Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-06-05
AN OPEN LETTER.

MY DEAR FRIENDS That was q
very good thing that Herbert Spencer
said: ave too often forget that not
only is there soul of good in things
evil but very generally also soul of
truth in things erroneous. While many
admit the abstract probability that n
falsity has usually nucleus of reality,
few bear this in mind when passing
judgment on the opinions of Others"
Never has the truth of this state
ment been brought more fercibly be-
fore my mind than in reading the two
articles entitled, respectively, "a Rat
thing Temperance Lecture" and the
"Reply" to the same. 1t seems to Inc,
my friends, that in your zeal to carry
your respective points, you have mu-
tually committed yourselves to illiber-
alities, which illiberalities consist part
Iy in some glaring, doubtless hasty,
misstatcments, and partly in the sup
preston of some rather important
facts.
In the first place, IN L." in max
ing your statement that Ignorance of
hygiene is among the masses of great
or evil than drink" you ignore the
fact, it may be the very cause of the
latter evil, and that vigorous efforts
are being put forth to enlighten the
people, especially the young, on this
subject; and further, our popular and
expensive system of public, private
and denOminational schools is an ar
gumeut against the charge that we do
not appreciate the evil of ignorance.
Can you show me one of these So
called fanatics" that will dispute this
point with you?
Again, no one denies that bigotry
is great evil and has done great
harm in the world-but bigotry is not
a characteristic nor an outgrOwth of
true religion, if John Calvin did burn
Servctas. Men have been prosecuted
for their opinions from The beginning
of hislory-and why? Because of re-
ligion! Rather for the want of it.
Religion bcgets charity; intolerance is
the offspring of ignorance and super
stition. One is of God, the other of
the devil. No christian, Presbyterian
or otherwise pretcnds to hold John
Calvin or any other imperfect man up
As an example to be initiated. He who
is our excmplar is high above all the
petty criticisms of men. The perfect
Goldman, Christ Jesus.
In regard to the social evils under
consideration, you leave ont of sight
the Immense influence which intem-
perance has in fostering and incrcas-
ing these evils, As well as ignore the
fact that we not only have stringent
laws against some forms of this evil
on our statute books, and that the
very people who labor to prohibit the
liquor traffic are heading the crusade
against obscene and sensational itera-
ture; that most potent instrument for
the moral destruction of our youth.
But the other writer commits even
greater mistakes-although her cause
is a just one; but where is the use of
making such palpable erroneous state
ments as that? "The best plan is to
do one thing at time" Meaning that
we are to fight one evil until we con-
qucr it and then go back and fight the
rest. If God had meant for us to fight
only one at time He would have
given them TO us that way. No! we
are expected to set our faces as flint
against all wrong, and with Gods
help fight our way through.
As TO intemperance being the cause
of crime. This is another popular fall
lacy-it certainly is a great alder and
abctter. but the cause lies deeper in
mans evil nature, and if temperance
people think that by doing away with
dram shops they will do away with
or even two-thirds of the |
crime in the world, in the event of
success, they are inevitably doomed to |
disappointment. You say "We will |
attend to the other evils you speak of
if they e.rist, after the liquor traffic is
done away with" Why eff" They
certainly will exist after it as they did |
before it. You may destroy the liquor
traffic, but that won't kill the devil or |
even tie him up. Still the destruction |
of the liquor traffic will greatly di-
minish these evils, therefore we ought
not TO discourage any attempt that
may be made in this direction.
1t is true that arithmetic never
lies in the sense that certain figures
in peculiar way produce
certain known results, but whether
your result is true depends upon the
data you start with. II these be false,
your calculation is worthless.
Look out for your data. G.. b.