The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1890-02-20
w. c. r. U. DEPARTMENT.

w. c. r. U. DEPARTMENT.
For God and Home and Native Land.
The greatest obstacle to the progress
of missionary work to-day is the liquor
traffic, carried from the Christian
lands where it is legalized to the lands
where the heather religions forbid the
manufacture and use of all intoxicants.
The missionary of the cross proclaims
the glad tiding s to nations sitting in
darkness. Men hear. They say,
''This doctrine is good" They reason,
"Surely the land whence so pure and
lovely religion comes, and where it
prevails, must be pure and holy
land" But while bordering upon the
new religion, and the strange things
that are brought to their ears" they
see others from professedly Christian
lands, coming to them with mouths
full of cursing and deceit and fraud,
with tongues of mischief and vanity"
They "sit in the lurking places of the
village; in the secret places do they
murder the innocent; their eyes are
privily set against the poor. They
lie in wait secretly, as Ion in his
den; they lie in wait to catch the
poor. They crouch that they may
fall" by their wicked devices, and by
the intoxicating drinks manufactured
by the same Christian nation that sent
forth the heralds of salvation. A lady
who labored ten years on the coast of
China writes: "Oh, if our American
women knew how much our American
sailors on the coast of China need
their help, to save them from intern
perance, they would come to the res
cuev
A former teacher among the North
American Indians says that an Indian
never swears except when he is drunk,
and then he swears in English. It is
no wonder that the Seminole Indians
are puzzled with the white mans
method of dealing with strong drink.
They say: "He first licenses man to
distill it, then he licenses man to
sell it: then he pays a policeman to
catch those who drink it and take
them to jail, and when they come out,
they drink and are put in again.
Don't understand"
If it be true that the English speak
ing people are largely responsible for
the introduction Of intoxicating drink
into the uncivilized portion of the
world" then it is also true that the
redeemed" among them, those who
have purified themselves in obeying
TRUTH" are not responsible for the
putting forth of mighty effort to coun
teract the evil influence exerted by
those of their countrymen who are
hostile to the spread of Christianity,
and are 50 dilligent in laying stumb
ling blocks in the way. Those whom
we are trying to Christianize,
naturally attribute onr vices as well as
our virtues, to our religion. Il do not
like your people" said an intelligent
Hindoo to one of our missionaries:
"the followers of Jesus Christ drink
whisky" The man knew no better
than to attribute the whisky to the re-
igion, and the Master was wounded
afresh. "As drunk as Christian" is
a common proverb in all heather
lands. If all Christian men and wo-
men in England and America we're
taking the right ground on this sub
ject of temperance, and we're ranging
themselves in close ranks to fight the
enemy which is SO retarding the COM
ing of Christ's kingdom on earth
thank God! he cannot utterly prevent
it-with what rapidity might the an
gel having "the everlasting gospel to
preach to them who dwell on the
earth" fly to accomplish his Grand!
Christia nwoman, interested in mission
ary work, do not these facts speak
loudly to you concerning a work to
which you have not yet felt yourself
called7 The success Of your efforts is
largely influenced and greatly lessened
by the existence of this liquor traffic
When we meet the liquor traffic in
those countries we are powerless be-
fore it; the work must be done here at
home by cutting those streams off at
the fountain head. Stop the manu-
facture and sale of liquors here, and
the export must cease, and this re-
suit can be obtained by the earnest,
steadfast, united work of the Christ
ian women of this land. "These
ought ye to have done and not to leave
the other undone." Could we send
our missionaries and teachers as we
now do, and at the same time keep
back the liquor traffic, it would not be
long until the time when "the know
ledge of the glory of the Lord should
cover the earth as the water covers
the SEAS" Can we not, ought we not,
each one to ask the question; "Lord,
what wouldst thou have me to do
towards the abolition of the liquor
trafic?" J. B. Cough said that the
Woman's Christian Temperance I'm
ion was doing more to advance the
cause Of temperance than all other
agencies combined. In addition to
its gospel and educational work at
home, it has already sent two mission
aries to work directly against the traf-
ic in other lands. If the women in
| crested in missionary work would
also give their membership and work
in this society, with its small annual fee,
the cause would SO advance that heath
en- nations would soon feel the benefit
of its onward march, and this great OBJ
stacle to the establishment of Christs'
kingdom, be removed, Mrs. G. A.
DURHAM, in Timely Talks.