Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-01-28
REPLY TODR. PARKER
HIS BILL TO SUPPRESS DRUNKEN.
NESS SHARPLY CRITICIZED.
strike st the Source Of the Evil and Fro
hlbit the Licensing Of AL
IntOxicants.


|
views on the temperance question In geh-
eral. This paper. while containing no lit
tie OF truth. is remarkable for Its incon-
-sistencies. There Is serious lack OF
logical sequence--conclusions are in oppo-
sition 90 argument, and arguments an
| tagonizs premises. As the Dispatch Is
ever willing to allow. within proper limi-
tation, all sides OF public questions to be
presented through its columns. desire to
review this article In the best Of spirit,
disclaiming any disrespect to DIR. Parker.
who has in many ways strikingly evinced
| his interest in the welfare ard ameiora-
ton of his fellow-men. j further preface
my article by stating 1t Is not writers
from third. or fourth. or any other
party standpoint, and hence cannot be
! considered political paper.
The Doctor is opposed to all "sump-
tuary laws" believing "a man has the
right 20 eat and drink what he chooses"
and yet favors the practical feloIdzing
(or at least incarceration of a man who
In the exercise OF that right" INDUCES
his appetite to excess. II IL proposed TO
do this not as vindictive punishment Of
and because drunkenness is the cause OF
lawlessness--it creates and then pauper-
ICES widows and orphans" &c. In sup
port OF the contention that legislation on
the subject is justifiable and necessary, he
forcbly asks, Are disorder, murder. and
pauperism proper subjects of legislation?
Who Is weak enough to doubt it?' Now
j ask, In all seriousness, II law may be
enacted which incarcerates In a felons
cell a man whose appetite has led him
TO excuses, how is II that the same legis-
lative power may not extend TO the re-
moval of the anterior or the controlling
causes that combine and conspire to effect
this state of affairs? Let us look at this
point In a common-sense. logical manner,
without sticking over hair-spltting dis
tinctions regarding the personal response
bi!ty Of the individual to Withstand temp
tation to excuses. AN ounce of preven-
ton is worth a pound of cure" nor Is 1t
compatible with sound discretion TO sub
ject man to the possible contagion of a
scourge and then brand him as a warning
10 others not to become contaminated
with the disease which we could eliminate.
CAN 1t "sumptuary law" or what you
please. IL law may be enacted which
will reduce TO the minimum the state
OF facts which the Doctor and his school
enactment. the right of legislative enact
ment of the remedial cause bill must be
confessed. And it is manifestly more in
order.
REMOVE THE CE.I.sE.
The saloons are a prolific source CT
drunkenness. and confessedly so. They
are the cause. manner, means, and instru-
ment Of very much Of the woe so elo-
quently depicted by the Doctor, and Nhich
he would see remedied. They entice and
entrap the youth and flower Of the land.
The point Is not that the slloon-keepers
love drunkards or drunkenness: make ii
as strong as you please aud have II Uor
sake Of the argument that they are all
opposed to drunkenness and its attendant
train Of misery and desolation, and the
fact remains that they are furnishing So
cietys funeral dirge-they are the Mighty
impetus hurting headlong on their down.
ward course to physical, social and spirit
ual death the young and fair of our State.
This fact needs no argument. The man
unacquainted with the fact is Lnobs ervant
and intensely obtuse. Now before we seek
to put a State brand Of disgrace upon our
poor. weak brother let us see 20 IL that
the State is free from the charge of being
particeps criminis or accessory before the
fact. Let us, fellow-citizens, not fill our
Golfers with shekels obtained By licensing
a traffic that results In the degra lation OF
our citizenship and then put tie brand
Of shame upon our weak and yielding
brother! Tempt a man to risk his man
hood-his ALL indeed-and then manacle
him for yieldingi Nay. rather first clear
our skirts Of all responsibility in the
matter by Withdrawing legal sanction OF
the pitfalls and then we will be in
hot N nnnCiAar
the "crime of drunkenness" Let us all
seek TO rise above mere sentimentalism
In this matter-cesse quibbling over fine
spun theories and abstractions--and apply
the solid arguments OF DR.. Parker In
support Of legislative enactment against
drunkenness to legislate enactment look
ing to the removal of statute-law tempta-
tons TO drunkenness
SURRENDER INDULGENCE.
next consider that portion OF the
Doctors article more properly or particu-
iarly embraced in the moral scope. have
noticed that he contends for mans right
TO eat and drink what he chooses. but |
desires to restrict him in the quantity Of
what he eats and drinks. What are We
to understand by the term right In
the broad affirmation. "A man may eat |
and drink what he chooses" l presume !
the answer is found In his contention that |
he Stands on Bible grounds" He could |
not by any possibility be more clearly In d
error The whole tenor Of the Scriptures /
teaches the duty OF surrender of self-indul- |
gence when IL crosses not merely the line of |
express inhibition, but also the line OF |
by example or otherwise with |
the proper rights or interests of others. |
st. Paul expressly declared he would eat |
no meat, drink no wine, or otherwise in
dulge his appetite wherein by such indul-
gence his brother became offended or was |
made weak. The principle sought TO be |
emphasized by the terse declaration above |
quoted II carried out to its ultimate and |
logical limit would undermine all proper |
religious and social structures. 1t Is indi-
run mad, and absolute individu-
alsm is not permissible in any proper
code of social, political, or religious ethics.
The Doctors declaration that 1.-THE time
viii never come when wine will be ban
ished from the board" viewed in its /
seems not to evince simply a
pessimistic view of the matter, but rather
the Doctor does not want that
thine to comet or ] misrepresent his
meaning / beg pardon-of course / do
not imply a doubt of his adherence OF
intemperance in the abstract) IL all fol-
lowed his sentiments 1 very much fear
the time would never, indeed, come, but
the effect that great good has been
DONE" and that "intemperance has greatly
thanks to the noble efforts of
the gallant men and women who in face
Of charges Of fanaticsm and ridicule have
never waveTed In defence of truth and
right, and in efforts to relieve the land
Of its Gordon OF evils flowing from intem-
perance. (By the way OF parenthesis, /
confess to curiosity to know what order"
the Doctor joined fifty-one years ago
" hich, ostenslbly, believes "a man has a
right to eat and drink what he chooses"
and has no faith that 1.-THE day will ever
come when wine will be banished from
the board.'O Wine will be banished from
the board. and the abominable social
custom wherein wine Is such an impor-
Lant factor will be swept away before the
uprising OF sensible, sober, rejecting
people who will awaken to the realization
IF the awful truth that the harvest from
his seed-sowing OF misery, decay, and
ieath is already too iamentably large. |
The reformation will come as the result
II such reflections as the following elo-
,uently descriptive quotation from Dr. |
Parker's article: "Ah met! how many
sweet feminine faces. pale with watch
ng and want now many ragged and
xretched orphan boys and girls rise to
NY sight as / review the fifty years OF
ny medical practice. They I'll the room
a which l write. Hoping against hope, |
weak and wan with sunken eyes and