The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-05-24

genius as Edgar a. Poe. Sergeant s. Prem
.lss. aanlly SLOTS or Ricnapd Yates: the
men all fell victims to the power of rum
at the very height of their career, where
IN the fun vigor or their splendid talents.
These men have had no superiors III this
| nation for genius, eloquence and states
manship- The sad thing about it all is
| that the genial, the gifted and the gem
| to the influence of this monster that sings
with siren voice only TO lure the unfor-
| tu2ate victim upon the rocks of eternal
destruction.
A few years ago, in a city of Alabama,
stood in the morgue alone and
gazed upon magnificent wreck. 1t was
| the dead body of Lieutenant Pelham,
| brother of the gallant Major Pelham. OF
| Alabama, one of the most distinguished
soldiers of the confederacy, who was
killed in one of the desperate engage
ments in Virginia at the age OF 20 me
| MAJ. tllat lay before me was scion OF
one of the noblest families in the south !,
he was mighty connetced-Deing related Dy
| marriage to Senator Colquitt of Georgia.
even in death his splendid brow and mag
nifcent martial figure sent shiver OF al
| mira ton tinglinS through every herSe,
and vet this man had fallen so low under
the influence of drink that he had been
| completely deserted by wife and frlends
and children, ana had oeen sno' ofsca arsS
| death like a dog by the police oIlcers'
| upon the streets the previous day:
| I mention this case, simply TO Drlng De
fore your minds concrete liluslta !a9 81 VI
narience T have known of score of such
| instance almost. if not quite, as SAD anu
What Is tnefe a upon TO read ,e how
! the great and gifted sons OF our repuDlc
-brave-hearted and true to their country
| and to their fellow men. but weak as
| wafer and false as hell with themselves
| have gone down to dishonored graves
leaving their work unaccomplished ana
| their memory a pain to all VINO ioVeu
have a. brother whom love as I love
| my own life. There is no sacrifice that
would not make for him: there is no
| honor that could be bestowed upon him
| that would not gain additional worth ana
luster from having rested upon him. but
/ if tonight l had TO choose between seeing
| him brought into my presence IN state
! of intoxication or as a mangled corpse.
! should unhesitatingly request that L
might see his dead disfigured form before
me. If at the call of duty he had sac
rificed his life in the attempt to save the
| life of another or if he had been slain
in honorable battle, fighting in defense
of his nations flag and honor, | tnink
] that 1 could follow his mortal remains
to their last resting place with a sort OF
solemn and exalted joy to think that IN
boyish ideals of heroism and valor that
| for years we had cherished in common
But if that familiar figure were to stag
ger into my presence with bleared eyes
| and dishevelled hair. and were to &C
cost me with mandlin, and meaningless
speech; if that alert form should sway
| IL
halt and stammer; If those clear and
steady eyes should leer and blink at me,
J think that my heart would break, and
! that / should never again be able TO hold
up nv head among my fellow men.
Alas alas. for the sadness and heart
| ache and dishonor that come not alone
loved ones as well. What tongue could
| tell or what pen could describe the sor-
row that hangs over this nation today
] u-rn nr0SnRGtS
What homes ~darkened! What bright
hopes dashed to earth, What dreams
! of love dispeiledi What cords of affection
strained and broken. What stories OF
crime and penalty. What unwritten pages
| of woe and agony
What is to be done to stay this dark
tide of death that rolls its black waters
over us? Are there no practical methods
that might be inaugurated by CHRISTIAN
men and women TO mitigate at least the
ravageS of our foe? / am surprised TO
hear good men say that it is inexDedient
! to turn aside. sometimes, from purely
gospel themes for the purpose of putting
| forth specific efforts against the frfghtful
inroads of this raging beast of prey.
whose jaws constantly drip with the blood
of it's slain. Such arguments seem to me
suggestive of numbnesse of mind, sor
paralysis of conscience 1t seems TO me
that the Christian church ought to show
its strength in a, united and practical
effort to throttle the rum power.
i would at the present time suggest four
things that seem to me to be eminently
practicable. and if 1 had it in my power
l would unite every Christian minister
and every ardent temperance advocate in
the state in a stubborn and earnest cam
Daign to be carried on for at least two
years. upon the lines that | am about TO
indicate.
First-We ought to resort once more
with consecrated ardor to the method of
moral suasion. Every person that is
pledged to abstain<frDm the use OF in
toxicating liquors. as a beverage. is one
more person secured to the cause of
. 1ac-- lafr IN
the ranks Of the enemy to support the
traffic with his money or his silent in
f1uence as the case may be. During my
six months residence in Salt Lake, have
never heard of a great mass meeting for
the purpose of moral Suasion and temper
ance instruction. If we could have an
enthusiastic mass meeting in this and
every other town in the state once every
two months. to which every devoted tenn
perance worker in the city would resort,
bringing with him as many moderate
drinkers and drnkards as he could coll
lect, and if we would there provide at
tractive music and stirring speakers, We
could by presenting the temperance
pledge at the close of the meeting secure
many signerS from among the drinking
classes. and could at the same time
deepen conviction in the hearts of luke
warm temperance people The time has
not come TO abandon moral suasion. In
deed. l am inclined to look upon this
method with much more hopefulnesS than
upon the effort. to bring about the legal
prohibition of the traffic. for when
drinking man has been persuaded to re-
form. rather than compelled to do so. he
will be one customer won from the
saloon. and he will not spend his time
and energy in quest OF blind tigers"
Secondly, as intimated above. the tenn
perance cause should be forever agitated.
This is the one thing that the liquor in
tereSt abhors- They want temperance
fanatics and preachers to keep quiet.
They know that the business will not
bear investigation. and that the less that
is said about it the better for them. This
simple fact alone ought to be enough to
teach us that we ought, as moral and
religious teachers, eternally TO keep this
question before the people. We dare not
do otherwise Who is to teach the youth,
and who is warn the drunkard if not we?
The question must be agitated. 1t is by
this means that public sentiment is
created and educated. 1t is by this means
that good laws are enacted, and are
forced after they have been enacted Law
is nothing more nor less than crystallized
public sentiment made operative. 1t is
therefore our business to arouse the con-
wealth to such n state that good laws
will be demanded and their enforcement
firmly insisted upon. Therefore, from
our pulDits, from the rostrum, through
the press and in our daily conversation
it becomes our solemn duty to denounce
in the most unequivocal terms the drink
habit, in whatever form ii manifeSts
itself; however insidiously it may sue for
favor. in whatever fascinating social garb
it may temporarily clothe itself.
Thirdly. the most strenuous and unin-
terInittent efforts must be made TO enforce
to the letter the excellent laws that we
already have. It is far more important
Just at present for every temperance man
and woman to insist upon the rigorous
and impartial enforcement of the laws
now upon the statutes, than to endeaVor
to enact new and more severe laws. Oc-
cupy the vantage ground that YOU have,
hQcRT11a Gn