Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-04-30
A PROBLEM TO SOLVE.
WHAT TO DO WITH TIE LIQUOR
TRAFFIC AND ATTENDANT EVILS.
The Questions OF License and Prohibition
Discussed In an Interesting Letter.
The Outlook Bright.
fWrittan for the Dlsnnfch.l

the American people was the question OK
slavery. That problem was solved some |
twenty-eight years ago with tears ana
blood which no human arithmetic will ever |
compute. The great problem now before
the people of this country, discussed |
through pulpit. press, and platform. IS
What shall be done with the liquor
traffic, with all its attendant evils?" Nor |
il this question confined to our own coun-
try. Its waves ripple up against every |
shore; everywhere 1t IS monopolIzlng pub
lie solcitude. No other question - so stir |
ring the worlds thought to-day. Further, |
let me remind you that this Is question |
in which we are all personally interested |
whether we are conscious OF IL or nor: ls
there an individual scarcely IN this land |
who has not been touched in some way, |
either directly or remotely, bv this uOlqui- |
tous curse? If the shadow Is not IN your |
own home do you not geo IT in the home |
OF some relative or friend! How many |
parents. wives. and children are filed with |
deepest Apprehension!
II NAY DE YOUR roy.
You would not have that dear boy who |
! climbs upon your knee come staggering |
home some night-not for his weight III |
gold. Yet this has been the bitter expert |
| ence of not few-lIying wrecks there are |
n
which even the coffin itself were silent |
| benediction. We are all, therefore, inte- |
rested in some form in this theme. And |
whether we look az It from the standpoint |
! OF humanity. patriotism. or political |
economy. OF from the still higher stand. |
point of morals and religion. you will |
| agree with me. | think. that II de- |
mands the thoughtful consideration |
Of all Christians and patriots alike. |
! Let me. therefore, ask you to con- |
| sIder II dispassOnatey with me few |
| moments to-day. Glance at the magni- |
tude OF this evil. Our very familiarity |
| with il often blunts our sensiblity or rem |
| ders Us indifferent to its enormIty. From |
! childhood we have grown up familiar with |
the drinking customs of society. and the sa- !
! loon meets us at every corner. Think OF !
the cost IN life. If $1,000 men and women |
| were swept away annually oy pestllence |
| or earthquake we would be startled. VINO !
| thinks of these 10000 drunkards! One by |
| one they 60 down 10 their untlmely graves !
| without thought. often without tear |
| or a regret Consider the cost III money
one billion alone expended last year in the |
| United States for alcoholic drink. sum
so vast that it fairly stagGers my poor
| thought TO grasp 1t. Not only lost but
worse than lost, for had this billion been
| cast into thu sea OF turned TO ashes we
would have had only the loss without the
| agony which has been entalled.
| Reflect one moment over the collateral
vices with which this traffic Is leagued,
the curses which il entails ina thousand
| forms, and the rulnOus consequences on
| the community. apart from the poor IN
ebrate himself. Think Of the estates
which are wasted, homes desOlated. repu-
tations blasted hearts broken, and the
tens Of thousands Of young men. the PRIDE
| of loving hearts, the hope OF our country
| il is sweeping on its burning tide 10 IRE
| trlpvable ruin. Never until the Recording
Angel shall make out the complete lnVen-
| tory will II be fully known how much our
poor race has suffered from this embodl-
meut OF all shames and crimes.
The GREAT POWERS ITs ALLIES.
| Then. too. there are the great powers.
wealth. appetite, and influence. with winch
| this traffic Is entrenched and fortified, and
| certainly .hey are formidable enough. No
wonder is it that the struggle has been
| long and fierce. and sometimes apparently
| hopeless Many time ! have been dis
| courAQed Never since Capitalization
| lifted its braZeu front and shook ITS finger
| defantiy in the face OF freedom and hred
| on liberty have the friends Of right 10 this
| land been called to measure arms with
| such foe. And we shall 10 more than
| unwise If we either fail 10 ascertain or
! thoughtlcssly underestimate the strength
| OF the enemy in our front. Its name IS
LEGION. What u the remedy? This is the
Great "unsolved problem" which has
! been on the blackboard of this coun-
try for more than half century
| and about the solution of which even the
friends of temperance themselves are not
of one mind. Two remedies ara nov
| prominently before the public competing
| for popular favor. One is the policy OF
| license Regulate the traffic, 1t Is said. by
law. place the business IN the hands OF
reputable men, limit II with wise restric-
tons, make the penalties severe, and see
| that they are rlgidlv enforced. IRIS Is IN
| substance the remedy of license. Its ad-
| yucates say that 1t will furnish q revenue
10 the State, compelling those who manu-
fac:ure widows, orphans. and lmbecles 70
| nd IN their support. This Is in substance
the policy of license. What astonishing
| political economy that il. Sell the right
| for so much money and then with the
money pay tine funeral expenses.
OBJECTION TO LICENSE.
| object 10 q license law because, what
| ever It's provisions and restrictions. il IL IN
itself fallaoy and morally wrong in prin-
ciple. There is no dispute that the traffic
is wrong. aud ! claim that under no CIR
cumstances OF policy. expedlency. reye-
nue.. or anything else can II be right 10
| give II the sanction of law. II IL were
| proposed 10 legalize gambling or any other
| form of vice and shame and make them
respectable by law the moral sense OF the
| community would be indignant. Why in
the one case rather than the other? The
other remedy Is that means
| simply to prohibit by law the manufacture
and sale. and the night TO enact sucn
| a law cannot be questioned. am
! not in favor of prohibition because
the people have not been educated mp to 1t
| sufficiently. Yet we prohibit now thou
| sand other forms OF wrong-doing because
| they are injurious to public morals. Tho
! old-fashiOned Democratic way OF voting
| in every city aud county for license or no
license will make people think ana tax,
| and thereby create a public sentiment
| which after O while will Danish the traiiic.
| if not the habit, entirely. | am reminded
| perchance that public sentiment - not
| prepared for such radical measures POSI-
blv that NAV be true; possibly not. Ger
tainly, however. this is no argument
against the experiment. lntemperance,
we all know. has been tine curse or our
| race from the beginning of time. and there
| will be drunkards, doubt not, when the
| trumpet of God shall sound. What claim
is that az other crimes are restrained by
law and penalties, 30 there Will be fewer
drunkards when men are restrained IRON
manufacturing them.
MUCH TO ENCOURAGE.
Some day this high ground will be reach
ed. surely. One word, now. As 10 the out
| look and have done. Looking back over
the conflict for a quarter OF century L
| find much in retrospect that IS encour-
aging and hopeful. Wonderful changes
have taken place in that period in public
sentiment and in the drinking customs OF
society. Progress is written upon all these
wears. Looking around me find more 10
cheer and inspire me tor the future. The
agitation of the subject through pulpit.
press. and platform. the alarming despera-
ton of the liquor traffic itself the enlist
ment of Christian women from forty-tourr
States and the Territories, the intensified
interest awakening in the Christian
| Church. the new chapter on alcohol IN
our school-books, the marvellous in
crease in temperance literature, the tenn
perance plank in the platform OF labor.
| ORGANIZATIONS, the white-ribbon army
among the children and youth. the Roman
Catholic influence over 1000, 900 OF people
the introduction of the subject into leg1s-
lstiye assemblies. the alarm in all political
| circles (the ghost that will not DOWN, the
submission of the question 10 the arbitra-
ment OF the ballot. and the royal names