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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 74

The Great Destroyer; A Terrible Charge

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The Great Destroyer; A Terrible Charge.

"Prisoner at the bar, have you anything to say why sentence of death shall not be passed upon you ?"

"I have, your Honour. 1 stand here before this bar, convicted of the wilful murder of my wife. Truthful witnesses have testified to the fact that I was a [unclear: loader], a drunkard, and a wretch; that I returned from one of my long debauches, and fired the fatal shot that killed the wife I had sworn to love, cherish, and protect. While I have no remembrance of committing the fearful, cowardly, and in human deed, I have no right to complain or condemn the verdict.

" But, may it please the court, I wish to show that I am not alone responsible for the murder of my wife !"

"I repeat, your Honour, that I am not the only one guilty of the murder of my wife, The Judge on this bench, the jury in the box, the lawyers within this bar, and most of the witnesses, including the pastor of the old church, are also guilty before Almighty God, and will have to appear with me before His Judgment Throne, where we all shall be righteously judged.

"I have been made a drunkard by law. If it had not been for the legalised [unclear: saloons] of my town, I never would have become a drunkard; my wife would not have been murdered; I would not be here now, ready to be hurled into eternity. Had it not been for the human traps set out with the consent of the Government, I would have been a sober man, an industrious workman, a tender father, and a husband. But to-day my home is destroyed, my wife murdered, my little children—God bless and care for them—cast on the mercy of a cold and cruel world, while I am to be murdered by the strong arm of the State.

"God knows, I tried to reform, but as long as the open saloon was in my pathway, my weak, diseased will-power was no match against the fearful, consuming, agonising appetite for liquor. At last I sought the protection, care, and synpathy of the Church of Jesus Christ, but at the communion table I received from the hand of the pastor who sits there, and who has testified against me in this case, the cup that contained the very same alcoholic serpent that is found in every bar-room in the land. It proved too much for my weak humanity, and out of that holy place I rushed to the last debauch that ended with the murder of my wife.

"For one year our town was without a saloon. For one year I was a sober man. For one year my wife and children were supremely happy, and our little home a perfect paradise.

"I was one of those who signed a remonstrance against re-opening the saloons is our town. The names of one-half of this jury can be found to-day on the petition certifying to the good moral character (?) of the rum-sellers, and falsely saying that the sale of liquor was ' necessary' in our town. The prosecuting attorney on this case was the one that so eloquently pleaded with this court for the licenses, and the Judge who sits on this bench, and who asked me if I had anything to say before sentence of death was passed on me, granted the license."

"I began my downward career at a saloon bar—legalised and protected by the voters of the commonwealth, which has received annually a part of the blood-money from the poor, deluded victims-After the State has made me a drunkard and a murderer, I am taken before another bar—the bar of Justice (?), by the same power of law that legalised the first bar, and now the law-power will conduct me to the place of execution, and hasten my soul into eternity. I shall appear before another bar—the judgment bar of God and there you, who have legalised the traffic, will have to appear with me. Think you that the Great Judge will hold me—the poor, weak, helpless victim of your traffic—alone responsible for the unorder of my wife ? Nay, I, in my drunken, frenzied, irresponsible condition, have murdered one, but you have deliberately and wilfully murdered your thousands, and the murder-mills are in full operation to-day with your consent.

"All of you know in your hearts that these words of mine are not the savings of an unsound mind, but God Almighty's truth. The liquor traffic of this mation is responsible for nearly all the murders, bloodshed, riots, poverty, misery, wretchedness, and woe. It breaks up thousands of happy homes every year, sends the husband and father to prison or to the gallows, and drives countless mothers and little children into the world to suffer and to die. It furnishes nearly all the criminal business of this and every Court, and blasts every community it touches.

"You legalised the saloons that made me a drunkard and a murderer, and you are guilty with me before God and man for the murder of my wife.

"Your Honour, I am done. I am now ready to receive my sentence, and be [unclear: and] forth to the place of execution, and murdered according to the laws of this state. You will close by asking the Lord to have mercy on my soul. I will close by solemnly asking God to open your blind eyes to the truth, to your individual responsibilty, so that you will cease to give your support to this hell-born traffic."

Tallls, Morgan in Domestic Journal.

Issued by the Grand Lodge of New Zealand, I.O.G.T. Price, 2s 6d per 1000 copies; or, including postage, 3s 6d per 1000 copies.