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WR fljrfpvpfj PC jMfISC®
li JLJ—> li LLiiJ J iMmliUoUlElljUa
J. H. SEALS, )
AM) > EiSJ SOUS.
E. A. STEED, S
NEW SERIES, VOL L
THE TEMPERANCE TANNER,
pußLisnr.o r.xv.vA ‘ \timvw except two in rns yk vk,
BY JOHN K. SEALS.
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v ~ ■ , ' ll 11 •
Os emheraitce.
AD DR ESS
TO THE PEOPLE OF GEORGIA,
ox Tin:
SUBJECT OF PROHIBITION,
by the
COMMITTEE APPOINTED BY THE ATLAN
TA TEMPERANCE CONVENTION.
Fellow-Citizens: —In a country like ours, where
“the prior of liberty is eternal vigilance,” the exer
cise of the elective franchise is alway* ar. inestima
ble privilege and important duty. Hut there arc
times when it assumes the character of a moment
ous trust, and becomes an office of sacred and sol
emn responsibility. Occasions arise when the re
sults which emanate from the decisions of the popu
lar suffrage are of such colossal magnitude—of such
extended and enduring consequence—as to affect,
for weal or woe, the happiness of the people and
the destiny of the State. Such a crisis arrives when
ever, in the course of events, a great moral and po
litical question, bearing upon all the relations of life,
and influencing largely and widely'the fortunes both
of present and future generations, springs np lo ex
cite public discussion and claim the adjudication of
the ballot box. A question of this character, fellow
citizens, one of vital importance to all the interests
of society and the State, now demands your atten
tion and invokes your action. Upon the voters of
Georgia rests the responsibility of determining
whether the high sanction of law shall he longer ex
tended to the sale of alcoholic beverages, or wheth
er, in accordance with the demands of a progres
sive age and the claims of an advancing Christian
civilization, the State shall proceed in the stern maj
esty of its appropriate office to place, the seal of con
demnation—the ban of proscription—upon the in
iquitous and demoralizing traffic. The future histo
rian will record the decision, if favorable to the ac
complishment of the proposed reform, as constitu
ting a memorable epoch in the legislation of our be
loved commonwealth —a distinctive era in the annals
of human progress. That such will be the verdict
of an enlightened and virtuous people, the friends
of Prohibition have every reason to believe, if the j
subject is only dis ns-a and with that fairness and com
pleteness which its importance demands, and the
popular mind, divested of prejudice and free from
all extraneous influences, is permitted to follow the
dictates of patriotic and unbiased judgment. —
Confident of the strength and purity of thei” princi
ples, they fia les-iy appeal to the arbitrament of
reason and the decisions of intelligence. Advocate .-
of a just and righteous cum , they desire that its
claims should be subjected to the ordeal of the ni
cest criticism arid close st logic. Abettors of a pub
lic enterprise in harmony with the spirit of a benefi
cent government and demanded by high moral ob
ligations, they invite inquiry and challenge investi
gation. Animated by th s unfaltering conviction of
the rectitude of their position, and trusting to the
power of truth and the wisdom and integrity of Un
people, the Atlanta Temperance Convention of the
22d February last, determined that th- time for ac
tion had arrived, and having submitted their cause
to the issue of the approaching autumnal elections
were pleased to designate toe undersigned a com
mittee “to address the voters of Georgia upon the
subject of Prohibition.” In discharging the impor
tant duty thus assigned, v.o invoke, fePow-citteens,
your indulgent and patient attention while i;i vindi
cation of the claims of this greet movinn nt we pre
sent to vour considers'ion the following facts and
argument -:
We art happily tinder no no” ssity of discussing
the Hit jut of a State, through its Legislature, to in
hibit th•• sale of intoxicating drinks. This right has
been tint qnivocally and repeatedly affirmed by the
highest judicial tribunals of the country. The Su
preme Court of Massachusetts in ] 13, declared the
passage of a Prohibitory Statute to be within tlv
province of what is called th Police Power of the
State. To test the validity of this and vision, the e 9 s ■
was carried to the Supreme f ourt of the Lnited
States, and in the winter of 1*47, in c nnection
with -imilar cases from Rhode Island and New
Hampshire, was fully argued befor- that body. Ihe
liquor int*U"‘t was supported by no less eminent
counsel titan the great Daniel Webster and the
jDctotrt to (temperance, literature, Central Intelligence, anti Ik latest slctos.
