The curse of rum; or, The invincible crusade against intoxicating drink

Front matter

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

j

OR

Preface

The object of the author iu the following work is to deal fahiy with the subject, discussing the cause of more vice, more crime, more misery than all the combined powers of war, pestilence and famine. We have endeavored, in our work, to record facts as they have occurred under our own observations, from statistical reports, and records of criminal courts. Without regard to sect or creed, or hobbies of political parties, we have undertaken to compile a work composed of unmistakable facts which cannot be disputed by all the powers of corruption combined. The subject is one of vital importance, one upon which hangs the destiny of the whole world. We have set forth nothing but stubborn facts, thus placing before our readers a work much needed, showing the enormous traffic in intoxicating drink, and the misery, crime and expense arising from its effects.* We have discussed the matter with fairness, taking now and then confessions from condemned criminals, showing what brought them to prison and the gallows. We leave it with the reader to read and reflect.

* "Name the most dangerous straits," said the teacher. "Whiskey straights," replied the student, promptly.

STATUE OF LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD.

" Witness, I believe you said yon wore a saloon-keeper?" " Yes, sir." "Do you know the prisoner at the bar?" "Well, that depends. When he has money about 'ini, I do; but when he wants me to put it on the slate, J don't "

Let us practice what we teach; or take down the Statue of Liberty that reflects its dazzling light over the four cities that aie deluged with rum.

p&ft&U*

STATUE OF LICENSE DARKENING THE WORLD.

"License is not liberty, nor is liberty license: but one in direct opposition to the other. Liberty brings peace, prosperity, contentment, happiness, freedom and light. License is the mother of many evils; the parent of poverty, prostitution, darkness and crime. The great question of the present day is, which shall rule — liberty and light, or license and crime? One or the other must be driven from the country. Winch shall it be? There must be no compromise, no high license. Government should not, for revenue, mortgage the health and morals of the people; neither should it become partner in a business that is the chief corner-stone and foundation of universal crime. Give us light nadpeace."

Introduction

In introducing our work to our readers, we would respectfully say that we shall be as brief as possible, setting forth nothing but facts, as they have occurred in our own times, and many of them within the memory of the reader : we shall not weave any sensational or imaginary fancies, to draw the mind of the reader into a channel of bigotry or prejudice ; hoping these lines may not find them already in that narrow, contracted channel of views that often holds people in check from discussing matters with fairness, politeness and liberality. Equality and fairness are jewels which should deck every brow : principles fl^at should guide all men. Greeting the people of our boasted land of freedom with kind wishes, we will now set forth our declaration, which forms the basis of the following work : "We hereby declare that

HUM AND ITS ALLIES ARE THE BASIS AND PLATFORM OF

universal crime." \Ye shall offer proof of the facts of our case b} T introducing evidence and citing circumstances that have occurred under our own observation ; and many others that are taken from historical facts, from the records of criminal courts, and many from the lips of per-

INTRODUCTION.

petrators of crime, in their confessions, when locked in their prison cells, awaiting the penalty of the law, to expiate their crime on the gallows, A description of a few of the different kinds of alcohol (for nearly all the liquors of commerce are adulterated with the most dangerous alcohols, caused by the increased consumption of alcohols, both as a beverage and in the arts, the demand for such spirits producing their effects promptly, and the great competition in the production of the various alcoholic liquors) is necessary. The following are the principal alcohols found in various liquors : methyl alcohol, propyl alcohol, butyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol and amy! alcohol. Methyl and ethyl alcohol are the least dangerous to health, and they are found in larger proportions in pure wines and good liquors than in the coarser ones. Propyl, butyl and amyl alcohols are found in large proportions in the cheap, coarse liquors. They produce their effects rapidly and produce a more deleterious effect upon the nervous system than the first two. This is the reason that the heavy drinker of the upper class suffers less in proportion from his excesses than the heavy drinker of the lower class. The one of the upper class can afford pure liquors ; the one of the lower class is compelled to buy cheap liquors to satisfy his desires. But, after all, it is only a question of time, for continued and continuous excess in good liquors kills just as certainly as excess in poor ones. Continued excess in the use of the liquors of fifty years ago, killed just as certainly as the liquors of to-day, only it took a longer time to produce its morbid effects.

