Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1892-12-29
TEMPERANCE NOTES
TIE Rum POWER.
Those Who Are Opposed 10 Interference
with the Drink Traffic.

IN temperance sentiment IN the nltcC
States within the past half century
there is still very large majority o
the sixty-three million people of this
country who have not as vet had tho
case against the rum power so eonvinc
ingly presented to their minds as Il
make them its active relentless ano
untiring foes 1t would be unjust tC
say that all these are upholders anC
supporters of the saloon and its sequela
of poverty, vice and crime; but of then
there are two classes, in the aggregate
rather numerous, which most certainly
are so.
The first of these is composed of the
tens of thousands who are interested
directly or indirectly, in the rum traf
fic; those who fatten upon the spoils il
wrests from the drinking element Of
the population, and those who carr
their daily bread in some occupation
connected with the manufacture anc
sale of some form of alcoholic intoXi
cant. These are all. of course, bitter
ly opposed to any interference with the
unholy traffic. The second class i;
made up of the hundreds of thousand;
of weak and selfish ones around whom
the drink thirst has woven a spell a,
potent as that of Gree. whose magic
changed her admirers into gruntina
swine, wallowing in their own filth
ness. These two classes are, of course
the foes of those who are working tc
destroy the rum traffic, Danish the sa
loon and relieve the land from the
curse.
To these are opposed those who have
been brought TO consider carefully the
great drink problem in all its aspects
and who have reached the conclusion
that there is one way in which ii can be
solved that the destruction of the
traffic through the prohibition of tho
manufacture and sale of all forms o,
rum. They see that there has grown W
a formidable army of men working foI
the perpetuation' of the curse, who are
held together by the strongest of human
-self-interest-to not only op
pose any restriction upon the traffic, lest
it should diminish their unholy gains
but who are actually working from the
same motive of profit to extend the
traffic that their gains may be greater
This phalanx of manufacturers anc
sellers, united by the tie of self-inter
est and gain, forms what is collective
ly designated as ''the rum power.
Between these two great division,
along the temperance line the friend:
of prohibition on the one hand and the
rum power and its supporters on the
other-there stands perhaps majority
of the American people, occupying
what may be called neutral ground.
They are not active supporters of the
traffic. nor are they inclined to be.
They are not supporters of prohibition,
because they have never made the sub
ject a matter of thought and investiga.
ton. Some of them have given no at.
tention to the matter at all, and are
hence not qualified 10 give an intelli.
gent opinion upon il. Others as the
result OF superficial examination,
look upon the matter as personal one
entirely, and that so long as they live
temperately they think they have done
their duty. Their attitude resembles
that Of Cain when he asked: Am | my
brothers keeper"
Then there are Others who look in
misty way upon the manufacture ano
sale of liquor as business. and that
business must necessarily be benefit
TO the community, and who are rather
adverse TO prohibition on the assumed
ground that it Injuries business" They
do not stop TO consider that it is not o
legitimate business, because it does not
supply any need of the person or Of the |
but merely panders to a |
debased or diseased appetite of the in.
dividGal, and that the traffic Is itself q |
drawback to legitimate trade in that
the money spent over saloon counters
would be, under prohibition. largely
added to the amounts received BY
tradesmen in legitimate occupations.
This vast intermediate, unconvinceC
class of the people is the missionary
ground for real prohibitory effort. They
must be individually convinced that the
liquor traffic has nothing whatever to
it, but has everything
against ii. Ii is difficult sometimes to
general public 1t is extremely difficult
20 arouse large masses of people &c
carefully Z subject which they
10 not see to be of direct personal OF
Decuniary interest. Those of us who
nave debated the matter and arrived at
,he conclusion that the rum power
must be destroyed ana that prohibition
5 the only method of doing this, some.
lines grow impatient over the slow
progress the movement makes But
line is an essential factor in moral
and the work of education
must be kept up steadily year by year.
The watchword of all friends of TEN.
,erance must be: Educate. educate
if we are to hope for sue
,ess IN the effort to pulverize the run
Blade.