learned Rufus Choate; but the cause of n. oil .
justice and humanity, achieved a mo t signal tri
umph. The court decided anan.'mo •/.. .\ .. the
■''Me Jitttl the right to prohibit tht traffic. Chut
Justice Taney held the following language : “If nm
State deems the lctui! and internal tiatUv in ardei.t
spirits injurious to its citizens, and calculated to
produce idleness, vice or debauchery, 1 s* e no
thing in the Constitution of the United States to
prevent it from regulating or restraining the traffic,
or from prohibiting it . get hr rif it thinks proj <-r.”
Justice Catron said: “If the State has the po.vo:
of restraint by licenses, to any extent, she has the
discretionary power to judge of its limits, and mat
go to the length of prohibiting sale - atiuyt tht r.”
Justice Greer said: “It is not necessary to array
the appalling statistics of misery, pan., t i.-tn am
crime which have their origin in the use and alms
of ardent spirits. The police power, which is ix
clusivcly in the State, is alone coMern:, . to *.*)•
rectum oj these great (til*: and till mots it res
straint or prohibition ■ eecssary to tffi.ct (hot pur
pose are within the scope of that authority Such
was tiie decision and such the strong and emphntu
language of the com t establishing beyond contro
versy these two important points: First, that tie
most stringent prohibitory law is not in conflict w ith
the constitution of the llnitid States. Scondl*,
that the enactment of such a law, and its enforce
ment, are within the scope of the powe rs belonging
to the State. The ablest lawyers and most distin
guished jurist-) and statesmen have, either in a pri
vate or official capacity, given their testimony in fa
vor of the soundness and eondusivene.ss of the
views held by the Supreme Court. In addition, nine
States of tile Union, during the last four years, have
passed prohibitory statutes which have been sustain
ed by tlie courts and are, at this time, in successful
operation. In some two or three instances, these
laws have been adjudged unconstitutional, from the
fact that they were passed subject to ratification by
the people, and this condition of submission to tin
popular vote was held to invalidate them. Bat the
principle of prohibition—the right of the State,
through its Legislature, to forbid and jaroish the
Traffic in ardent spirits, has never been called, in
question; but, on the contrary, ns previously stated,
has been distinctly recognized and positively affirm
ed by both the Federal and State Courts and by all
civilians and jurists of acknowledged ability and rep
utation, whose opinions have been expressed. We
shall, therefore, regard the question of right as con
clusively and authoritatively se tiled, and proceed to
show that the abolition of the Liquor Traffic is a duty
which the State owes first to itself, and secondly to
the people. In consideration of the fact that oppo
sition to prohibition has been predicated chiefly
upon the erroneous assumption that legislation upon
moral questions docs not lie within the province of
civil government, we shall devote the more atten
tion to the first part of this proposition, w hich assumes
the contrary doctrine, that without such legislation
government cannot appropriately discharge its
high mission nor successfully fulfill the design of it
crea tiori.