When sufficient has been taken to be felt, we notice first the flushing of the face and brilliancy of the eyes ; the muscular power is greater and the intelligence more active ; ideas flow readily and anxieties are forgotten ; the future appears full of hope, while the past has lost its sorrows and regrets ; conversation becomes animated and brilliant ; reason is thrown aside, while vanity and rashness assert themselves. Then the natural bent of disposition of the person is usually apparent. The man who is by nature sad becomes melancholy, the irritable man becomes quarrelsome, the generous man lavish and the good-natured man becomes everybody's friend. Sometimes the reverse of this is the case, and we find the sad man becomes gay, the good-natured man becomes cross and the timid man bold. Some self-control still remains, however, and if the person stop drinking now, these phenomena all pass oif in a few hours, most commonly in sleep, but sometimes without it. But if the drinking be continued, the person goes on in the same way, becomes hilarious usually and shortly incoherent ; all control of conversation and action is lost, reason is replaced by delirium and the man becomes a maniac, alike dangerous to himself and others, and liable, upon some sudden impulse, to commit crime. The gait becomes vacillating and staggering ; words cannot be articulated. At length, unable to stand, he sinks to the ground and may become totally unconscious, so that it is impossible to rouse him. Examples of the description given occur every day in our midst.

Drunkenness is induced more rapidly, and with smaller quantities of alcohol, in summer than in winter — in warm than in cold climates. It is a fact, but may not be generally known, that some people become really insane from the consumption of even very small quantities of alcohol. They become furiously maniacal. A case, not long since, occurred in a neighboring county, where a young man was on two separate occasions adjudged insane by the court and committed to an asylum. Both times when he arrived at the asylum he was sane, and manifested no evidence of insanity during his residence there. In this case a small amount of alcohol made him furiously maniacal, so that the first time he nearly killed his sister with a knife, and the second time shot two unoffending passers-by on the street. In others, alcohol will produce convulsions. All persons suffering from nervous diseases and all persons of unsound mind are abnormally susceptible to the action of alcohol. In general paralysis of the insane a propensity to alcoholic excesses is not rarely an early symptom, and they are affected very badly by it. Epileptics are easily affected by alcohol and it usually makes them violent and brings on a convulsion. Alcohol may produce death by its direct narcotic effects. It occurs rarely in drunkards. A number of cases have occurred in children. Murder has been committed in this way and suicide also. It is estimated that from one to two ounces of absolute alcohol, diluted in the form of whiskey or gin will kill a child below the age of ten cr twelve years. Drunkenness is hereditary. Many idiots and imbeciles are born of drunken parents and a large proportion of the criminal class are drunkards and children of drunkards. It tends to produce a direct mental deterioration ; particularly does it dull and finally extinguish the moral sense.

We repeat our declaration : "rum and its allies are the basis and platform of universal crime." Henceforth we shall wage war with the utmost zeal, using every honorable means, against its manufacture and traffic ; declaring it to be a deadly poison, its use being indulged in by the innocent, the youthful and the middle aged, until they acquire an appetite and form habits that eventually lead them into vice, crime, prison and the scaffold. The success of the liquor traffic depends wholly upon debased manhood and wronged womanhood. It holds a mortgage over every cradle, a deed written in blood over every human life, and the devastating sword of drunkenness, poverty and crime over the nation. Shall mothers know this and be silent? Shall fathers understand and be indifferent? Now, these being facts, be it resolved that the conflict is irrepressible and that we shall not lay down our weapons of warfare, viz., our pen, our voice and the ballot, against the manufacture and traffic in strong drink until victory has crowned our efforts and our country is frpe from its blighting curse. We base prohibition on the ground that the liquor traffic is inconsistent with the general good ; that it is in hostility to every interest of nation, state and people ; that it wages deadly and perpetual war upon all these interests ; that it is an intolerable public nuisance ; that it inflicts more mischief and misery upon our nation and the people in general than all other sources of misery combined ; that it is the inevitable cause of all the poverty, pauperism, insanity, crime and premature death ; that it desolates and blasts thousands of homes that would be peaceful, prosperous and happy, were it not for this evil ; that it degrades and brutalizes the people, wastes the wages of labor and unfits men for honest industry and thrift. Hundreds, yes, thousands of workers cast out as waifs upon society who, but for the rum traffic, could and would make for themselves honorable places among men, becoming props and pillars to the state instead of a burden upon it and a grief and disgrace to all with whom they are connected. The liquor traffic is all this and more in its relation to society, while no benefit whatever comes from it to any public or social interest ; and now, if this is true, where is there an intelligent, unbiased man or woman that will maintain that this traffic ought to be established and protected by law, and all the evils growing out of it perpetuated to the end of all time ?

