The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1891-03-04

which does not pay the tax Of the gov
ernmentr-I tell you all strong drink is
crooked. Crooked Otard, crooked Cog
mac, crooked schnapps, crooked beer,
crooked wine, crooked whisky-because
1t makes mans path crooked, and his
life crooked, and his death crooked, and
his eternity crooked.
II could gather all the armies OF the
dead drunkards and have them come to
resurrection, and then add to that host
all the armies of living drunkards, FIVE
and ten abreast, and then II ! could
have you mount horse and ride along
that line for review, you would ride that
horse until he dropped from exhaustion,
and you would ride another horse until
he fell from exhaustion, and you would
take another and another, andyou would
ride along hour after hour, and day after
day. Great hosts, in regiments, in brig
AIDES. Great armies Of them. And then
II you had voice stentorian enough to
make them all hear, and you could give
the command, Forward, march," their
first march would make the earth
tremble. do not care which way you
look in the community to-day the evil is
increasing.
call attention to the fact that there
are thousands of people born with a
thirst for strong drink-a fact too often
ignored. Along some ancestral lines
there runs the active river of tempta
ton. There are children whose swad
ling clothes are torn off the shroud OF
death. Many father has made a will
of this sort: "In the name of God,
amen. bequeath to my children my
houses and lands and estates; share and
share shall they alike. Hereto l affiS
my hand and seal in the presence of wit.
nesses." And perhaps that very man
has made another will that the people
have never read and that has not beer
proved in the courts. That will put in
writing would read like this: "In the
name of disease and appetite and death.
amen. bequeath to my children my
evil habits, my tankards shall be theirs.
my wine cup shall be theirs, my de
stroyed reputation shall be theirs
Share and share alike shall they in the
infamy. Hereto | afliX my hand anc
seal in the presence of all the applaud
ing harpies of hell"
From the multitude ofthose who have
the evil habit born with them this army
is being augmented. And am sorry to
say that great many of the drug stores
are abetting this evil, and alcohol is sole
under the name of bitters 1t is bitters
for this, and bitters for that, and bitters
for some other thing, and good men de
ceived, not knowing there is any thral
dom Of alcoholism coming from that
source, are going down, and some day
a man sits with the bottle of black bit
ters on his table, and the cork flies out
and after it flies fiend and clutche:
the man by his throat and says: AHA
I have been after you for ten years.
have got you now! Down with you
Down with your Bitters! All! yes
They make a mans family bitter
and his home bitter and his dis
position bitter, and his death bit
ter, and his hell bitter. Bittersl A
vast army, all the time increasing.
1t seems TO me 1t is about time for the
1900, 900 professors of religion in Amer
lea to take sides. II is going to be al
out-and-out battle with drunkenness,
and sobriety, between heaven and hell
between God and the devil. Take side:
before there is any further national de
cadence, take sides before your sons
are sacrificed and the new home of YOU
daughter goes down under the alcohol
ism of an embruted husbands. Take
sides while your voice, your pen, YOU
prayer, your vote may have any infu
ence in arresting the despoliation Of
this nation. II the 1900, 900 professors
ofreligion should take sides on this sub
ject il would not be very long before
the destiny of this nation would be de
cided in the right direction.
Is drunkenness state or national
evil? Does II belong to the North, oil
does It belong to the South? Does it be
long to the East, or does II belong to the
West? All! there is not an American
river into which its tears have not faller
and into which its suicides have moi
plunged. What ruined that southern
plantation?-every field fortune, the
proprietor and his family once the most
affiuent supporters Of summer watering
places. What threw that New England
farm into decay and turned the roseatC
checklist that bloomed at the foot OF the
Ant. f,NA ,Nf do
spair? What has smitten every street
Of every village, town and city Of thii
continent with a moral pestilencei
Strong drink.
To prove that this is a national evil
call up two states In opposite directions
Maine and Georgia. Let them testify
in regard to this. State Of Maine says
"It Is so great an evi up here we have
mathematical II as q state" State o.
Georgia says: 1T Is SO great an evi
down here that ninety counties Of thii
state have made the sale OF intoxicating
drink criminality." So the word comes
up from all parts Of the land. Eithe'
drunkenness will be destroyed in thiI
country or the American government
will be destroyed. Drunkenness ant
free institutions are coming into death
grapple.
Gather up the money that the work
ing classes have spent for rum during
the last thirty years, and I will built
for every workingman house, and lay
out for him garden and clothe his SOM
In roadcloth and hisdaughters in silks
and stand at his front door prancinf
span OF sorrels or bays, and secure hin
n policv of life insurance SO that ths