Mexico weekly ledger., 1881-05-19
that it is never, kept except in cases
where it is not needed. Surely such

profane dealing with sacred things r.
and marks corrupt system More
over, mans immoral nature cannot be,
curbed by pledges; he may be re-
strained by law, but nothing outside
of man can effect his, moral refovma-
tion.G To many q pledge that has no. !
punishment attached to its disregard
is little better than an invitation to
sin. z@--' .''.-'717I"'H q - -
The sixth and last moral error of
the total system, to. which i shall re- q
fer, is one that / shall bring forward,
not as philosopher, or a morallst,
but as Christian who believes IN Che
Divine authority of the Holy Scrip
lures. This error has already been
adverted to and, therefore, need not
be again enlarged upon. 1t is I'M
possible to condemn all drinking of
wine as either sinful or improper
without casting reproach upon the
Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles.
There has been an immense amount
of wriggling by Christian writers on
this subject to get away from this al
Tentative, but there it stands impreg-
nable. Jesus did use wine. will
not waste time in proving this asser-s,
ton nor with answering the wild,
bashi-bazOuks of controversy who
assert, with childlike simplicity, that
the Bible wines were unfermented
grape juice. Their learned ignorance.
is fairly resplendent with boldness,
but why then the opprobious eplthet
Of wine bibber? Why should not
Deacons be given to much wine?
Why should the Corlnthian' :commun-
icants have gotten drunk? Why we're
the Apostles at Pentecost accused of
wine drinking as the cause of their
strange utterances? All such ques-
tions they utterly disdain as much as
to notice. To foot-pilgrim like
myself these Scriptures are convinc-
ing and end controversy, and there
fore l charge the total abstinence
propaganda with wrestling the Scrip
lures and despising their authority.
know there is a wing of their army
which acknowledges all that have
said of the Scripture record and
which holds that times are so changed
that Scripture examples and princi-'
Piles are now obsolete : that they were
made for an Oriental people eighteen
centuries ago, and are wholly inap-
plicable in the great occident in the
nineteenth century. But this wing
Of the host is very weak wing and
is often very thoroughly snubbed by
the loud leaders who count its posi-.
ton giving up Of the contest, as
indeed it is. For who will believe
that Christ and His Apostles, on
great moral questions and on matters
of conduct, gave example and pre-
cept that would not last. 0 :.
l have endeavored to point out
the reasons why the total abstinence
system as cure for intemperance
will not and ought not to be adopted.
OF course l am therefore bound to
propose e system that ought to be re-
ceived; l do not dodge the issues.
M1 Is ss 6fen Xs 70 tha Ms
am, and it is because the prevailing
!. total abstinence crusade is hindering
the evil by keeping just methods
from the field and by disgusting
| mems minds with the very name of
J temperance, so cruelty bemired, that
J denounce it and ask good men to
rally around truer and purer STAN
| dard.
The right system must be one that
recognizes practically the difference
= between excess and moderation, and
! the difference between injurious and
, harmless drinks, and that appeals to
the common sense of reasonable and
, thinking men. 1t must be a system
that deals honestly with history,
: science and scripture, and does no,
, invent theories and then support them
! by garbled quotations and imaginary
E facts. 1t must be manly system
: that has no cant or foolery, or orders
s and ribbons, degrading a matter o
e high principle to the hocus pocus o
t childsplay. Such system would
e be found IN the exclusion of distilled
r liquor from common use as q bever
e sge, both by public opinion and by
t law, and the wise regulation in.socie
} ty and in the State of the use of NAL
e and vinous liquors. Society should
r put away all usages that lead t.
J., excess-such as furnishing man,
/ wines at entertainments, or treating
= or putting branded wines upon th,
It the table; and the State should linn
8 the number of licensed sellers to a
S most, the proportion of one to
i Thousand inhabitants of each town
s and these vendors should be unde
9 heavy bonds not to sell to minors O
l. drunkards and not to allow disreput
IS able persons to gather at their places
o The law should also make the collec
e ton of evidence against the license,
= seller easy and the penalty of break
'e ing the law should be Imprisonment
% as we'll as fine. On basis like ithi
> that does mot sweepingly condem
every drink that has alcohol in it; til
Il great majority of people could wor
70 accordantly and therefore effectively
a In conclusion let me state distinct
g ly that / have nothing to say agains
a individual total abstinence. ? On, til
Ig contrary it is the duty Of every ma
" to. abstain whose condition Of cor
id science demands it. That agains
Id which l contend and which Ihold i
y as the hindrance to reform and III
&c promoter OF the drunkard g curse |
t, the tota! abstinence crusade or pro,
Or uganda; the forcing of total abst
ne nence upon communities as the rdui
Us of all / the putting under ban evei
e. one who does not follow that sta,
q dard; the insisting upon stofhizahst
r. nence as the, only safety again
On drunkenness, movement that, Writ
in ally cries out, 1.-THE Koran or = Il
ag sword'' and tramples alike onsreasc
nd and the Word of God. sEisi,@g5e9 ii
MI Reed, Beech & Smith, druggists
10 this city, say that~Day's Kidney p
ry is giving the very bestof satisfaction
". One of their customers saws he wou
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