The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-05-01
IngersoI on Alcohol.

The following wonderful piece of word
painting has been frequently published,
saws the Chicago Tribune, but we reprint
IL at the request of several readers who
desire a complete copy. Colonel Robert
G.. Ingersoll, in addressing jury In
case which involved the manufacture OF
alcohol, made the following terrible
arraignment of the demon:
"I am aware that there Is prejudice
against any man who manufactures alco-
hol. believe that from the time 1t issues
from the coiled and poisonous worm In
the distillery until 1t empties into the
laws of death, dishonor and crime, It
demoralizes everybody that touches It,
from it's source to where it ends. do
not believe anybody can contemplate the
object without being .prejudiced against
the liquor crime. ALI we have to 90,
gentlemen, is to think OF the wrecks on
either bank of the stream of death, of the
of the destitution, of the little children
tuppinp at the faded and withered breast
of weeping and despairing mothers, of
wives asking for bread, of the men OF
genius it has wrecked, the men strug..
Cling with imaginary serpents. produced
by this devilish thing; and when you
think of the jails, of the almshouses, OF
the asylums, Of the prisons, OF the scaf-
folds upon either bank, do not wonder
that every thoughtful man is prejudiced
against this damned stuff called alcohol.
Intemperance cuts down youth In its
yigor, manhood in its strength, old age
in les weakness. It breaks the fathers
heart, bereaves the doting mother, e1tin-
puishes natural affection, grasses coDjugal
love, blots out filial attachment, blights
parental hopes, brings down mourning
age in sorrow to the grave. It produces
weakness, not strength; sickness, not
health death, not life. 1t max es wives
widows; children orphans; fathers fiends;
and all Of them paupers and beggars. 1t
feeds rheumatism, invites cholera, I'M
ports pestilence and embraces consump-
tion. It covers the land with idleness,
misery, crime. It fills your jails, sup
plies your almshouses, and demands
YOUR asylums. It engenders controver-
sizes, fosters quarrels and cherishes riots.
1t crowds your penitentiaries and fur
nishes victims for your scaftolds. 1t 1s
the life blood of the gambler, the element
of the burglar, the prop Of the highway
man and support of the midnight lncen-
diary. It countenances the liar, respects
the thief esteems the blasphemer. 1t
violates obligation, reverences fraud and
honors infamy. It defames benevolence,
hates love, scorns virtue and ISLANDERS
innocence. It incites the father to butch
er his helpless offspring. helps the hus,
band to massacre his wife and the child
to grind the paricidal ak. It burns up
men, consumes women, detests life, cur
ses God, despises heaven. It suborns
witnesses, nurses perjury, deh!os the
jury box and stains judicial ermine; It
degrades the citizen, debases the legisla-
tor, dishonors the statesman and disarms
the patriot. It brings shame, not honor;
misery, not safety; despair not soith hope; Pc;
malevolence of a fiend it calmly surveys
its frightful desolation and unsatiated
havoc. 1t poisons felicity, kills peace,
ruins morals, blights confidence, slays
regulations, and wipes out national honor,
then curses the world and laughs at It's
ruin. It does all that and more. It muir
ders the soul. 1t is the sum OF all villain. i.
les, the father Of all crimes, the mother OF
all denominations, the DEVILS best friend
and Gods worst enemy"