The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-07-29
uBUT ONE SALVATION"

The work for personal temperance is in
competent hands, and is energetically pushed.
From ther nature, all the social moral, re-
lisious and business forces are arrayed
against intemperance, and their effectiveness
is increasing steadily; but there is one class
that all these efforts cannot reach. We refer
to that too numerous class who, through
weakness, or ignorance, or bad surroundings,
are outside the pale Of the moral and social
and other forces whicn are potent with those
on higher plane. For this class there is
but one salvat:on-that is through prohibit
tion, to crush the traffic and render it impos.
sible for them to become the slaves OF drink.
The problem then presents itself in this form
"Shall the State remedy their lack Of ability
or desire to control the appetite for drink by
rendering 1t, through legal means very diff
cult or impossible of gratification% Public
sentiment is growing i'll favor Of an affirma-
tive answer to this question. 1t is becoming
well understood that the increase Of crime Is
directly traceable to drink, that the rapid
increase in the percentage of the insane and
other defective classes is largely due to the
same cause; and consequently that the in
crease of the public burden of supporting
the machinery of the criminal courts, and
OF our penal reformatories and charitable
institutions, comes chiefly from the rum
traffic. To this is added the defiant attitude
of the rum power toward all legislation in
tended to protect society; its evasion and
defiance of laws which interfere in any way
with it, notably the Sunday laws; and its
utter unmanaSeableness in every way brings
men to understand that there can bo but one
way OF dealing with the evil-that is TO
crush, destroy, eyterMinate its cause. Tue
rum traffic is not n legitimate business. l5
supplies no proper human need, being simply
a pander to vice an1 crime. 1t is minister
to human depravtv, without one redeamiug
feature or one logical excuse for existence.
The work OF personal temperance needs to
be supplemented by the State reaching ont
the arm OF the law to pulyerizs the rum
power.-9oledo Blade.
TEMPERANCE NEWS AND NOTES.
Bacchus has drowned more men than Nep-
tune.
Many act as if they believed the horn of
plenty was glass OF whisky.-SiC.ings.
Mss Tilly. corresponding Secretary OF the
Dominion w. G. t. u, reported at its late
convention 3S5 unions, with 10,0D0 nem-
bers. and 2CG bands of hope with 81, 900 men,
bers.
1t is said that in Munich, which consumes
more beer than any other German city, the
family allowance OF the amber fluid amounts
to 565 quarts year for every man, woman
Tho Ncx York Evening Post says that for
1890 So 794,Si2 was dispensed for the main
tcnance of the prisoners and paupers OF the
public and private institutions Of this city,
and that very largo per centage of these
inmates are such through the influence of
strong drink.
Mrs. Mary Hunt has just finished eight
weeks of institute work in the interest of
scientific temperance instruction in Pennsyl-
vania and Michigan. A part OF these were
regular teachers institutes, while others
were the Institutes for the training Of scen-
tific temperance instruction, slIpcriuten-
dents and others in tho enforcement OF
temperance education laws.
Ely tho kin lness of the Lord mayor, the
National Temperance League were enabled
to take advantage Of the presence OF provin-
cial mayors in London to hold a nesting in
the Egyptian Hall in the Mansion House.
The Lord Mayor took the chair, and was
supported on the platform by the Bishop OF
London, and about twenty-five Of the half
hundred mayors who are tsetotallers, while
the hall was filed BY company which in
cluded many ladies.