We can never place our signature or give our sanction to a law that licenses man to deal out death and destruction to his fellow-man. In our travels in Europe, Asia, a portion of Africa, Australia and on the American continent, most of our time has been occupied for the last twenty-five years and we have come in contact with people of almost every class, color, nation and description. I have seen with my own eyes the evils that in many instances grew from the seeds of the sowing of the rum-seller and harvested by the rum-drinker. Their harvest in many cases was asylums for the poor and the maniac ; prisons for the convict and for others the scaffold was their portion. Then we solemnly declare that if rum is the basis of crime, we may just as well license theft and murder as to license that which is almost certain to lead to it. Who is there among you, dear readers, who would sanction the licensing of crime of the deepest dye? We venture to say not one of you. Then why should we license men to deal in the diabolical stuff that forms the prop to the midnight prowler, a staff to the arm of the wicked assassin, the support of the thief, the burglar and the highway robber. It brings desolation, destruction and vice in our land, misery and want to the firesides of many a home. Then why, I repeat it, should we grant license to men to sell

"That which makes the strong man weak,

Licensed to lay the wise man low ; Licensed the wife's fond heart to break,

And cause the children's tears to flow.

Licensed to do their neighbor harm,

Licensed to hate and strife; Licensed to nerve the robber's arm,

Licensed to whet the murderer's knife.

Licensed, where peace and quiet dwell,

To bring disease and want and woe ; Licensed to make this world a hell.

And fit man for a hell below."

In furnishing proof of our assertion that rum is the basis of crime, we will at intervals introduce evidence that is unmistakable ; evidence from those who have been participators in crime and are about to expiate their crime on the gallows.

John M. Wilson was hanged at Norristown, Pa., January 13th, 1887, for the murder of Anthony Daly. The following are his own words, which is but an abstract from his address to the public. It was very lengthy and while on the scaffold he delivered the principal parts of it.

Gentlemen of Norristown : Faithful are the words of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. I stand upon the brink of a never-ending eternity in terrible disgrace, and, barring the sympathy of a few Christian people, absolutely friendless in America. There is no need of a new confession. \Yhen delirious with whiskey I struck poor Daly and killed him outright. The fear of death by violence caused me to cover my crime. Having suffered with delirium tremens and the horrors, a combination of facts which, after I came here, had a tendency to advance the theory to my mind that it was possible for me to be guilty of a fearful delusion ; this, coupled with the belief of many that I could not be convicted, caused me to plead not guilty, simply as a safeguard in case of acquittal. I harbor no ill-feeling gainst either the judge or the commonwealth. You must pull against the current of nature. Balls, theatres, dancing parties, drinking liquor, gambling, all that pleases wicked people is offensive to God. I used to love them. I hate them all now. Charity balls are nothing but white aprons for the devil. Almost six years ago I said my last good-bye to my dear old mother, when I left my home with a bible which had been placed in my trunk by her. If I had but heeded her Christian advice I would not have been here. To-day she sits heart-broken and disgraced, full sixty years of age, and weeps bitter tears over her boy's terrible doom. When my strangled body hangs between heaven and earth may all who look upon it imagirie they hear me say : 'This is the work of Rum.' Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?"

A few days before his execution he made a will in which he bequeathed his body to Dr. Drake, the jail physician.

While writing the facts of the above evidence of the power of rum, there occurs to my mind very vividly a verse that I once heard quoted by a tramp printer whom I met in Utica, N.Y. His name was Waterman. He informed me that he at one time had a good situation and held a prominent position on the Louisville Courier- Journal. On this occasion he was in the bar-room of a prominent hotel making gestures for the purpose of entertaining the guests, who, in turn, would buy whiskey for him to keep his steam up, as he termed it. I saw at a glance that he was possessed of great intellect, so I approached him on the subject of temperance. He seemed to regret very much his sad state, and quoted the following lines, which I have never forgotten ;

* 'Wretch that I am, how often have I swore While rum was sold that I would drink no more ; I know the bite, yet to my ruin run, And see the folly which I cannot shun."

Many has been the noble scholar, the statesman, the mechanic ; men of all grades, all professions, that have been ruined by the powerful effects of alcohol. I once knew a man by the name of Simeon Carey in Syracuse, N.Y., one of the best salesmen I have ever met. He would accumulate from three to five hundred dollars from his sales, then would start out on a drunken spree and in three or four weeks the money was spent, his clothes were in the pawn-shop and his family supported by the charity of their friends. At one time he had a book which showed an account with the savings bank with a credit of fifteen hundred dollars. He got on one of his drunken carousals which lasted four months. Every dollar was gone ; his credit was gone. He was sentenced to and served more than one term in the Onondaga Penitentiary for drunkenness and to-day he is a living monument of the total wreck that strong drink will make of men. And this is not an isolated case. His brother, older than himself, was for many years full as bad as u Sim," as he used to be called, but later the brother (Henry) signed the pledge and become a sober man and went West, and has since died.

