A double deception

A DOUBLE DECEPTION. [col. 1] FIRST ONE. The Republican State Convention held in Saratoga last week adopted the following Resolution: "Resolved, that, so long as the people of the towns, villages and cities, have the right by law to license the sale of intoxicating liquors in their several localities, they also by a majority of votes should have the right to prohibit such sales." Why say "should," when they have it now ? Why try to include the friends of temperance into the belief that the Republican Party is willing to make a concession to the cause of temperance, when that very concession has already been made ? Moreover, why be so dishonest as to rob the Democratic Party of the credit of having made it ? It was a Democratic legislature which granted all that this Resolution says should be granted. The Resolution refers to no other than licensed sales. It does not extend to sales, which do not need the authority of a license. It is true, that the N.Y. Tribune of 9th instant would make it appear that this Resolution is an improvement upon this Democratic legislation. So far, however, as I see, they are entirely in substantial agreement with each other. This piece of legislation deserves no praise. But the Republican Convention, whilst concurring in it, was bound, in honesty and consistency, to thank the Democratic Party for it. How much better that than to be guilty of the meanness of virtually ignoring its authorship ! The enlightened and earnest friends of temperance regard dramselling as a crime, - as indeed, in the light of its effects, the crime of crimes - especially so, because it is the prolific parent of well-nigh all crimes. They are at work to induce Government to regard it in this light, that so Government may be brought to abolish it, by a law operating every where within, its jurisdiction, as do its laws against the immeasurably less pernicious crimes of the theft, forgery and perjury. Far less inconsistently might Government tell the cities and towns to license or not, as they choose, these comparative peccadilloes than to license or not, as they choose, the dramshop manufactory of madmen and murderers, incendiaries and paupers. But how groundless is all this talk of exempting the towns and cities from the rum curse by granting to each the power of such exemption! Is there a rational hope that so much as one city would avail itself of this power? - that half of the villages would ? - that nearly all the towns would ? In point of fact, not one town or village would be able by this means to get itself out of the reach of the dramshop. There would, always, be rum enough in some neighboring towns and villages to rush into the vacuum in a town or village where its sale is forbidden. For very nearly thirty years, we have had in, the town where I reside no ruin tavern, grocery or saloon. Nevertheless, every mouth, and probably every week, in all this time, liquor has been brought into it from neighboring towns to slake the thirst of our few remaining drunkards, or to lead our youth into the way of drunkenness. Manifestly, a State anti-dramshop vote - not a city, town nor village one - is the only vote, that can clear either the whole State or any part of it of the dramshop curse. SECOND DECEPTION. The other deception practised at Saratoga was the collection of a parcel of Republicans into another room than that in which the Nomitating Convention was held; calling them a "Temperance Council" and having them, with the effective air of disinterested impartial gentlemen, indorse the Nominating Convention. Probably, nay, almost certainly, there was not in this parcel so much as one Democrat. Probably, also, nay almost certainly, there was not in it so much as one person, who would have failed to vote the Republican ticket, even though the Nominating Convention had said nothing on the subject of license or liquors. Quite certainly there is not upon that ticket one person, who dares to say that, if elected, he will wield his official power to the shutting up of the dramshop. And yet, these pretended Temperance men are shameless enough to ask real Temperance men to vote it in preference to voting the ticket of the Anti-dramshop party ! This holding of two Conventions at the same time and same village, under different flags but of the same politics, was simply a device, and a very shameful one, for getting Temperance men and friends of the Anti-dramshop party to vote the Republican ticket. It brings to mind the similar trick of twenty or thirty years ago, when multitudes of Whigs called themselves Abolitionists in order to win to the Whig party the votes of real Abolitionists. By the way, that trick did much toward prejudice the Democratic Party against Abolition; and the present similar one is doing much to prejudice it against Temperance. Sham Abolitionists were our worst enemies then at sharp Temperance men are our worst enemies now. [col. 2] Let me explain to those who need the explanation what the honest, earnest