The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1908-05-14
Ineersoll on Alcohol.

Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, in adj
dressing Jury In a casewhich involved
the manufacture of alcohol, made
the following terrible arrangement OF
the liquid demon:
am aware that there is a prelu-
dice against any man who manufac-
lures alcohol. believe that from the
time that it leaves the coiled and poi
sonous worm until it empties into
the laws of death, dishonor and crime,
it demoralizes everybody who touch
es it. from it's very source to where it
ends.
do not believe any man can con-
template the subject without being
prejudiced against the liquor crime.
All we<have to do, gentlemen, is to
think OF the wrecks on either bank OF
the stream of death, of the suicides, of
the insanity, Of the ignorance, of the
restitution, of little children Juggling
at the withered and faded 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, pro-
duced by the devilish thing; al I'd when
you think of the jails, OF tie aims
houses, of the asylums, of the prisons,
of the scaffolds upon either bank, [
do not wonder that every thoughtful
man is prejudiced against the damn
ed stuff called alcohol.
Intempcrance cuts down youth in
it's vigor, manhood in it's strength,
IL Il q
fathers heart, bereaves the doting
mother, extinguishes natural affec-
ton, grasses conjugal love, blots out
filial attachment, bligllts parental
hopes, brings down mourning age in
sorrow to the grave. 1t produces
weakness, not strength; sickness, not
health; death, not life.
1t makes wives widows; children
orphans; fathers fiends; and all of
them paupers and beggars. 1t feeds
rheumatism. invites cholera, imports
| pestilence and embraces consumption.
1t covers the land with idleness, mis-
cry, crime. 1t fills your iails, supplies
your alms-hOuses, and demands your
| asylums 1t engenders controversies,
fosters quarrels and cherishes riot. 1t
crowds your penitentiaries and furn-
ishes victims for your scaffolds. 1t is
the life blood OF the gambler, the ele-
ment of the burglar, the prop for the
highwayman and support of the mid
| night incendiary. 1t cOuntenances the
liar, respects the thief, esteems tie
blasphemer.
1t violates obligation, reverences
fraud and honors infamy 1t defames
benevolence, hates love, scorns vir-
tue and ISLANDERS innocence 1t incites
the father to butcher his helpless Off
spring, helps the husband to massa-
ere his wife and the child to grind the
paricidal axe. 1t burns up men, con-
sumes women, detests life, curses God,
despises heaven. 1t suborns witness
es, nurses perjury, defiles the jury
and stains the judicial ermine.
| 1t degrades the citizen, debases the
| legislator, dishonors the statesman,
and disarms the patriot. 1t brings
shame, not honor; peril, not safety;
despair, not hope; misery, mot happi-
ness, and with the malevolence of a
fiend it calmly surveys it's frightfnl
desolation and unsatiated havoc. 1t
poisons felicity, kills peace, ruins NOR
ais, blights confidence, Stays reputa-
tions, and wipes out national honor,
then curses the world and laughs at
it's ruin
| 1t does ali that and more. 1t muir
ders the soul. 1t is the sum of all vii,
lanies, the father of all crimes, the
mother of all denominations, the dew
IFS best friend and Gods worst enc.
my.