Government exists, according to Mr. Calhoun,
from the fact that it originates in the constitution of
man’s nature, and is “necessary for Ids preservation
and well being.” In order to accomplish the design
of its institution, and secure the liappiin -s of its I
citizens or subjects, it is evident that permanence ot
duration must enter as an essential dement into it*
organization*. To insure stability, it is equally man
fest that every political organi -in unit have (In- pow
er of self-protection. This power of self-protlion
or principle of self-preservation which belongs to ah
political institutions, demands of yovorimiriit the ah
rogation of every tangible evil at war with its per
petuity, and the suppn s.-Jon, by it* own strong arm,
of every visible and embodied agaicy which fust rs.
influences and engenders consequences that an
known to be adv- isi to its stability and to Uneaten
its overthrow. If then the tr.ilii ■: in aid nt spirit
ran he shown to b* an agency ofthiseh u acn r, it Ibi
lows as an inevitable conclusion fiotn ad it led pre
mises that its abolition by legal enactment In come*
tlie imperious duty of the Jaw-making power. To
establish the fact that such is tin- nature and tui
dency of the Traffic, and to demonstrate beyond ail
cavil the necessity under republican gnvci run nt ol
legislation upon moral questions, we lu g h ave, : t
the risk of being some-’ hat tedious, to call your in
tention to a few general principles and aximnali,
i truths which show the relations subsisting between
such qu-st ions and the civ. l authority.
We might assume as a postulate that the tabi’ity
j of every form of free govi rnment depends upon the
virtue arid morality of its citi/ ns or subjects Lei
I it be understood that by frr e government, we do net
i mean freedom fi otn government or the absence of all
j controlling power. Government withet.t l-w i* a
[solecism, and law ncee-s-arby itnplic.-. r .oral rest-a-nt.
It needs no argument to prove that a vicious and
corrupt people arc Incapable of sub is-lon to this
restraint. Vice tend-naturally and inevit ibly to in
subordination. Iri the 1 ugurige nf ll eloquent and
I philosophic I'nrkc: “Men are qualified for civil lib
erty in exa t proportion to their disposition to put
moral chains upon their own appetites. Society
cannot exist unless a controlling power upon wi’l
and appi tite be placed .-omewbere, and the !■.-< of it.
there is within, the more there must h- without. It
is ordained in the ete ; nal constitution of things that
men of intern; - rate minds cannot b- free. Their
passions forge their fetters.” Milton, the sea
champion of the ii/bis of rn-in, and tlm un-ioi .k
----ing advocate of civil and r “Jigious freedom rn.d the
. storms of revolution, i a- pr icla.un.d tl.e came great,
i, truth in his immortal epic,
nmm liwiummiv, jh so, m
“l'rue Liberty
Always with right reason dwells
1 u inn and, and from her hath no dividual being.
Reason in man obscured, or not obeyed,
Immediately inordinate desires
Vmi updart passion.- cateli the gov* rnment
From ii .Hsmi, and to servitudu reduce
Man, till then fret .”
According to Mr. Locke, and in the language of
Daniel V clistcr, “libe r, is the creature of law,” ami
it is evident that law finds its support, as well as
<ni:: ; ii, in the in Vstruetihle and eternal principles ot
virtue and morality. If tin.sc the foundations or
dained of tin!- -be removed, there can he no Lew, no
< i vcrninent, i.i Freedom. Tiuso views, which are
pr cdii- .hlc of all rational governments, ,*uv emphati
cally and pre-eminently tin- with reference to our
systems of civil polity. In popular forms of govern
ment like ours, where the eh-’ tivi franchise is IV, o to
all, the representatives of the people, to whom is del
egated the authority to make and administer tin
laws, mu t par-fake to a large extent ot the ehai-ueter
nl their coiisi ituents. If the people are w ise and
moral, able and ( i.thful repn-sentatives will enact
!!■“<*>l and salutary laws, and ihc gove: anient well ad
ministered will Ik- permanent and stable. If on the
other hand the people arc corrupt and depraved, self
|V h end unprincipled representatives will enact unjust
and oppressive laws, and the iii.-iladniiiiistiatioii of
th-- government thus ensuing, will result in its over
