Telegram-herald., 1890-05-09
SOCIAL RRMEDIks.
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Prot Thomas Davidson has been
delivering = eourse Of leotures ID
Cn.czgo under tie auspices Of the
Woaa4n's elues aaa hll.ng dates Tor
parl1r lectures - more exclusive
escles GA Aprll - b re.a = thought
r. paper 3efors TIE club L. K Astaeuc
rooms Ia tie Art Institute. Hls theme
tor Ials La lSst .eetuTe, BAs 9SoclSl
Remedies ID TIE Lght ot History.
from winch the Jssnsll Is permtted ~
make ghs following extracts
No Institute n aas ever uled 10 cure
SOFA. lie - means OF CHARITY more
kindly and peTslstengly thzn TIE Roman
Catholic church. At tue Iane of Tie
Norman conquest tnres-tsnlas OF Al
the lands ~ England we're held by the
mOnAster res Tor the benefit OF the poor
the proportion can nOI nave been very
q ffereut ln other countries. What NAs
the result Charity fOstered the very
eYll 4 sought 10 cure, VIZ, poverty 2nd
added u II another, VIZ, lazlness, With
ali the forms OF degradation that fol
lOw there from. No doubt the Church,
Nnlch ls IA 50 many ways practically
wise, would have abandoned great
portion OF lts charity had i not been
Tor the convection which she held aud
holds, that charity IS twice Dlest. IA
other words that charity giving and
cnaTty- ty-rtcelylng are both virtues,
benencal Tor salvation. When the
mOnAsteries were broken up snd eoele-
siasucal charity almost stopped. the
poor OF England whom the Church
tended and tOstered were left almost
entirely uncaIed for, and then the
effects OF that charity were clearly
seen. The land swarmed with tTamps,
or a. they were then called, yagTants,
many of them able-bOdled.
II there IL anything that phllAn-
thrOpsts are agreed upon, il is, / be-
heve, that charity is not cure for so
cial lis, and that the only charity
which Il Is ever right 10 offer is that
which makes the recipient feel ms own
| responsibility, and betske himself 10
self-help. All other Charity Is twice
curst.
As remedies for social ills prohibition
and Socialism may be taken together.
| Different as they are, they agree IN
THIS that they fail 10 satisfy both the
second and third tests of a good
| remedy. Both diminish responsibility
and both curtall freedom. Both punish
the virtuous for the sake OF the vicious.
| Now while the yIrtuOus may, IN then
| generosity, submit 10 punishment tol
the vicious, It can never be the duty OF
the state TO enforce tins generosity
! which, indeed, ceases TO be generosity
the moment II ceases 10 be voluntary
lin the first place an almost un-
varying experience has shown that
promotion does not prohibit, that the
laws ordalnlng II are continually and
| shamelessly broken and that IN dong
50, the people learn dlsrespect anC
social contempt for all law. In the
| second place II removes one OF the very
best opportunities for practising self
| control, the very act by which the wll
Is strengthened and man rises above
the brute. Ia the third place II defeat:
the very first purpose OF all law: II is :
barrier to Liberty Tor those VINO can Use
| Liberty. II Is Tar more important tina
there should exist 800 persons VINO car
! use liberty than that there should eXls
| 5,000,0 600 who can not. Better on,
! temperate man than a thousand pro
! hlb.ted dTunkards. In the fourth place
the State that enacts prohibition u
simply demoralizing its people IN ordel
TO snlrk an obvious duty. II the STATE
would only do It's duty 10y carefully
punisnmg all violent and unjus
acts that are due to Intemperance, al
wIfe-beating, child beating, ali noglec
of family, etc, prohibition would no
be necessary, the sense of responsibility
and of respect for the laws would b,
increased and liberty would not have
its wings clipped. Prohibition Is suci
recent thing that history has no
much to say about 1t, but that little j
all against 1t. But prohibition, even j
successful, would reach but smal
number OF social Ills"
In the absence of prohibitory laws
more radical measures than thOs
mentioned by Mr.. Davidson, experience
has proved necessary, including law
M posing restrictions upon the sale o
intoxicating drinks, and making tn
seller to a certain extent responsible 70
the drunkenness resulting from the us
of liquor sold to irresponsible persons
-Retigio-P Phiosophical Journal.