Morning journal and courier., 1891-09-07
FRYE ON TEMPERANCE.

The Maine Senator Makes Mas
 terly Effort Against the Rum
 Traffic.
 LEWISTON, Me-, Sept 6.-The largest crowd that ever gathered at temperance meeting in Androscoggin heard Senator Frye at the Pine street Congregational church this afternoon. Hundreds of peo- pie were turned away. The meeting took measures to organize county temperance league for the enforcement of the prohib- itory law. Congressman Dingley presided and in brief introductory address out lined the subject of the mass meeting and the need of public re-awakening in regard to temperance. Senator Frye spoke an hour and ten minutes. After an intro ductory discussion of the general evil of intemperance and denial of the oft duty of each man to look after himself and that we are not our neignbors' keepers the senator said: No one in this audience will differ with me relative to the evils of this Moloch mon ster intemperance, unless, perhaps, it be the rumseller, and 1 ask, is he entitled to an opinion2 Is his opinion worth any thing? My deliberate Judgment is, and I measure my words, that there is no worse man to be found than the rumseller and so far from his opinion being worth any thing in this question as to whether liquor shall be sold freely over the bar to whosover wishes to purchase-I say that if every rumseller in the country were in jail to-day the country would be ten thousands times better off than it now is.
 Senator Frye claimed law was the only remedy for the evil of intemperance; de- nied that the habits of Europe tended to temperance, because of the prevalence of light wines and beers; asserted that France was deteriorating by absinthe drinking, Italy by cheap and strong liquors, Ger many by Brandy; and held that the Ger man emperor was alarmed by the increase of intemperance and was issuing edicts tending towards reduction in the growing consumption of spirits. ''License is no remedy" he said, '1quors sold under license intoxicate as quickly as when sold illegally under prohibition, Glasgow, in Scotland, licenses, but when in Scotland was prevented from seeing the great iron ship building plants in oper- ation because of fair held for but one day in that city. For this fair the work men saved so much and drank so hard that the great shipbuilding plants, employing D, O0O men, had to shut down eight days until the men got sober. If you license | rum drinking to make men sober, then why not license thieving to make men honest and prostitution to make people | virtuousa'
 He relates conversation he had with the late Hon. Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, in which the distinguished vice
 president of the confederacy told of the
 county of Liberty, Ga., which had the
 first iron-elad temperance law ever passed
 in America over seventy years ago; ''This
 county" said MT. Stephens, twas the hap.
 piest, richest, best educated, most orderly
 county of Georgia, and the year I lived
 there was only year of my life I remember
 in which was perfectly we'll" In clos.
 ing, Senator Frye called on the mayor and
 the county executive officers to enforce the
 law, and ended with @ powerful exhorta
 tion to the people to stand by the laws.