We might enumerate cases that would run up into the thousands. Space will not permit us to enter into a long list of cases at present, but later on we will introduce cases of thrilling facts that ought to be convincing proof for the most skeptical that we have not set forth our declaration too strong. Think, gentle reader, of the many cases of drunkenness that have come under your own observation, where the fathers and husbands have spent their money for liquor ; look at the poverty and wretchedness, cruelty and suffering it has brought in their homes, where they were once peaceful, quiet and brimful of happiness. There is not a city or town in our whole land that does not have its victims. Every city and town is a looking-glass that reflects its lights and shadows, and we need not go abroad to witness the scenes of destruction, of destitution, of prostitution, of misery and want ; we can look to the east, to the west, to the north and south and we see the seeds of evil, distributed through the distillery, the rum-bottle and the beer-glass, and thousands of rumsellers that are willing to sow the seeds of ruin, regardless of what the harvest may be for the unfortunate drinker. The only excuse of the rumseller is they are not compelled to drink it ; yet they use every influence to urge them on. The most highly polished mirrors are placed behind the decanters, the decanters themselves being highly embellished ; the

2 2 1KTR0D UCTION .

mirror reflects double the brilliancy, but does not expose the poison that is lurking in the sparkling goblet ; the windows are illuminated in a gorgeous manner, and everything that can be done to give the rumhole a glow of beauty to entice the innocent into those dens of vice where the wicked have already congregated and become enamored by its subtle influence that coil around their victims, and, like the serpent with its irresistable charms, holds them in its iron grasp.

In discussing the matter in view of being fair and liberal we choose to speak plainly and wish to be understood that we give to each and every one the privilege of thinking, speaking and writing or discussing the matter under our rules of freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and we shall find no fault ; we will give the matter due consideration, hoping our readers will be as liberal and do the same by us, without letting their passions become aroused to an extraordinary height of anger. Should our readers fly into a rage over the contents of our work, let them lay it aside until they again become cool and remember that truth is more piercing than the dagger, and it is the hit bird that flutters and makes the greatest fuss. Plain truth is what we aim to offer to the people of the world and we challenge the world's scrutiny. We shall offer facts and nothing but stubborn facts. Weigh them well, kind reader, and let your conclusions be drawn with fairness ; unbiased and without bigotry.

THE HOME IN PROSPERITY.

THE HOTEL IX POVERTY.

"I only indulge in a glass of whiskey occasionally, with a friend, on account

of the social enjoyment; I can drink it, or I can let it alone. Of course, I have plenty of cider in my cellar at home. That is too common: everybody drinks cider. It makes a fellow a little shiny, but no harm arises from it."

Dear reader, you may think the same, but the stream grows deeper, it grows broader, the current is accelerated. Remember, you are floating down the stream .

Think of the thousands of once happy homes made desolate by the influence and power of the rum-built shame, where husbands and fathers have squandered their wealth and brought poverty and starvation within their dwelling, making drunkards of themselves and paupers of their families. Then take into consideration the amount of money paid out for drink in the United States during the past year — nearly ten hundred millions of dollars it cost our country for drink, while it cost only one-half of that amount for bread for the same people. Tobacco is closely allied to rum ; as a luxury it is indulged in to an alarming extent, though not near the wickedness grows out of its use.

"We give below in actual figures the cost of liquors and

tobacco for one year in the United States, with the actual

cost of caring for paupers and criminals, saying nothing

of bringing them to justice through the courts.

The liquor debt for one year amounts to $976,000,000. Cost of caring for paupers and criminals, 8800,000,000. The consumption of tobacco, - 8600,000,000.

Sugar and molasses, $155,000,000.

Public education, - . $85,000,000.

Christian commission, $5,500,000.

8081,500,000.

These figures show a cost of six hundred and eightyone millions of dollars more for drink and tobacco and their effects for one year than all the other commodities of e very-day use, for comfort, education and benevolence.

