ancs-Proposed Remedies


at o'clock the Chairman, James r. Kelly,
entered upon the stage, followed immedi-
ately by Rev. j. Sanders Reed of the
Episcopal Church and Rev. Father Mont
gOmery of st Mary'S Cathedral, after whom
came the Vice-PreSdents and other gentle
men who were announced to take part in
the proceedings. The reverend gentlemen
were both accorded a warm reception by the
assemblage, the echoes of which had hardly
died away before Bishop Nichols made his
way to the platform amid renewed applause.
After an organ selection Miss Aud sang a
pretty operate air, at the conclusion OF
which the Chairman addressed the meeting
upon the reasons for their being called to-
gether-to give expression to their abh0r-
renee of the liquor traffic as it is now con-
Quoted and to suggest the nomination of de-
cent, honorable men upon the municipal
tickets which in month or so the citizens
will be called upon to vote. Mr.. Kelly then
made an earnest appeal in behalf OF temper
ance, and. in concluding his remarks. intro
duced the first speaker of the evening, Rev.
j. Sanders Reed
REV. MR.. REEDS ADDRESS.
Mr.. Reed on coming forward wasted few
words in delving into his subject, The
Pathogeny of Intemperance, or the Physi-
cants." In his opening sentence he led his
hearers to Philadelphia, whose charnel-
house not long since furnished 227 bodies
for dissection, of which only 1 per cent
| proved to be in a normal state, while the
| other 90 per cent showed the existence of
various diseases of blood, brain and yiscera,
all directly traceabe TO alcoholism. These
| bodies, said the speaker, had for years been
used as bottles for the storage of all kinds
| of intoxicating liquors, and few suspected
| the real cause of their death till the scalpel
| laid bare the secret.
In the course Of his remarks Mr.. Reed en-
| tered into very detailed account of the
| chemical characteristics of alcohol eSpe-
| clally VII n Co ming in contact with water
| or watery substances (Which form about 60
| per cent of the human body and albumen,
absorbing the one and toughening the other
so that the inteStines become leathery in
their nature, the brain toughens, the cor
pusces of the blood become covered with
spores, and In consequence all OF the human
organs fail to perform their proper func-
tons. RuddinesS of the face, so often
looked upon as a sign of health, is more
often produced by drink, which paralyzes
the small nerves and drives the blood to the
surface.
DREADFUL EXPERIMENT.
In describing the effects of habitual in
temperance upon the frame the speaker de-
scribed an experiment which had been made
with q drunkard's body. A portion OF it
was put upon spoon and held over
lighted candle for moment, when 1t mme-
diately caught fire, and blue flame arose
from it until it was consumed. The cornSe
had become so impregnated with liquor that
it burned away like so much alcohol.
Leaving that branch of his subject the
speaker entel ed the field Of statistics TO show
the steady growth of the liquor traffic and
its relation to crime and insanity During
the fifteen years from 1870 to 1885, he said,
the population increased 80 per cent, but the
insanity increased "a per cent. Thirty
years ago in England there was but one in
sane person in 577 of tue population. Fifteen
years ago this ratio became one In $40. and
to-day the asylumS shelter 1900 inmates in
that country alone. In this country the an
nualincrease in the number of idiots and
insane persons Is 10 per cent. OF course, he
said, not all Of these cases are directly trace
able TO liquor, but by far the largest number
must be SO charged.
As the drunkard is not the only sufferer
from the diseases which his vice gives rise
to, society, he argued, must step in and regu-
late the traffic which is accountable for so
much misery. He, himself, knew of chill
| dren who, though they never had tasted a
| drop OF liquor, yet always presented blear-
| eyed appearance and drunken visage hich
| was their only inheritance from Incorporate
| parents. Doctors, too, testified that tue
| children OF such people, if not stillboin,
| were brought into the world idiots and cpl
| lepticS, who rarely outlived their childhood
! Thus the unfortunate victims of dissipation
We're guilty of the double crime of suicide
| and murder.
On closing his analytical remarks, Mr..
Reed called upon the audience to give their
| earnest support to the movement, and then
retired amid the heartiest applause.
| FATHER MONTGOMERY SPEECH.
A male quartet then rendered a lively Sc
| lection, after which the Chairman intro
| duced the next speaker, Rev. George Mont
who most enthusiastically
| ceived.
When quiet was restored the reverend
| gentleman said that when he was asked to
| take part in the high license movement he
! hesitated about doing so. not because his
| heart was not in the work, but because he
| felt 1t would not be successful unless 1t was
| made a question OF politics, and politics was
| not his profession. On second considera-
| ton, however, he did not see why it should
| be any more question of politics than the
| preservation Of order in the city, or the
| cleanliness of the streets, or the hundred
and one matters which affect US as conf
munity; consequently he made up his mind
| TO JOIN the movement, and he was now
| before them 10 raise his voice in its behalf
That being the initial meeting under the
auspices of the society, he wished to men
| ton few OF its articles OF faith, which, as
| he would put them, were three IN number.
| He would have it understood beforehand,
| however, that the High License Society
would receive all within its fold. 1t already
| numbered members who believed in total as
well as IN partial abstinence. and he hoped
the day would come when the prohibition
lists would come under their banner. He
would heartily welcome those people when
they did come, and meanwhile would allow
no one to revile them for their ideas, because
| they were too sincere and too Jealous in their
work to merit being called hard names.
ARTICLES OF FAITH
The first article in the hieh-lcense creed
is that wrong is in the abuse and not the
use of what we have. No matter how good
a thing is, its abuse is always wrong In
this connection he differed with the prohibit
tionist, who argued that because five glasses
will intoxicate, man who drinks one glass
| of liquor Is one-fiith drunk. AS well argue,
| he said, that because the average of life is
50 years, a man of % is half dead. Their
second belief is that the use of intoxicating
drinks is grossly abused, and their third
| that something must and can be done to cor
| rect the abuse.
In support Of his theories Father Mont
gomery cited Gladstone. Cardinal Man
ming and other able writers and speak
| erS upon the extent OF the abuse and
the evils resulting from ii. More money
was spent in drink during the last fifty years
than was spent in war, Including the dis
astrous Franco-Prussian War and the War
! of the Rebellion. And during the same pc
| Rod more lives were sacrificed by drink than
persisted by the sword. The community
| should establish laws TO correct this state Of
| things, which, instead of improving, was
gradually growing worse If they have not
the power undrr their present constitution
they must remember that they are the makers
| OF constitutions, and it is their duty to effect
the chances that are necessary in the instru-
ment. Gladstone has said MAKE it diff
cult for man 10 sin and You hell him not
to SIM" That is the idea. They intend as
far as possible to relieve the city of It's dives
and deadfals, where vice is rampant and
| temptation is surrounded with so much gilt
ter. He did not think the high-license
! movement w0nld accomplish visionary
| things, but he believed it would at least
drive 1900 of the 5000 saloons in this city
out of existence.
| A DISTRICT SYSTEM.
Speaking for himself he said he would like
to see a district system established where
| the residents could vote to have or not
| have saloons, where they could reg
| ulate their character and number, and
where mothers and sisters could vote on the