The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-03-03
tor of The Times:

Editor of Inc IlIlcS.
sir-In your issue Of the so illsla l
Won had an editorial headec
a,,cn.and Extremists Allow me 10 nave
1;++1a friendly talk with You. am d
p-ob;bition;st. and, according to your ueA-
;,;tio, an extremist I believe In tenn
noronca but YOU and I differ as 10 INC
,ueaning Of the word. The n,edAl.is 10
self control. as I understand IT, 10 NC
terperate in all things means " Sot-
ern our appetites and desires III coi,he
!, On with good and lawful thlhSs anu
stain from evil and doubtful lni,is', IN
III becomes a public educator IKE Inc
I,imes To champion the liquor business or
b,hitua1 drinking The traffic, as 1t eN-
ists to-day. is an unmixed evil and WORKS
harm continually. No one Is Sale' p.iI
the total abstainers, and they Suller inu il
rectlv untold wrongs from It's eVll lhliu-
ence. Alcohol is an intoXicant anu IT'S
nature is to intoXicate Cardlnal S1lp-
hons is no very high authority on the
subject. He has not studied as nave
some of us Prohibit;onists. 1t is just as
imnossible for a man or woman to drink
Intoxicating liquor and be sober as II is
for :. man to carry a live coal IN MS
bosom and not be burnt. Drunkenness is
susceptible of many degrees or dlVlSlohs'
and it is hard to define it. When a man
is affected in any degree by the lhtoNl-
cant he is intoxicated, winch means
drunkenness. When does intoXicatlon be-
gin? 1t is not necessary for a man TO
staeger or become helpless before he can
he called drunk Many a steamer has
been lost and many a train wrecked be-
cause the one in command had lmDlDed.
According to your definition, they were
not drunk. 1 say they were Inc glass
or two of liquor which they had taken
maybe in company with friends IN order
to be socal-inpaired that keen Wit when
is demanded of all such officers and GUS
todians of men and women entrusted to
their care They had become incompe-
tent. through the one or two glasses, to
be Watchful and sensitive to the many
dangers accompanying such enterprises
1t is hard for any one to say how lar the
least indulgence interfereS with the IN
dividual and his posterity. The moral
sentiment of the best and most thought
full and enlightened people of this coun-
try and the world to-day is against the
liquor traffic, and they would hail the
day when the saloon would be outlawed
Revolutions are deprecated, but many
wrongs could not and cannot be rishted
without them. Kansas is d prohibition
State and the saloon is outlawed there
The Saloon-keeper who persists in carry
ing on his business i'll violation of the
law is just as much a malefactor as the
horSe-thlef or the fOOtpad is, and he
has no more right to carry on his bus
mess than they have. Men steal and rot
to-day, but they do so knowing they arr
amenable to the law. Were it possib,t
for robbing and stealing to become S;
common as to defy the law and the Off
GERS of the law to be SO Indifferent and
refuse to perform their duties and exer
themselves in defense OF the law, il
would be justitiabe for the common PEG
pie to rise in their own defeEse. Proili-
bitionists are extremists and so are all
reforlnerS and such have they been in a!
ages. All great reforms have been COM
menced by such characters as Mrs Ma
ticn. Call them What you wi!l--cranks
fanatics, extremists. Jesus Christ was
an extremist; SO were Martin Luther
Father Matthew, Cranmer. Latimcr and a
hest of others who have suffered and
died for principle. I think Nicodemus
:,dvice to the Jewish sanhedrini, con-
corning Peter and John is Very appropri-
ate to many high in authority at the
present day. 1 think Mrs. Nation does
teach temperance. When evil disposed
people will insist upon Violating the law
as the jointists do in Kansas. they are
Very incorporate and the very opposite
principle is temperance. compelling the
Incorporate and violators Of the law 10
observe it. More anon.
D. G. JAvENEY.
Sake. Va, Feb. o6. 1901.