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Iieeds, September 4, 1852. Mr deab Me. E...
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ON TKMPKRANOK IN GENERA 1 (To the Editor...
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THE TItlJN THEORY OF PROPERTY. (To the. ...
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THE PROGRESS OF INFANTICIDE (To the Edit...
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ANSWERS TO OOK«BSPON1>ENTS. «¦ A regular...
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How to Tiibata Hattmwnake.—Our P>» «loto...
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* Boo Leader, No, 124.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The Temperance Cause (To The Editor Of T...
What more I have to say , I must defer to another week . Yours respectfully , W . A . _Palmsteb .
Ar01808
Iieeds, September 4, 1852. Mr Deab Me. E...
Iieeds , September 4 , 1852 . Mr deab Me . Editob , —I have too many irons in other fires just now to permit me to give more than a passing attention to the controversy on " Temperance " which at present literally burns in your pages . Indeed ,
the fire seems to me sufficiently hot already , considering that its subject is Cold Water , unless both "Ion " ( who is _^ 4 _»^ -Eabnest ) and his " bottle-holder , " the " Earnest " of to-day , are resolved to make Teetotalism evaporate as steam ! A little cool philosophy would , I think , serviceably abate the flame , and enable some of the combatants to look through a clearer atmosphere . Not that I agree with " Ion" in deprecating the Earnest , for I think
that" One to whose smooth-rubbed soul can cling , Nor form nor feeling , great nor small ; A reasoning , self-sufficing thing , An intellectual all-in-all , " can be but half a philosopher at best . However , I think that we have " steam" enough already , even for an Express-train , and that the thing needed is not another stoker to stir up the fire , but a w ise Engineer to control the " expansive power , " and direct the Engine down the right line . Whether "Ion" is destined to be " the Coming Man" remains to he
seen . I therefore desire only to offer here a word or two with the view of inducing the controversialists to avoid logomachy . 1 . As to words . When I use . Temperance and Moderation , 1 mean by them a subjective virtue and appropriate practice ; proper use—including , of course , negatively , continence — withholding , or abstaining , from evil . When many Teetotalers use these words , they ( from want of logical acumen ) mean what their opponents call " Temperance , " & c , but which is simply gratifying appetite ( as by drinking ) , irrespective of the normal or abnormal quality of the appetite .
2 . As to definitions . " Earnest" egregiously blunders in supposing that our practical abstinence is derived from any verbal definition of a poison whatever . A clever logomachist may , as we have seen done in the Leader , call different things by a generic name ( as things necessary to health—atmospheric air , water , heat , pleasure ; and things which loioer health , as had air , hot water , fire , fear—all excitants ) ; but that will not induce practical men to confound things which differ in their specific effects . Men who are bent upon
confusing thought by words , instead of clearing it , may puzzle themselves for ever ; but whether " Earnest" calls arsenic and opium " bread , " or bread , and water , and air " poison , " WE shall still g o on in our practice , because we find , in fact , that one set of things are bad , and thc other set good . Facts , not phrases , are the foundation of the Teetotal philosophy . As regards the phrases , however , if it were worth while to band y words with " Earnest , " which it is not , wo think we have b y far the best of it .
3 . As to facts . It is not true that " Earnest" can " govern his stomach . " Alcohol , liko e ) pium , will have its physical effect on that organ , however " Earnest " may morally oppose thc longing f or more , which all narcotics tend physically to generate . What " Earnest " anel " Ie _> n " have tei elo i . s to show that this is not a law of narcotic stimulants , for this lies at the basis of the discussion . Till this is done I have nothing further to say . Wo aro not _surreiuneleel with poisems . The breath of life is not , the breath of death , 'fbo water of life is ne ) metre aqua mortis than aqua , for lis is a wholesome beverage . What things are composed or , and what things are composed into , are altogether diilcrcnt matters in chemistry and _physioleigy .
Teetotalers , as such , dei not seek to make Teetotalism law—I don't , think that nny Teetotalers do . Tbe "Maine-Law" is yemnger than Teetotalism b y twenty years , and is not , _Teeteitalisiti . Bishops and lords in tho lost century attempted to put down _gin-puhices ; wero they Teetotalers ? In this century , good men attempt to put down prize-rings , hells , and stews ; are ; they intolerant therefore ? The wisdom of sueh a course and the time for taking it are ; _questions feir debate ; but surely a country has a right lo legislate , in , such matters i We Ought not to tolerate * public evils . Yours truly , F . It . I . KKS .
On Tkmpkranok In Genera 1 (To The Editor...
