Year: 1860

WnaI SuSIa1nS tne Liquor franc.


The following extract is from discourse
delivered by Rev. g. L. Foster pastor Of
the Presbyterian church in Ypsilanti,
Michigan, occasioned by the murder of a
wife by her husband, while under the mad
dening influence of strong drink After
vivid presentation of the enormous bur
dens entailcd upon society by this fruitful |
cause of immortality, poverty and crime, he /
very properly inquiries 'Who is response |
bic for the existence Of the traffic in any
community 2
4 have reached the inevitable conviction
that what sustains the liquor traffic here,
and what hinders the successful enforce
ment Of law for its suppression, more than
anything else, is tic general understanding
that the traffic has the support, the counte-
! nance-0t least the IcuUe to Jc, Of q coDapar-
otigeiy .fe,0 Of oar most respectable and IN
! fUe1tttdk citizens, among whom are inclu-
/ ded, to their shame, or glory, too many OF
| the members of the legal profession. Those
to whom alude are not distinguished gen
orally for their intellectuallty, nor yet for
their moral power, else they would not be
wiling to stand so near the tide OF non





nevertheless they haye great influence
Some Of them have considerable social and
momentary influence. Some Of them came
here for the sole purpose Of making NOR
ey. and they have cared intensely for moth
ing else, not seeing how intimately connec-
ted moral worth is to all other woiths.-
Some Of them have a commendable spirit
of enterprise in some directions. They
are generally, of a quiet, mindthelr-own
business stamp-so much so that they seem
to be perpetualy saying: Am my broth
ers keeper?' Some OF them have become
so related to this traffic in securing official
positions, that they can in no manner op-
pose what has been one Of their chief sup
porterS.


Now, such as these. are the cause of the
existence of this traffic here, and hence the
cause of its evils Their course encoura-
ges those engaged III the traffic, and dis
cour,ges those desiring and seeking It's
overthrow This audience knows very we'll
that if it were proper, | could name ab ut
a score Ct men who coming cordially and
decidedly to the help Of others, could quick
, ly drive this enemy of all good from among
: as Whether they shall continue to Occu-
py their present position remains to be
seen. But if they do, will most dellber-
r ately and publicly charge upon them the
chirf' responsibility of sustaining among us
business that brings forth poverty, pau
perism, sorrow, adultery, and murder, as
its legitimate fruits. If any shall be often
ded at this painpess, they shall be respon-
sible for that. Am | become their enemy
because | tell them the truth? Nay, in
deed and if any Of you are in donbt
whether you stand among these condemned
oucs-you may be sure that you are inclu-
ded--tor to stand where you are in doubt
is to stand where you are condemnabe
Oh, If the day will ever come when some
e of these quiet, d-theirown- business
E men al wake up to the fact that their own
sons have been ruined by that about which
they have sought to be so non c0mmlttal


they will greatly wonder how they could
have been so Indifferent how they could
have dreamed along so careless Of inHuen


ces that have blasted their brightest hopes
and disappointed their most confident ex


pectations If the day shall come when
! some of these shall learn that their dangh


ters are affianced to young men whose hab


its have been formed under the influence
of saloons and billiard rooms and if they
:. shall be compelled to go on to learn tha


lifelong alliances have been formed will
: such as are passing through the progressive


stages of incbriation, how can they eve


forgiEe themselves that they we're so care
: less as they now are, of the moral infpen
y ces surrounding their homes


n Oh, they will mourn at the last wher
u u mourning will be poor atonement 70
. past Indifference, and poor pledge tha
q it shall not be increased to dreadful an


guish. Say, what father would welcom
Il the place of that father, who was recent.
le summoned from his quiet home, to look up


on the murdered form of son or daughter
T. What mother would be in her place VIII
- thus looked upon the child she had borne!