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Letters From Michigan: Number VIII

Letters From Michigan: Number VIII image
Parent Issue
Day
18
Month
March
Year
1844
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

I parpose to give you some account oí tbe State of the Temperauce cause jn.this regio; and I knott not a betler way of transmitting a true impression to you, tlinn by a detail of thé facts, opiüionp, arguments, and plans I meet with from day to day. A very considerable portion of our popuiation are emigrante trom fbreiijn countries; and it is custoonary among them to use intoxicating drinks very freely. A large part of the alchohoHc drinks oonsumed among us are used by foregn emigrants. Some dirainution has taken place among the Irish, a part of wliotn have taken the pledge. but still the decrease is tcarcely perceptible. It is probably true that thosc persons vvho use inloxicaiing drinks at ni!, visé them now more freely than thcy would if the trmperance cause vere not in exi8tence. They associate more exclusive!}7 with their own drinking class, and are Jess under tTie influence of the strictly températe part Of commumty. Henee new beginners are confirmed ín intérnperance in a short pe riod. It is worthy of nofe, also, that the cause is fiuccessful chiefly in the middhng clsss of 60ciety, its influence Tiiininisliing as it approaches each extreme. The groceries are stil) thronged with customers, eager for their allowance of Hquid poison, while the amount sold at the bars of the public houees isgreatly diminished. The pioprietor of the best public house in one of' our large' villages, reeen tJy assured me that the sales from his bar formerly averaged fifteen dollars a day, while at present they did not exceed one dollar a day. He remarked further, thal, so far at? he had observed, the groceries were as much frequented as ever, and the change in the hab jts of comtnunily had taken place in the repectabie portion of it.liut 1 am sorry to say, that the higbest class - the aristocracy - those who consider themselves the standard of excellence in all that is poüshed, refined, and genteel - are not generally practical Temperance men. A large portion of the polilical leaders of both parties use intoxicaiing drinks, and provide them for others; and not a few of our most eminent legislators and public men have been known to get genteelly drunk. But it does not injure their political propects in the least, provided it be only occasionally, and be done in good etyle. Here and there a conscientioue minister or deacon will cut his name from the tirkef, but the mass of our church members go for their pnrty, and "ask no questions for conscience' sake." The practical influence of th3 lawyers, as a body, so far as I am acquainted, is decidedly adverse to the Temperance cause. In its progress through the West. ihe same phases have been noticed in the enterprise, which have marked its onward course in other places. Firsi came the pledge to abstain from ardent spirite. This being fotred insufficient, the total abstinence plan was subsütuted, and public sentiment began to iook serionsly'towards the suppression of the drunkwrd manofactories by law, Then came the Waihingtonian excitement. It had its effecteIjore as vveJl as elsewhere, and has passed . . away. I:s beneficia) influences have been $een in the reformation of many inebriates, wJio would not probably have been reached by the means previously in use. But it has ■ liad lts ovil eflects also. AU its opernüons _j were bascij upon the principie of eflecting man's reformatiou by tJic truih in love" - a principio vvhich is tlic most polent of any that can reach the Jiun.an mind, nnd which is éxpressly recommended by Diviné Revelaron. But it remains vel to be proved by experience, that the truth, however foreibly epoken or kindly preaentcd will bc efïec. tual for the reformation of all the vicieus or theevil. Vet some of the Wasliintrtoniafi , lecturers, in their ardor, did not iiesitatc to arow tije sentiment, that the enlire Temperance reform might be consummated tlirougliout our ]nnd by an appeal to conscience alone. The prevalence of thig senlitnent, or a time, paraJized all atiempts to appoal to leglslation! and now at the end of four years, lijeperaDce people of Michigan find tbernselves obliged to invoke the aid of Legislation for the removol of an evil which has withstood all other influences. The necessity of Legislativo Action was fully disöussed at the recent Anniversary at Adrián, and a few brief notes of the proceed - ings may not be without interest. The opening uddress of Judge Dexter, ! Presioent of the Society, abounded jn good thoughts, which wcre forcibly expressed. In referenceto thepropiiely of our action on