ON TKMPKRANOK IN GENERA 1 ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sin , — " Ion" latel y informed the renders of tho Leader " that the temperance ; teachers represent _nuidcrnliem as an inclined plane , _polishes ! us marble , anel slippery us ice , upon which , if tho _feiot be ; onco p laced , you _inevitably glide down to pordilion . " And nisei that , by the Bnine _clnsa of teachers wo aro gravely required to be-
On Tkmpkranok In Genera 1 (To The Editor...
lieve , or submit to be told , that the catastrophes repre _* sented in Cruickshank ' s Bottle will be realized in every family , " where a glass of wine is conscientiously poured out between husband and wife . " Had " Ion" made himself acquainted with the character of teetotal advocacy , or been more scrupulous not to misrepresent it , he would have been better qualified to write for its reformation , if such reformation it needs . Teetotallers teach no such absurdity as that if you enter on the inclined plane of moderate drinking , you inevitably glide down to the perdition of excess ; or that the end of every family's connexion with the bottle will be
such as George Cruikshank has represented to be the end of one family . Were such the unvarying end of moderate drinking , teetotalers might save themselves their labour , the evil would quickly cure itself . What they do teach is , that the first glass prepares the way for the second , by lessening the power of self-control . Having the testimony of a great number of medical men , including the most eminent , that health and the highest enjoyment of life is consistent with total abstinence , and corroborated , as tbey fancy , by their own experience , they regard " moderation" as wantonly incurring danger . If but one man , or one family in a
hundred , realize the uttermost ruin to which those drinks tend , this , added to all the modified degrees of misery short of perdition , attending on the more moderate use , they deem sufficient to make total abstinence imperative . Many of them , before " Ion" was heard of , have listened to their cost , to what he would designate the teaching of " rational temperance . " They justly look with suspicion upon those who while preaching against excess , would lead them into temptation by the example of " moderation . " Such leaders , thank God , they have abandoned for the teachers of a sounder philosophy .
" Ion , " of course , has no sympathy with the rudeness with which Mr . Gale was treated by Mr . Beilby at the Birmingham Church Missionary meeting . But still all his sympathy appears to be with the outraged ladies and clergymen to whom Mr . Gale wished to submit this outrageous amendment , as an addition to the motion before the meeting , — " That it he an instruction to the committee , as far as possible , to encourage the employment as missionaries , of those gentlemen who abstain altogether from intoxicating liquors , except under the advice of a medical attendant . " " A body of educated gentlemen might well feel outraged , " quoth " Ion , " " at this gratuitous imputation put upon their powers of self-conduct . " Had Mr . Gale formed a malicious design of exposing before the country , how soon " an audience of ladies" could be transformed into
a mob , and how unreverend and ungentlemanl y reverend gentlemen could be , and of how little avail was their education and power of self-conduct under the sli ghtest provocation , of the gentlest and most courteous indirect recommendation of abstinence from strong drink , it is not easy to conceive how he could have done it more effectually . " An eminent London writer" deems himself also outraged ( outrage upon outrage ) , because the keeper of a temperance hotel chooses to be true to his pretensions , and makes no better provision for his " stomach ' s sake , and often infirmities , " than did tho Commissioners of the Crystal Palace in their refreshment rooms at tho world ' s fair : " and these cases are of common occurrence , " sorrowfully aelds " Ion . "
" Ion , " some time since , pointed one of his correctional epistles to thoso Chartists who , in addition to the six points , contend feir tho " name and all , " urging the propriety of dropping tho name , on account of the _lalse _; ieleas that it suggested of levelling , spoliation , & e . When such writers as " Ion" have made their misrepresentations of teetotalism sufficiently current , some future " Ion" will deem it his duty to advise tho teetotalers to drop thc " disagreeable designation" for a similar reason . It is not the name in either case that is the ; offence , but the thing signified , and the ; misrepresentation is but a manifestation of that unprinciplcdncss which cannot allow a hated cause to appear in its true ; colours .
I _fillers " I em ' s" forthcoming correction of antislavery advocacy , show a better acquaintance with his subject , or more candour , he will servo that cause as little as he ; has elemei that eif _teetotalisin ., Yours truly , _UliOKUK _-HlINTJOK , . lull . _Deirliy _Aetpr . 2 t , 1 H _52 .
The Titljn Theory Of Property. (To The. ...
THE TItlJN THEORY OF PROPERTY . ( To the . Editor of the Leader . ) London , Ao / _just 31 , 1852 . Sir , In yesterday ' s ( Monday ' s ) Times , there was a somewhat , ( oveible . article , bedding up to worn tv party recentl y formed in the United _ftt . fttt ; s , whe > proclaim that man has an _inhcreutl right to tho soil . Tho Times most unfairly assumes that this principle involves the holding of all property in common .
