The Monitor., 1885-01-02
Written for THE MONITOR.
HOW IT LOOKS TO ME.

The late ' Ice President w llS0n SAID III
speech in Washington a short time before
his death: Il have but little hope OF the
triumph of the temperance cause until a
large proportion of the clergymen and pro
| Tossing christians rise up to the duties OF
the occasion. | call upon every christian
minister, every member of the church OF
| Christ, every man and woman to come up
and aid the work by precept and example.
In this speech Vice President Wilson To-
Gates the responsibility implied exactly
where it belongs. There are III this coun-
try about seventeen millions of church
members. There are something under tw o
hundred thousand sellers of Intoxicating
liquors. Now subtract from the whole
number of church membership liberal
two-thirdS for the non-voters, as women
and minors, and there will be still left over
five millions OF voting church members.
To be further liberal in the calculation put
the sellers of intoxicating liquors at the
round sum of two hundred thousand and
divide that number into five millions and it
will give about twenty-eight professed
christian voters to one whisky and beer
seller.
Now what is one among so many, if the
many were awake to the evil of this great
as they should do, in assisting in its over
throw9 1t would be so belittling the intu-
ence of the twenty-eighta as to be aninsultto
say that they are so insignificant as that
they have less influence on society. com
bined, than one rumseller has, especially
where they are backed by an average of
about sixty five other church members to
begin with, and as many in the community,
not church membersw hose sympathes are
with them.
If it be true that the rumsellers are or
ganized for mutual help in case of need, it
is also equally true that the church mem
bers are organized with the professed OBJ
jcct of doing and receiving good III the
world Rumselling and drunkenness is
either an evil or a good, for it cannot
be both. Which is it? Let the homes
houses it fills answer the question. If
it is an evil, church members, by their
vows before God and each other, are bound
to do what they can to assist to overthrow
it, For what does the church exist for in
the world but to antagonize evil and over
throw it? And who are most of all re-
sponsible to point out to the church its
duties? '"The watchmen on the walls
of Zion" And just here is where the
point of responsibility rests. The peo-
pie will follow if their leaders will take the
lead. The women will follow ''to man, y
and the men in due time will follow the
women, even those of them who may at
first be disinclined to follow the preacher.
This responsibility the clergy cannot avoid,
however much they may protest against it,.
The Republican party has been i'll power
twenty-four years, during which time the
consumption of intoXicants as a beverage
has increased at least three fold, which GER
tainly proves that it is not a very efficient
opponent of the business. The Democrat
party makes no pretense Of opposing it,
but rather makes capital out of its friendli-
ness for the saloons. There is nothing,
therefore, in the works of either party in
yiting to good conscience and philan-
thropy. Independent action, free from the
trammels of either party, is called for, and
it is beyond doubt the duty of christians to
take hold of this evil and persevere in its
overthrow till it is put down. And being
citizens as well as church members it is
their privilege and duty to do it with the
ballot, and as the case now stands, if they
do not their dereliction will be morally re-
sponsiblc for its continuance The time is
not far distant when public sentiment " ill
make it a necessity for the ministry to lead
the membership in this work or it will,
like the Chief Justice said to another and
inferior judge who was making botch OF
administering justice, Come down and !
will try the case myself" Yours,