The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1909-08-04
PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
ABUSE, hot SALE OF LIQUOR IMMORAL,

WHICH 10S"SAiAS AiA S1-S -@SSS
tive the question, "Do you not
concede the selling OF alcoholic
beverages morally wrong?' 1t
seem to shock the questioner.
The interrogation laid down a
proposition embodying conclu-
sion, to concede which made ar
gument useless. But when we
answered No, the guns could be
unlimbered for reasoning acton.
To say the sale Of alcoholic bev-
erases is immoral is TO our mind
a very extreme view, and the on
ly justification such position has
is perchance alcoholic liquors are
sold by some immoral men; pep,
sin, castor oil and calomel are
sold by immoral men too. but be-
cause OF that, it does not make the
sale of these standard medicines
morally wrong.
The selling Of alcoholic bever-
ages is frequently done by i'm
moral men and women, perhaps
majority Of these dealers are
immoral; the selling Of non-alco-
holic beverages does not neces-
sarily create a badge Of morah
ty, bad men engage in all kinds
of business, but because Of it.
the business itself need not be
immoral. When wrong IS done,
the individual committing it is
responsible. 4 bad man may
commita grievous sip in the most
sacred of places, even in Gods
sanctuary. How often is it we
hear Of the vilest immortality
committed under the cloak of re-
ligion, bnt because OF it, religion
itself, IS not responsible.
A stock argument with those
who imagine they see immortality
n the sale of liquor. is that
ssgood men have been made to go
wrong by handling liquor" We
think this is a mistaken view: we
do not believe that liquor ever
made a good man go wrong,
there is no doubt that men who
were reported to be good went
wrong, but it was the devil born
in them, and not the liquor which
made them go wrong, the liquor
may have nerved them up to do
things which fear held them back
from doing, but the evil heart
was there. Opportunity frequent
II plays an important part IN the
downfall Of the so-caned good
men. In our Judgment the good
men who have gone wrong after
indulglng in liquor would have
gone wrong had they never tast-
ed q drop Of the stuff. It is OF!
common occurance that men who
bear the best Of regulations for
sohriety, and even piety, who are
known to be, and have always
been, tee totalers, men who hold
high positions in their churches, |
shet 60 wrong, rob widows and
orphans, commit all manner Of
crimes, are the brain Of conspir-
acies to defraud, what did it? I'll
surely was not Aauor, they had
never tasted it, then the only |
other reasonable conclusion is, |
that it was an inborn devil in hid
ing waiting for the opportunity.
If a cashier Of q bank is known
to drink. and he goes wrong and
wrecks the bank, liquor would be
blamed for his downfall, and the
victim would be spoken of as "a
poor unfortunate weak fellow
whom drink dragged down, ,"-i
the liquor seller gets the curses, |
while the thief the sympathy.
But when a tee-totaler, say a
minister goes to the bad,-invad |
es the sanctity OF the home, or
robs the orphan fund or commits
heinous crimes which is not at
all unheard OF, we could cite cas-
es that are commonly known,
there must be some other source
to hold responsible besides liqu-
or-it IS the Devil
We repeat that a good man
never went wrong because Of US
ing or handling liquor. lis our
honest opinion, and an impartial
: search Of the records viii prove
II, that liquor is not responsible
for the many crimes attributed to
it. There is crime, and much Of
it, but it is oar belief that the
court records will prove that the
majority Of cases colsistof thefts.
swindles, frauds &C., which need
and require sooer minds to oper-
ate. Homicides are committed,
but these occur wher neither Of
the parties had tasted liquor, and
tnen too, sometimes when the
parties are in liquor the deed was
contemplated before hand and
:sae liquor was used to stimulate
the nerve, the heart needed a
stlmuIant to aid it in carrying out
it's wickedneSS.
Il liquor is the father Of crime,
WHY is it the court records do not
show it in the convlctions-arSon
to secure insurance money,
swindling innocent investors. de-
fslcationS Of treaSurerS, robblng
of creditors by way Of bankrupt
laws, the hundred and one I'M
moral practices. Crimes are com
mitted By the Devil drunk Or so.
Der.
The place to ind the remedy
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