thisi subject, he afiirmed that the great business of man is to promote the happiness of raan in every possible way. Every other kind of reputation will ultimately be crased from the memory of man and no monument will be percnniul but that of the philanlhrópisl. Each man has an influence over his fellow, wliicb ] may be exeited for good or for evil; and this influence is :nore widely diöhsed as civiliza - tion and refinement advance. The good or the evjl which may bo acconiplished by aeingle individual are beyoud computation. No man can even imagine theheight of moral ex:ellenco lo which humanüy may arrive, j her can zny onn fathom thedeplh of that per-1 Ji ujiLijciJi ti:iu auiui uu;i iiuauuij tu wuiuu II tilo] sink. The Juago ijaen truced the progress Oí the Temperance cause from the íormation ol the fi.'st Temperance Societj', which was organized inhis fatlier's house, and of which bis father was President, to the Washingtonian movement. It was woriiiy of retnark that the Temperance cause, in common with all otlier benevolent cntoprizes, lias moved forward not wuj'oi'vüy, bm perodically, and every new impulse has been preceded by a state of comparative quioscence. Exerlioii has commenced when the cause was at its lowest ebb. Especially wás Ihis truc imraediately previous to the Washingtonian effort. It was scarce'y to be expectej that such mighty results would come from such a source. That movement has had its course, and hos accomplished reuch permanent good . And now what further remains to be done? - If; tlie oíd measures are to he pursued, let us urge them with renewed zeal. If new steps are tobe taken, Jet us take them wilh confidence and resolution. Virtue surely ought to be characíerized by tlie rnost steadfast confidence, and yet its advocates are geserally rather diffident than forward. Vice, on the contrary, is bold and Confident, butitisa boldness derived, in a great measure, from the weakness of íts opponenís.There were formidable obstacles in the: way of this reform; and prominent nmong these were the love of intoxicating diinks, and the love of gain. On the other side, we have the appjobation of the Almio-hty, and of the better portion of community; and these two principies, in every age, have exerted a powerful infl'ience on human conduct. There is scarcely a man wbo can divest himself of the love of the apptobaiionof hia fellosvs. When he is lost to all respect for the opinión of the better portion of society, he still had nis nightly associutesm profligacy , whose opinions exerted a powerful control over him. Might not this principie be applied for the further advancement of the Temperance cause? The Judge then spoke of the character of the Rumseller - of the blackness of liis designs, and of the deplorable result of his business. All these things have been proclaimed b'y Temperance lecture?, discussed in Tenperance meeting?, and published in Temperance papers. But do we act consistently with these views? Do we treat the Rumseller as the minister of Satan, as we profess to regard him? Or do we not rather take him by the hand, receive nim mto the beet circles, treat him as an intímate fnend, and admit him to particípate with virtuous society in all its amusements and eocial pleasures1? Was there not a striking inconsistency in this course? - It was seen and feit by the R.umseller. He stens to the remarks at our Temperance meetings, and next morning he meets you with a smile and eáys, 'You did not mean whatyou said! You do not think of me asbad as yon speak!" The .Tudge sai d t hut in his opinión the time had come, when this class, who prey on community, should be made to feel the weight of public opinión. They should be convinced we were in earnest. They should be met in the street, in social life, in every 6tep, with looks of condemnation ond censure. There should be two parties in the community, and the lines between those who would injure and destroy, and those who woujd preserve and tnake happy, should be strictly drawn. In this way the social power might be rendeied very effectual in advancing the hiohest inlerests of the cause. In the evening, the large Methodist church was filled, and ihe question of political action carne up on the third reaolulion, which read thus: Resolved, That the means now in use for achieving the Temperance reform by moral suasion, are nsufficiept of themselves to accomplish the object; .and further legislative action is an indispensable prerequisite to its final triumph. Mr. Gardiner, Editor of the Michigan Argus, and President of ihe Washtenaw Washingtonian Society, spoke in favor of its adoption. Ile hoped it would pass unanimously. He thought the question whether any licences should be gi&nted ought to be left to the1 cision of thé