torow, and the estaHishmenf of despotism with its
iron fetters, or anarchy with its untold horrors. Ii
sl, ch are the deploiabh and necessary fi nits of pub
lic immorality, who will say t- at. the duty of stlf
preservation does not requueof governnieiit the sup
pression nf every agency that debases the Virtue and
degrades the morals of the people? And who gifted
with the common faculties of observation and reflec
tion, will contend that the traffic in spirituous liquors
is not demoralizing in its tendencies, and corrupting
in its influence? It cannot ho denied that (lie pre
sent license system, conferring as it docs the sanction
of law upon the sale and use of ardent spirits, popu
larizes the vice of drunkenness, and thus betrays our
fellow-citizens into habits of the vilest intemperance
and grossest immorality; for it is certain that, in
general, the vice is not contracted nor these habits
formed at home and amid the sacred influences of
the family circle. It is a well known fact, that in
most cases not even the confirmed ,inebriate will
make the intoxicating howl “the sepulchre of his
reason in the rebuking presence of the loved ones
of the fireside. No, it is not at home, it is at those
places of legalised traffic in liquid poison, at the t,ip
plin? shops of the land, where gather the slaves ol
appetite, where the voice of conscience is smoothed
and the whisperings of duty arc hushed, it is here
that our follow-countrymen tempted, seduced, be
trayed, corrupted, grow forgetful of their obligations
to their families, their country, and to God, and be
come the willing but blinded victims of a vice which
is the prolific parent ol every species of immorality
and crime. Yes, it is to the bur-sanctioned, traffic
in ardent spirits that we are mainly indebted for the
alarming prevalence of the monster vice intemper
ance and its long, dark catalogue of attendant evils.
It elects, under the protection of the civil authori
ties, its dens of iniquity in alui -st every village, city
and neighborhood, and from each of these fountains
of corruption flows a stream more blighting and
withering in its effects upon the virtue, uioralitv,
and r eligion of the country, than Lina's floods of
n -ilti n lava upon the v-g< lation of its vine-covi red
-dupes, tan government he clothed with the high
prerogative of M-lf-prot* ction and look with indiffer
ence and unconcern upon such wide spread moral
desolation, when its only hope of preservation rests
upon tin- virtue of the propli? fan the Republic
be, expected to withstand the- storms to which it will
inevitably be exposed, wlnu ari agency so active
and agi.-ri s-ivc is permitted to exercise* its baneful
■ ami deli norating influence upon (ho public morale?
I Will the State cherish the fa'-a- idea of .-’ enrily arid
j inn- the d< ‘usivc phantom to her breast, while nnre
ipr sstd in hoc very mid-tarea thousand overflowing
j I -mlMiit.of vie'-, innp.it van I crime - -idin * forth a
{stream of profligacy that threaten-- to undermine the
l uniiJaUon of the political f/ibrie? In vain havi
the w is*; and good, the eloquent and trifled, essayed
to stop the desolatihg tide. The whelming torrent
sweeps over tin-barriurs of moral suasion and assn
i oiled effort, and I*m ii*■onin in and. vn-Uat'ii'.’ course
| with accelerated speed aid ificriasi.-d momentum.
I Shull tin* flu*. I of fire continue to roll its liumin,-
a-. over tin land, * ■ -at hintr arid consuming nil that
for sit'd < xccllcnl alike in piospect and posses
sion? Shall its channel vv iden and deepen, and its
lament grow stronger aid troii.n r, until i: shall ga
ther lui sufficient to de troy o-ir instil utions and
swi op a way out liberties forever? Mur -ly American
government - annot Ik S'* re'-roarit to dutj'--M) fa I e*
to it - i.-xalted mi.--ton . • to t iru a (leaf ear to tli>-
notes of warning which are resounding from Maine
i*i t k;lifortiia. I'ati imte sentim-ls upon the watch
; tower of lib-rs v have expied the daoger an*! given
Hie akirm. Everywhere are limy calling upon gov
. title ot t*i itd.i-rpos** the *tg arm of tier law, arid
r- *i<: from Utreaten- and ruin and overthrow the in
-tituli'Uei and liberties of tint people. IF riven grant
that the wanting voice may be heard arid speedily
obeyed hy even- Hint* in the Ameri an ("onfedera-.-y.
