Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 June 1881 — Bob Ingersoll on the Evils of Scorpion Sorghum. [ARTICLE]

Bob Ingersoll on the Evils of Scorpion Sorghum.

“I am aware that there in a prejudice against any than engaged hi the manufacture of alcbhol. L believe that from the time it issues from the coiled and poisonous worm in the distillery on til it empties into the hell of death, dishonor and crime, that it demoralises everyone that touches it, from itsdource to where it euds, Ido not believe anybody can contemplatei the subject without becoming prejudiced against the liquor crime. .-All' we have to do, gentlemen, is to think of the wrecks on either banks of the stream of death; oi the suicides, of the

insanity, ot the desti itution, of the lit-1 tie children tugging st the faded and weary breasts m weeping and despairing wives, asking for bread; or the talented men of genius that it has wrecked, the struggling with irnaginalmhooses, of the asylums, of the pri sons, of the scaffolds upon etth er side I do not wonder that every thoughtful man is prejudiced agaiiwt this damned stuff that is called alcohol. Intemperance cuts down youth in its vigor, manhood in its strength, and old age in its weakness. It breaks the father’s heart, bereaves the doting mother, extinguishes natural affections, oraseu conjugal love, blots out filial attachment, blights paternal hope, and brings down mourning age in sorrow

to the grave. It produces weakness not strength; sickness, not health; death, not life. It makes wives, widws;children,orph ns; fathers,nends, nd all of tliem paupers and beggars. It feeds rheumatism, nurses gout, welcomes epidemics, Invites cholera, imports pestile»*o« and embraces consumption It covers tlie land with idleness, misery and crime. It Alls your jails, supplies your almshouses, and demands your- asylums. It engenders controversies fosters quarrels and cherishes riot. It crowds your penitentiaries and furnishes Victims to your scaffolds. It is the lifeblood of the gambler, tne prop of jhe high waynaan and the sport of the midnight incendiary. It countenances the liar, respects the thief, esteems the blasphemer, violates the obligations, reverences fraud and honors infamy. It defames benevolence, scorns virtues and slanders innocence. It incites the father to butcher his helpless offspring, helps the husband to massacre his wife, and the child to gr.nd the parricidal axe. It burns up nem, consumes women, detests life, curses God and despises suborns witnesses, nurses perjury, defiles the jut*y box. and stains thejudi-

cial ermine. It degrades the citizen, debases the legislator, dishonets the -statesmen and disarms the patriot. It brings shame, not honor; terror, not safety; despair, not hope; misery, not hope; misery, not happlnt ss; and with tlie malevolence of a fiend it calmly surveys its frightful desolation, and, unsatisfied with its havoc, it poisons felicity, kills peace, ruins morals, blights confidence, slays reputation, and wipes out national honors, then curses the world and laughs at its ruin. It does all that and more —it murders the soul. It Is the son of all vilainies, and the father of all crimes, the mother of abominations, the devil’s best friend, and God,s worst enemy.”