The Titljn Theory Of Property. (To The. ...
It strikes xne that this is purposel y done , to br " or , rather , to keep the question in disrepute . ' " _^ For my part , I believe that to carry out the idea an individual ri ght to the soil , is an utter _impractiiT bility ; and , if practicable , not desirable . At the same time , I think it could easily be shown that the rents derived from the holding of land , as vate property , are a source of wealth essential ?" different , and antagonistic to the holding of priv J property derived either from the wages of labour the profits of capital . 0 r I observe with indignation such journals as th Times , whenever property of any sort is mentioned at once thumping all descriptions of property into on common category . e
Nothing can he more fatal to human _advancement And yet we fall into the snare . Right to the soil giVe the possessor a power to levy tribute , on both labour and capital , for liberty to carry on production . Whatever that tribute may be , is a deduction from the capitalist and the labourer , sometimes acting more or less severely on the one or the other , as demand and supply fluctuate . This rent or tribute , however , is essentially different and opposed to both the reward of labour or the profits of capital .
As shown in my former letter , * our ancestors who paid this tribute , attached to > the payment strin gent conditions ; let us keep the original agreement in view at all events , do not let us fall into the trap of confounding all sorts of wealth as alike in princi ple , and the day will soon come when we shall be able clearly to separate them . Yours obediently , A TlN-PXATE WOEKEB .
The Progress Of Infanticide (To The Edit...
THE PROGRESS OF INFANTICIDE ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sir , —Your _article headed " Moloch , " on the increase of the crime of infanticide , is astounding ; nor is the shadowing forth of the amount at all overstated . We have at this time the walls of our town placarded with bills offering 50 / . reward for the detection of the murderer of a new-born male child found on the 15 th of August . Before the jury we had complete proofs of a young woman in custody having been pregnant , and delivered at or about the time , and many most suspicious circumstances were evident , implicating her with the crime before us ; but , owing to the cunning and falsehood of the witnesses , all Irish , nothing tangible could be proved .
Upon that inquest it was declared by the coroner , and assented to as probable by the surgeon , that there were , as near as could be calculated , about three hundred children put to death yearly in Leeds alone , that were not registered by the law . In other words , three hundred infants are murdered to avoid the consequences of their living ; and these murders , as the coroner said , aro never detected . #
I do not , however , think , with you , it is " cant" to _reepiire a " suggested remedy ; " and I for one should be glad to hear you fearlessly speak out that which your cultivated reason and experience would give as likely to remove this horrible canker in our social condition . It is clear , infanticido does not end or begin with the object of murder . Thc state of mind that lcaels to and follows after such a crime against nature , is closely allied with and follows other tran sactions of life , the fruit of wliich will ripen in other fields than arc commonly suspected , and produce results in practice as deplorable as the crime woulel indicate . « ' ¦ " Leeds , _Boptcmbor 15 , _lf . 52 .
Answers To Ook«Bspon1>Ents. «¦ A Regular...
ANSWERS TO OOK « BSPON 1 > _ENTS . «¦ A _regular Sub » eriber will linel his request _uUinelcel to if ho will < : all at our _ollieu ; for a _tte ) lr > containing tlw _purl-dUMB _roquirew . ,. ;( i . To _aeiNWor the , 8 t . iiltHl . ical questions of "A _Bulwinl _. er _wua satisfactory pretension woulel domanel moro tmu > than vt " _ulilei to bestow . _KuitATUM .- In our Country Edition of last , week , m the ; article em " Socialism and its late ; st _TraehiCetr , " p- 874 j scce _. nel column , /*)* - " that properly , & c , is a fact _conllrmce by all , " read " is in fact consumed hy all . "
How To Tiibata Hattmwnake.—Our P>» «Loto...
How to Tiibata Hattmwnake . —Our P >» « _lotol jfc us he was once camping out with an old Indian , A > was midday , and ho watt lying on tho ground wlnW the old chief was reclining with his back against u troc , when sueldcnly to his horror he saw a large _rattlcMin wriggle ; itself _de ; libe ; ratfily across tho old chief » _««* ¦ body . The _snuke seemed to enjoy tho w armth ol < . remaining fe » r some time on tiio Iridinn ' s stom ach _, chief _hlnisedf was watching it all the tii « i < _S I " * _« " _" . not move un inch , knowing if ho did so tho m would strike him . At length , without niovi _^ muscle ; , he ; mae \ e a peculiar hissing _uetiso , anel tii" _» J tiller lifting up his head anel listening , g lide d _uw » j . Sum / ivan ' b Rambles in America . _____ — — - "
* Boo Leader, No, 124.
* Boo Leader , No , 124 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 18, 1852, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18091852/page/18/
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