Heaven grant that tie |i->d-liitors of our own bc
<e,i-d Ih -i i/ia, ■ ‘-.din.- tie r.dreonitiotn of the Fa
l ther of his Country and of bis immortal compatri
ots, to preserve uncoirttpted tin moral* us the peir
-Ic, rnny refuse longer to throw th’ prole -ting a gi
f’ the civil power over th* deuie ralizin r arid crime
enz'-nderiiig Traffic inarii nt [drits, and place it
: iiW.ceforth under the ban of law, as destructive of
the virtue and happiness of the people, am! inimical
to the* perpetuity and best interests of the* Slate.
Think not, fellow-citizens, that we are discussing
anew tangled theory of government, or advocating
principles hitherto unrecognised in our legislation.
All who are conversant with the* early history and
laws of the country must acknowledge that the
preservation of the morals of the people, has ever
been regarded by American legislators as one e*f the
prime ends of government Statutes for “the pre
vention of vice and immorality” have been in force
in Georgia from the dale of the formation of the con
stitution, and none need be told that in almost every
State in the l nion are laws forbidding and punish
ing blasphemy, profanity, lewdness, obscenity. Sab
bath breaking, gambling, lottery-dealing and other
immoral practices and trades. The wisdom and tie
ee-sity of such legislation are amply vindicated in
the recognition of the principles which we have set
forth in this discussion ns constituting tin founda
tion ol all sound law, good order, and stable- gov
ernment, and which enjoin upon the civil power, ns
a sacred and imperative duty, tke protection and
guardianship of the public morals’ Rut the abo
lition of the Liquor Traffic as a duty to the State, is
demanded hy additional considerations of no trifling
importance. Education is the cheap ami stirp de
fence of nations. A wise public policy, if it does
ii"t ns tho ('‘institution of (icorgia directs, promote
the arts and sciences and foster seminaries of learn
rig hy din ct legislation, will certainly seek to re
move all obstacles to a free diffusion of knowledge
and the enlightenment of the people.
Parental thrift and example aro essential to tho
education of the young. Intemperance destroys
the one and corrupts the other. Poverty, if not tit
ter destitution, is the drunkard’s legacy to his ofT
spring. Oftener than other wise his children art
trained in no school but that of vice, and taught to
lisp no alphabet but that of profligacy and crime.
Uncultivated in mind and depraved in habit, they
grow up to manhood totally unfit for the duties and
responsibilities ofeilizenship. Thus does tho Liquor
Traffic by its known effects and admitted tendencies,
keep a large portion of our people in hopeless igno
rance, despite the efforts of the philanthropist and
patriot to the contrary. Hence tho anomalous fact
disclosed by the last census, that in Georgia, the
Empire State of the South, a State abounding in
schools and colleges and all the facilities of educa
tion, there are forty thousand adults of the free
white population that are unable to read and write!
We, therefore, declare the Liquor Traffic an iiiMipara
ble obstacle to the education of tho masses, and as
republican government can only be maintained hy
an enlightened ns well as virtuous people, we de
mand the abolition of this Traffic as a duty to the
State.
