The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-07-25

son snail at any time, by himself, his clerk
servant or agent, directly or indirectly, sell
any intoxicating liquors; and further on in
the statute wine, ale. porter, strong beer,
lager beer and all other malt liquors are de-
clared intoxicating within the meaning of the
statute. Ii Uno beer is wine. ale, porter,
strong beer, lager beer or malt liquor, or
II 1t be none OF these and yet Is intoxicating,
Its sale is forbidden by law. Both of the ex-
perts called agree that it is not wine, nor
ale nor porter nor lager beer, nor a malt
liquor. AS for strong beer, Prof. Rob
inson considers that to mean an intoxi-
eating beer, so that whether it be
strong beer or not depends upon
whether 1t Is intoxicating or not The
only question to be settled, therefore, is
whether 1t is Intoxicating or not. Prof. Car
michael declares that 1t is not. Prof. Rob-
inson will not declare that 1t is not nor that
II is. by the testimony of the experts Uno
beer is apparently let out of the prohibi.
tory statute. In Massachusetts, the exact
per cent OF alcohol which liquor must con-
tain TO render 1t Intoxicating within the
meaning OF the law is specified, so that the
expert has only to testify as to the per cent
OF alcohol and is not called upon for his
opinion as to whether person could get in
toxicated upon 1t or not, an opinion which
must always have some element of uncer-
tainty about 1t. The Maine statute could
probably be made to conform to the Massa-
chusetts statute in this respect, not nee
essarily specifying the same per cent. of alco-
hol but specifying some definite per cent.
Lieutenant Commander Marthon. of the
United States navy, does not take very
hopeful view of the missionary efforts in
China. In his report on the death Of Mis-
sionary Argent. recently murdered by
Chinese mob, Commander Marthon says
the Chinese do not want religion, and he
"has yet to meet the first Christian China
man." Other naval officers, and English and
American travellers have made the same re-
ports. Nevertheless the missionaries are not
discouraged, but persist. The brightest
young men of America are going every year
to China to engage in that work which the
naval officers report to be so hopeless. At
this distance and without special acquaint-
ance with the missionary field of China 1t
would be presumptuous for any one to ex-
press an opinion upon this subject. But it
Is possible to give candid examination to
the testimony offered. On the one side we
have the assertions of certain naval officers
and travellers, who are in China for limited
periods A traveller sremains perhaps six
months or year. The naval officer may be
on the Asiatic station five or six years, living
mainly aboard his ship, and seeing tho
natives at the seaport cities at such times as
he lands. Both the traveller and the naval
officer will know something about the Chin
ese and the testimony of either is entitled to
some weight. But is their testimony en-
titled to the weight of that given by the mis-
sionary, who passes his life in the country,
living beside and among the natives year In
and year out? Plainly not, unless there be
ground for the assertion that the missionary
is animated by zeal approaching fanaticism
and is therefore not a reliable witness upon
matter which lies SO near ito his heart, and
is so interviewer with his faith and his hopes,
or course missionaries like all other men are
open to the charge that they are BIASED in
favor of their chosen occupation; but we
hardly think that herein there is any ground
for not ranking the testimony of the resident
missionary far higher than the assertions of
the traveller or the naval officer 1t must be
AomOmDchCu thdt miooluuhIy WOIk cdunOL De
judged by the standards used by men in
measuring the success of a commercial or a
military venture. Whoever has read the
life OF Adoniram Judson must understand
that missionary work can be judged proper.
ly only by viewing it from points of time
very far apart. When Judson had labored
fifteen or twenty years in Burma the results
were so meagre that a traveller or naval
officer would uuhestatingly have declared
the work failure. But today the CONVEX
sion OF Burma has proceeded 50 far that the
missionary who goes there seems more like
pastor transferred from one field to an
other. The progress of Christianity in new
fields has generally been obscure at first. 1t
appeals first to the poor and the weak, and
its progress is generally splendid and notice
able only when 1t has made in obscurity suf-
ficient progress to enlist the attention or
arouse the hopes and fears Of politicians.
The mandarin or the officials in China will
know little or nothing of Christianity in
China until it has worked its way into favor
with thousands of the poor. When that
time comes the progress of missionary work
will be blazed forth in every letter of trayel
and many naval reports.