The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1913-08-13
.INGERSOLL did
NOT MAKE SPEECH
FORUM Is IN RECEIPT OF LETTER
FROM RELATIVE: OF LATE ROB-
ERT INGERsoLL, ASKING COR
RECTIoN AND GIVING STATE
MENT MADE BY INGERSoLL.

The Forum is IN receipt OF the fol.
lowing letter which was accompanied
by copy of the attached statement
made by the late Robert G. Ingersoll:
III East Twenty first street. Gram
ercy Park, New York city.
To the editor of The Forum: Sir:
article entitled "Tngersoll's Big Alec.
hol Speech. AS you will see by the
inclosed letter, written by Colone
Ingersoll a few years before his
death. only part of this article was
written by him. I therefore hope thai
In justice to him and to his family, OF
which l am a member, you will kindly
give space to his correction, and I am
Very sincerely,
Sue M. Farrell.
Aug. 9. 1913.
lngersoII's Statement.
Washington. D. c.. Nov. /, 1881.
Sir: For several months charges
have appeared-Tmostly in christian
papers-that | am guilty of appropri-
ating the writings of others and palm
ing them off as my own. 1t is charged
that I delivered a speech on Temper
ance in which 1 used the language of
another and pretended that it was or
iginaI.
The facts concerning this foolish and
malicious charge are as follows
In 1875. in the course Of my argu-
ment in the Mum trial at Chicago, I
used the following language:
Il believe, gentlemen, that alcohol
to a certain degree, demoralizes those
who make it, those. who sell it, and
those who drink 1t. I believe from the
time it issues from the coiled and pois-
onous worm Of the distillery until it
empttes into the hell Of crime, death,
and dishonor, 1t demoralizes everybody
that touches 1t. I do not believe that
anybody can contemplate the subject
without being prejudiced against this
liquid crime. All you have to do, gen
tlemen, is to think of the wrecks upon
either bank Of this stream of death
Of the suicides, of the insanity, of the
poverty, Of the ignorance, of the dis
tress, Of the little children tugging at
the faded dresses of weeping and de-
spairing wives, asking for bread; OF
the men of genius it has wrecked; of
the millions who have struggled with
imaginary serpents produced by this
devilish thing. And when you think
Of the jails. of the almshouses, of the
prisons, and the scaffolds upon either
bank-I do not wonder that every
thoughtful man Is prejudiced against
the damned stuff called alcohol"
This is the only temperance speech
ever made.
A year or so after this some temper
ance lecturer appropriated what I
said in the Mum trial, and also the
following from some one else:
"Intemperance cuts down youth in
it's vigor manhood in it's strength, and
age in its weakness. 1t breaks the
fathers heart. bereaves the doting
mother, eXtinguishes natural affec-
tons, grasses conjugal loves, blots out
filial attachments, blasts parental
hopes. and brings down mourning age
in sorrow Of the grave. 1t produces
weakness. not strength; sickness, not
health; death. not life. 1t makes wives
widows, children orphans, fathers
flends-and all Of them paupers and
beggars. 1t feeds rheumatism, nurses
gout, welcomes epidemic, invites
cholera, imparts pestilence and en-
braces consumption. 1t covers the land
with idleness. misery, and crime. 1t
fills your jails. supplies your aims
houses, and demands your asylums. It
engenders controversies, fosters quar-
rels, and cherishes riots. 1t crowds
your penitentiaries and furnishes
victims of your scaffolds. 1t Is the
life-blood of the gambler. the aliment
of the burglar, the prop of the high
and the support Of the mid
night incendiary. 1t countenances the
liar, respects the thief, and esteems
the blasphemer. 1t violates obliga-
tions. reverences frauds. and honors
infamy. 1t defames benevolence, hates
love, scorns virtue, and ISLANDERS in
nocence. 1t incites the father to
butcher his helpless Offspring; helps
the husband to massacre his wife and
the child to grind the particular axe.
1t burns up men. consumes women,