Rut vve have yet another argument to urge in this
connection, for the suppression of the sale of ardent
spirits. It is universally conceded that to insure the
success and permanency of representative govern
ment, tin- elective fianchiso must ho well guarded
ami the people’s will through the ballot box fully
and fairly expre Red. It requires no prophetic vis
ion to foresee that if this inestimable privilege of fice
incn- the distinctive feature and crowning glory ol
Republics—is subjected to continued abuse, ar.d the
popular suffrage prostituted to the accomplishment
* fother purposes tlnm the country’s good, the ven
end for w hich our political institutions were created
will be defeated, and tlie gnat experiment of self
government terminate in disaster and min. Our le
gislators cannot estunate too highly, nor protect 100
carefully, this palladium of our liberties, this safe
guard of our freedom. No one will deny that the
Liquor Traffic exercises a corrupting inlluen e upon
our elections both State and Federal, and t*i such an
extent rs to excite the just indignation of every vir
tuous citizen and awaken the fears of ov ,ry true pa
triot. Its i-flcets are seen in the elev.it*> :> (too fee
qucntly witnessed) of men to place and power, who
are utterly unfit to fill public stations or execute civil
trust:-:. Tim liquor-vender arid his patrons, whose
name, alas, is Legion f always bestow their votes
upon the designing demagogues, that pander to their
depraved passions and unhallowed appetites without
r egard to the legislator’s oath ; and in a county or
Slate, when the latter portion of society is divided
in sentiment, these votes control the elections to the
exclusion from office of that class who are alone fit
to b the rulers of a free people men of unblemish
ed morals, tried integrity arid known capacity. These
lire n -itl.i r fanciful conjectures nor idle statements,
but stern, incontrovertible facts -facts ho apparent
i and familiar that “he who runs may lead.” Omin
ous of evil they demand the attention of the patriot,
* and call for reform from the legislator. Thesupres
! sioit of tlio Halo of anient spirits is indispensable to
! litis iLlbrin, and i the only tin tuix of pr* ./ r ving tho
purity of the elective franchise, i demanded as a du*
| tv t-i the State.
‘l'lu* importance, fellow-citizens, of the preceding
• lyinnotii • cannot he exaggerat'd, when we reman*
h-r that we have received from our fathers, in trust
for posterity, the purest and best institutions the
.ad ha ev< r M en. 1 licit transmission intact and
:un rnpaited to coming generations is the fondest us-
J jurat ion of the patriot, arid an object worthy of the
jealous care and unsleeping vigilance of the Htatcr
rnan. Rut self-preservation is not the only nor most
important duty of civil government. All political
institutions exist professedly utcircs felieiter want.
The primary object- the chi< f end of government, is
to preserve and protect society. If the State, as a
few political theorists hold, may not be positively
beneficent in its laws, nor engage, as it has ever
sought to do, directly and actively in securing the
i highest poosible good, yet it can never consistently
S .TAMES T. BLAIN,
| I’KIMEH.
VOL. XXL--IMIR 26.
iguoro tho obligation to reform abuses, r. dress griev
ances, prevent injuries, and in a word, to repress
to tho extent of its powers all existing evils
whether affecting individuals or society. In necord
anco with these views of the civil power, we a-*k for
‘be suppression of tlie trade in alcoholic drinks as a
duty to the people. That the effects of the Liquor
Traffic aro evil, and only evil, and that continually,
will not be questioned, ft is a nuisance to individ
uals, to families and to society. It encourages, stim
ulates and produces innumerable vices, multiplies
paupers, maniacs and criminals, increa-es taxes de
stroys property, endangers life and ruins the bodies,
winds and souls ot countless thousands. It is con
fessedly the great curse of our land. Its blight is
upon every household- its shadow upon every heart.