Temperance men of this State are doing, and why they do it. Slavery being abolished and the war ended, the way was opened for attacking the dramshop. Many were the considerations for no longer delay. Amongst them was the frightful I increase of dram-drinking consequent upon the war. Our hundred thousand drunkards were rapidly becoming two hundred thousand. Another was the tireless activity of the mighty liquor-league, which expends of its vast capital so freely, and which binds its members not to vote for the friends of Temperance for civil office, and not to patronize their business. Another was the rapid growth of our cities. For instance, the population of New York, which for so many years, continued to be just about one tenth of that of the State, is now, with those surroundings, which are a virtual part of the city, as great probably as one third of the population of the whole State. But our cities might properly be called clusters of dramshops. New York and Brooklyn, which together furnish a dramshop murder as often, on an average, as every twenty-four hours, contain twelve thousand dramshops. No wonder then that they rule the State, and rule it on the side of immorality, vice and crime. Another of the considerations for delaying no longer our war upon the dramshops was the tact that each of the great political parties persisted in upholding them and in believing that it would sink into a hopeless minority, if it should go for shutting up these ever-gushing fountains of drunkenness, death and damnation. In these circumstances what less could the true friends of Temperance do than what they have done? They could not talk down the dramshop. This had been tried for forty I years, and in vain. They could not vote it down by remaining in dramshop political parties. This too they had tried as long and as vainly. Endeavor ever so sincerely, constantly and continuously to vote against the dramshop, nevertheless if you are, all the time, connected with a dramshop party, this connexion will tell more for the dramshop than your vote can possibly tell against it. In the light of these and kindred things, they saw themselves compelled to organize an independent political party. As its name (The Anti-dramshop party) imports, it makes war upon the dramshop only. It does not deny that intoxicating drinks elsewhere are pernicious : - but for the present certainly it would array no other than moral power against them. It is far from holding that the dramshop makes all the drunkards :but it does hold that it makes the vast majority of them, and that it is, therefore, the pre-eminent peril to person and property. Being such, Government can be guilty of no plainer, no grosser, violation of its office than to license the dramshop. Being such, the highest crime of Government is to set up the dramshop, and its highest obligation to put it down. The Anti-dramshop Party has nominated for candidates, at the approaching Election, MYRON H. CLARK for Governor. HANANIAH WILCOX, Insp. State Prisons CHARLES C. LEIGH, Lieut.Gov. JOHN B. EDWARDS, Canal Commissioner JAMES H. BRONSON, Compt'r. W.W. DOWD, do. do. The Party does not expect a large vote for its candidates. It would be larger could its merits and character be brought to the knowledge of the people. For the reflecting portion of the people do not like the dramshop. They see it to be a curse overbalancing the sum total of all other curses; and they (to not wish their children and children's children to continue to be brought tip under its influence. But as our Party and the kindred Parties in other States are too young and feeble to cornmand the favor and help of the public press, the people know but little of our principles and aims, and no small share of them do not know of our existence. For the lack of such favor and help this Saratoga trick will have the effect to turn many votes from our Party to the Republican Party. Mean as is this trick of men's palming themselves off as earnest friends of Temperance, when their paramount, if not indeed only, object in the trick was to swell the Republican vote, it will, nevertheless, work effectively against us because of our lack of Newspapers to expose the deception and because of the power of the Republican press and especially of the sham Temperance press in New York, Utica and elsewhere to give it currency. It may be too late to save our beloved country from her dramshop demoralization and destruction. Nevertheless, the remembrance of the honest effort to this end made by the few, who shall have the integrity and courage to vote the Anti-dramshop ticket, will, in however great failure of their undertaking, be their sustaining consolation. It will reward them with a rich harve.st of self-respect, that will be worth infinitely more than all the honor and pride of numbers, which the dramshop Democratic Party or the dramshop Republican Party or these disguised satellites of the Republican Party may have to rejoice in. GERRIT SMITH. PETERBORO September 13 1870.