legal voters aj cach town meet1 ing. ThisWouldbë orify giving back to the people what had been committed to ílie legislatura. Witli n portion of the Rumsellerp, ' moral sutision was fonnd to be powerless, and ' thersforu, if the traffic was 6uppres6ed at all, it must be by sume fnrlher legislative actioiu Mr. McCoxluai, of Ann Arbor, was decidedlyin favor of having the wliole question submitted to the people, to be decided by a majority. The pocïcels os vvell os the moráis and happiness of our citizens were deeply in;ercstccl in this questiqn. A heavy tox was raised every year from tbe sober porlion of community to pay the expenses of the paitperism and crime produced by the khIcs of a few rumeellers. He thoygJit the people otight to have the privilege of snying whether they were or were not willing to pay this tax. Mr. Tow.v.SKNn, Ediior of the Michigan Expositor, concurred with oihers as to tlieeviis of inlemperance: but whclher this was a wise step towards their diminution, he doubted. - He thought gentlemen had better delibérate. It had been said the matter ought to be referred to the people. It occurred to hira that it was aiready under their jurisdictiori. he law committèd it to the six members of the Township Board, and if the people did not wish Iicence8 granted, they could put members on that Board who were of the same opinión. Yel mnny benefils vould ree uit from its discusston at the tovvn meetings, and on tle whole, though he doubted the policy of the couree proposed, he should go for the resolution.Mr. i - thought the proposed plan would be jiighly beneficia! on one accóimí. - In consequence of the free use of intoxicaUng drinks at our caucúses and elections, many of our bese citizens slrayed away from those aseemblies: wbereas if they could aci for the removal of íhis great nuisance, it would secure their strict attendance. Rev. Loring Grant, of Calhoun Coimty, spoke to this resolntiori at considerable length, and with mucfa nbilitf. He leviewed ibeaction of temperarteO men, and showed tbat they !iad done - not indeed a'I tliey could - but tlieyhad accomplisíied vvhrat they had tned to do, and the act ion of the Legislature seemed to be necessary . It had been soid that the Town Board might refuse licences. So they might, but in most cases th ey would not. The rnembers of that Board are not elected on Temperance grounda, but on those of a very different charactor. Nor was it desirable to establish a Temperance politica] party. We had parties enough already. But the members of that Board were in reálity elected at the primary cavcus of the dominant political party, and of course would act in all respects os party men. But this plan proposed, to let e very freeman vote eccording to his party predilections, and afterwards array them ; on this subject, thus lotally disconnected from party politics. In this wny, üie actual decisión, not of the dominant party, but of the people of the whole town could be obtained. As to asking the Legislature for such a law, he had no great ecruples about it. He did not consider them an unapproachable body. They were only our servante, and he thought it proper lo teil our scrvnnts respectfuïïy what. we wislied. We had told them Tespectfully on some occasions, and sometinres they had answered us with respect, and sometimes not respectfuïïy, and sometimes not at a1!. But he hoped,, 6hould this be agreed upon, the Legislature would be asked, year after year, till the object should be attained. He had, indeed, hoped for sosnething more efficiënt, but on the whole, the measure might be the best that could bedeyised. It was free from the objection of coerción, which might be raised og-ainst a general prohibitory low. Wheieas nothing could be more Democratie than to let the whole people decide. Mr. suatained the resolution, and coincided with Mr. Gardiner. There must ultimately be a 6truggle on this subjfict, and the issue he wished was precisely the one brought to view in this disenssion - an issue in which mind would come in conflict with mind, and thus would politics be rescucd from the hands of those wh'o wished the people to vote on the trifling distinctions between tweedum and tweedledee.Mr. approved the proprosed nction, but in this discqssion he thought moral suasion was undervalued. This asking the Legislature to act was in Uself moral suasion. - He wÍ6hed for the legal sanction of the traffic to be taken away. Mr. A. J. Comstock, of Adrián, wislied for no change in the law. The power of granting or withholding licenses had already been delegated to the people, and all they need do was to elect rnembers of the Tuwn Boards whe would cárry out their wishes.

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Subjects
Old News
Signal of Liberty