It has not a single redeeming quality. It worksevil
to all, and does good to none. A cry, earnest and
long continued, ascends from suffering men, women
and children, calling upon the State to avenge their
wrongs and deliver tho country from this dreadful
.scourge. Shall government, formed to defend and
protect its citizens, turn a deaf ear to this imploring
voice? Shull the State, the acknowledged guardian
ol the interests of society and of the happiness of the
people, take no cognizance of the collosal i vilofmod
ern times—an evil more destructive in its ravages and
desolating in its i ff. els than war, pestilence and ;ain
ino combined? Shull tho legislature, whose un
questioned office is, to remove all obstacles to social
progress and individual advancement, not only look
with stolid indifference upon the fearful havoc, but
even be guilty of so great an outrage upon the prin
eiples of justice and right, ns. U\foster and protect hy
law th* dire agent of such wide spread ruin? Shall
public officers, the servants of tho people, when pe
titioned by suffering thousands to redress their
wrong by the abolition of a vicious and Immoral traf
fic, be permitted with impunity and without rebuke
to manifest such wanton disregard of dutt , dignity
ami self-respect as to treat tho modest memorial of
freemen with neglect, contumely and scorn? Forbid
it, our countrymen! Forbid it, Georgians! Arise,
fellow-citizens, in the majesty of freemen, and vin
dicate your rights at the ballot-box. Lot the Oclo
l'Vr elections proclaim to tho dismay of demagogues
your recognition and adoption of the sentiment that
drunkards and tho patrons and defenders of tl o
drunkard-maker arc unfit to be the legislators of a
free people.
‘l’he foregoing expositions of the right and duty of
the Legislature to prohibit the sale of intoxicating
drinks, might bo confirmed by additional arguments;
but since the limits of this address forbid their pre
sentation, and the views advanced are in tho estima
tion of the committee .sufficiently clear and convinc
ing, wo shrill proceed to answer briefly a few of the
most prominent objections which have been urged
against prohibitory legislation. Many who admit
and professedly deplore tho evils of the liquor traffic,
contend that law has no moral and regenerating
force, that men cannot Ire coerced into temperance
and morality,” and hence that “moral suasion is the
only proper and efficient remedy.” This objection,
if val <J, would provo tho inutility and insufficiency
of tlm entire penal code. It is has**] upon a misap
prehension of the nature and objects of prohibitory
legislation. Penal statutes are not designed primari
ly to reform criminals, but to restrain and prevent
crimes. They arc intended to protect society against
• hat. class of persons upon whom “moral sua i<*u” has
no influence, and who need something more tangible
than a sense of duty to deter them from the cominis
ion of evil. Hence, law, taking cognizance of acts
only, provides penalties nut toienew the dispositions
md affections of men, but to restrain them from the
perpetration of injury to others. Prohibitory legis
lation, therefore, does not seek “to co* rce mm into
temperance and morality,” Imt to deprive tin drunk
ard inak’ r of tiie power to seduce, corrupt, and r uin
bis fellow men. That “law,” however, “has no mo
ral force,” is a false and mischievous idea. It is not
only “a terror to evil doers,” but “tire praise of them
that do wcll”-—“a minister of God for good.” Its
mission is to teach as well as to restrain. “Com
manding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong,”
it is a school in which the people are educated in
tlie purest morality. All acknowledge the force of
public opinion—all see and feel its influence upon
the individual mind and conscience. Law is the embod
iment of public opinion, and ns “the State’s collected
will” “sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill.”
Such is the reciprocal influence of the statutes and
morals of a people, that in every a g t . and nation tho
one is an umi ring index of the other. We must be
permitted in this connection to quoto tho words of
one of tlie greatest of American statesmen—words
which deserve to b< written in letters of light in ev
ery legislative hall in the Union:
“1 have some times thought,” says Mr. Webster,
“that tlie influence “f government on th** morals and
on the religious foldings of the community is apt to
bo overlooked or underrated. I speak, of course, of
its indirect influence, of the power of itsexam t *le,
and the general tone which it inspires. A popular
government is in all those respects a powerful insti
tution; more powerful, as it has some times appear
cd to me, than th* influence of most other human
institutions put together, either for good or evil, ac
cording to its character. Its examples, its tone,
whether of regard or disregard fur moral obliga
tion, is most important to human happiness. It is
among those things, which most affect the political
morals of mankind, and their general morals also.”
The advocates of Prohibition are not to to be re
garded as the enemies of moral suasion. They ac
knowledge with pride and pleasure the triumphs it
has won —the wonders it has accomplished—and
still look to it as an invaluable agency in the great