The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-06-20
THE WORST FOE OF LABOR.
DR.. Dewitt Talmage's Fifth Sermon on
the Great Question of the Hour.
Rum, the Anarchist of the Centuries, and Boy
cotting the Mind and Soul of Our Labor
Another WOman's Crusade Called For.

On Sunday, June b. Rev. T. Dewitt Tai
mage, D. D., preached in Brooklyn Tabernacle
the fifth of his series of sermons "The Labor
| Question His subject was: ''Strong Drink
the Worst Foe of Labor" DR.. Talmage took
his text from Haggai chapter i, verse 6: "He
that earneth wages, earneth wages to put it
into a bag with holes" He said What has be
come of the billions and billions of dollars in
| this country paid to the working classes2
| Some of these moneys have gone for house
rent or the purchase of homesteads, or ward
robe, or family expenses. or the necessities of
life, or to provide comforts in old age What
has become of other billions9 Wasted in foolish
| outlay. Wasted at the gaming table. Wasted
in intoxicants Put into bag with hundred
/ holes
/! Our country in year spends one billion, five
hundred million and fifty thousand dollars for
rum. Of course. the working classes do great
deal of this expenditure. Careful statistics show
that the wageearning classes of Great Britain
expend in liquor f10O 0OO 900, or $500 900, 900, a
year. Sit down and calculate, o workingman,
how much you have expended in these direc-
tons Add it all up Add up what your neigh
bors have expended, and realize that instead of
L w
have been your own capitalist
/ When you deplete workingmans physical
energy you deplete his capital. The stimulated
workman gives out before the unstimulated
The following circumstances came under our
observation: A young man worked hard to
earn his 5000 800 yearly Marriage day
came. The bride had inherited $500 from her
the wedding dress Then they rented two
rooms in third story. Then the young man
took extra evening employment-amost ex-
hausted with the days work, yet took evening
employment. 1t almost extingushed his eye
sight Why did he add evening employment to
the day employment? To get money. Why did he
want to get moneys To lay up something for a
rainy day? No. To get his life insured. so that
in case of his death his wife would not be beg
| CART No. He put the extra evening work to
the day work that he might get $3.50 to get his
wife sealskin coat The sister of the bride
heard of this achievement. and was not to be
eclipsed. She was very poor, and she sat up
working nearly all the nights for great while
until she bought a sealskn coat. l have not
heard of the result or that street The street
was full OF those VIII ire on small incomes, but
suppose the contaglon spread, and that every
| body had sealskin coat, and that the people
came out and cried. practically not literally:
Though the heavens fall, we must have seal
! skin coat"
My plea this morning is to those working peo-
| pie who are in a discipleship to the whisky bot
| Llc, LILO Deer mug, anu Ju0 WING HaSk ana WlAC
l say to them will not be more appropriate to
the working classes than to the business classes,
and the literary classes. and the professional
classes, and all classes, and not with the people
of one age more than Of all ages Take one good,
| square look at the suffering of the man whom
strong drink has enthralled, and rememb Der
| that toward that goal multitudes are
running. The disciple of alcoholism suffers
the loss of his selfrespect just as soon
as man wakes up and finds that he is the cap
tive of strong drink, he feels demeaned. / do not
care how reckless he acts. He may say: II
don't eare;' he does care. He cannot look pure
man in the eye unless it is with positive force of
| resolution. Three fourths of his nature is de-
stroyed his self-respect is gone; he says things
| he would not otherwise say; he does things he
would not otherwise do. When man is nine
tenths gone with strong drink. the first
thing III, he wa to do. DO is to persuade
wants to. He cannot. The Philistines have
| bound him hand and foot, and shorn his locks
and put out his eyes, and are making him grind
! in the mill of a great horror. He cannot stop.
bringing ruin upon himself. He loves himself
If he could stop he would. He knows his course
is bringing ruin upon his family. He loves them.
He would stop if he could. He cannot
year ago, not now Just ask him to
stop for month. He cannot; he knows he
cannot, so he does not try. 1 had friend who,
for fifteen years, was going down under this
evil habit He had large means He had given
| thousands of dollars to Bible soc eties and re-
| formatory institutions Of all sorts. He was very
| genial, very generous and very lovable, and
whenever he talked about this evil habit he
would say: 81 can stop any time" But he
kept going on, going on, down. down, down.
STOP" why" he would reply, 81 can stop any
time, if l want to-" After while he had delir-
ium tremens he had it twice; and yet. after
that, he said Il could stop at any time if
Rum! Rum! And yet among his last utter
ances was 81 can stop at any time" He did
not stop it, because he could not stop it. Oh,
there is point in inebriation beyond which, if a
| man goes he cannot stop.
! One of these victims said to a Christian man
Sir, if were told that couldn't get drink
until tomorrow night unless l had my fingers
| cut off, l would say Bring the Ratchet and cut
them off now" have dear friend in Phila-
| delphia whose nephew came to him one day, and
when he was exhorted about his evil habit. sald
| "Uncle, can't give it up. If there stood can
non and it was loaded, and glass of wine were
set the mouth of that cannon, and knew
| that you would fire it off Just as | came up
and took the glass; l would start, for must
have it." Oh, it is sad thing for man to wake
| up in this life and feel that he is captive! He
says: II could have got RID of this once, but
| can't now. / might have lived honorable life
| and died a Christian death, but there is no hope
! for me now there is no escape for me- Dead but
not buried. | am a walking corpse. / am an
apparition of what l once was. l am a Gagged
| immortal beating against the wires of my cage
in this direction-beating against the cage until
there is blood on the wires and blood upon my
soul-yet not able to get out. Destroyed with
| out remedy!'
60 on and say that the disciple of rum suf-
fers from the loss of physical health. The older
men in the congregation may remember that
some years ago DR. Sewell went through this
country and electrified the people by his lec-
lures, in which he showed the effects of alco-
holism on the human stomach. He mad seven or
eight diagrams by which he showed the devasta-
ton of strong drink upon the physical system.
There are thousands of people that turned back
from that ulcerous sketch, swearing eternal alb
stinence from everything that could intoxicate
God only knows what the drunkard suffers
Pain flies on every nerve, and travels every mus.
i III nd ona hnna and burma with