We shall now show the rapid increase of the liquor traffic in the United States. Our figures are correctly taken from the internal revenue reports. In 1865 the revenue from distilled spirits was $18,731,422, and from fermented liquors $3,734,928 ; in 1870, from distilled spirits, $55,606,094, from fermented liquors, $6,319,127 ; in 1880, from distilled spirits, $61,185,509, from fermented liquors, $12,829,803 ; in 1883, on distilled spirits, $74,368,775, from fermented liquors, $16,900,615. An examination of the reports of each of these years will show the correctness of our statements and the above figures will show: 1st, that the use of beer, ale, etc., has not lessened the use of distilled liquors. 2d. That the revenue being made the life blood of the nation, financially, it is the most dangerous element of corruption in political legislation and partisan government. Increase of population from 1860 to 1870, 22.6 per cent. Increase in consumption of liquors during the same decade, 44.55 per cent. Thus showing that during the ten years the ratio of increase in the consumption of liquors was more than double the increase in population. From the next decade, from 1870 to 1880, the increase in populalation was 32.7 per cent., while that in the consumption of liquors was 73.27 per cent., or more than two and onethird times the ratio of increase ia population, Both old parties are arrayed in line of battle with '-Protection" inscribed on their banner, but it is "protection for the liquor traffic."

In the host arrayed against the freedom of humanity you will always find friends and supporters of the saloons, distilleries, breweries, dens of vice and immorality, the gambler, harlot, convict, libertine, some ministers of the gospel, a few christians, so-called temperance people and Satan. The lines are being drawn — purity against corruption, right against wrong.

Reader, which side are you on ?

"Choose you this day whom you will serve."

Prove by your ballot which you desire should be protected, the home or the liquor traffic.

Many is the time I have heard people make the excuse of not feeling well, or their appetite is not good ; that it does them good as an appetizer, or it stimulates their system to action. This may all be true, but let us consult Dr. Schenck's medical work, from which we quote the following: "Indiscreet people frequently rush to whiskey in many diseases. It has absolutely no curative power. It may make people oblivious to the disease while the effect is on, but disease goes on all the same. It inflames every coating and membrane it comes in contact with. It quickens circulation, but at the same time enters into and poisons the blood. It attacks the brain, brutalizes the mind, makes life wretched by its horrid dreams ; far more, it turns peaceful death into a terrible departure. Whiskey never cured any disease, but has endangered thousands. It has its place in nature, but not as a remedy for disease. It is ruinous to trifle with it." It is plain to be seen in every-day life ; in the hotels, saloons and breweries throughout the land ; in the town, city and hamlet, as well in the country at large, that the youth of the land is by its influence led into bad company, forming habits of disrepute, encouraged to acts of violence, led on from one step to another until they become criminals of the deepest dye ; forgetting the entreaties and prayers of a kind mother and the wise counsels of an affectionate father. Young man, in those places habits are formed in an unheeded moment that, like the small acorn growing to the sturdy oak, cannot be uprooted by the powerful blast.

So is the growing appetite of strong drink ; the appetite once acquired cannot be thrown off by your most powerful efforts. Once lost, lost forever ! Its effect is terrible. Stop, young man ; think for just a moment where you stand ; listen to the trembling voice of your neighbor, the old man, Garry Jenks, who, less than one year ago, bid you farewell for the last time, as he left Alton, the home of his lifetime, thinly clad, for his new and last earthly home in the Wayne County Asylum for the poor. All that is said oi him now is, "Poor Garry; gone the way of many a drunkard." "It biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." When once chained within its coils from its poisonous effects there is no retreat. Yes, Garry is gone the way of many a drunkard : foi in less than one year after leaving his old home in the town of Sodus, he died in the poor-house, and now the last remains of a lifelong drunkard sleep in a pauper's grave. I knew a Mr. Miller, but a few years ago proprietor of the largest dry goods store in the village of Clyde, N.Y. Whiskey got the mastery of him. He also became an inmate of the Wayne County poor-house and died a pauper-maniac. There are thousands of cases every year in the United States where men are led on, step by step, through the influence of those who set strong drink before them, until they fill the graves of drunkards, and are buried by the charities of friends or find rest in the Potters' field, buried at the expense of the poor authorities and tax-payers.

Stop, young man, stop and think,

Before you further go; Do not sport upon the brink

Of drunkenness and woe.

Why don't the people rally when they see the burning shame, That, through Rum, is brought upon the Yankee nation ; When they see the fire is kindled, and is bursting into flame, Bringing Ruin, Riot, Death, and Degradation.

Cho. — Let us rally 'round the standard ; run up the starry flag; Yes, we'll crush the dens of vice and human slaughter ; We'll flood the throne of Satan, where he rules in whiskey shops, And quench the fire of Death with pure cold w.iter*

Oh ! do not be discouraged, for the time is near at hand When the people they shall rise to save the nation ; With cold water and the ballot, drive whiskey from the land ; Tis our country's only safety and salvation.

We're coming from the hillside, we're coming from the plain, We're surely coming with our votes and voices ; We can see the Star of Liberty now rising in the East, 'Tis the star in which our nation now rejoices.