The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1892-01-27
Temperance COLUMN.
The Church VS. the Saloon.
BY BISHOP J. N. FITZGERALD, OF THE NJ.
CHUKCH


CHURCH.
The saloon Is the chief and most auda
cious law breaker of the age, 1t is the
arch destroyer of all that is dear to man.
1t is sleepless, relentless, insatiable,
mighty. There is but one power in the
land that is stronger and that is the
church. If the saloon is to be overthrown
the church must overthrow 1t. VIII she
The question is one OF purpose, not OF
ability. She can do whatsoever she will In
this all-important work,
The service which the church has al.
ready rendered in antagonism to the sa-
loon is not, by any means, to be disparag-
ed. On the contrary, 1t is to be acknowl.
edged as well-nigh invaluable, More
than all other agents she has rescued per.
ishing inebrates and softened the hearts
of those who were forcing their brothers
down N drunkards' graves She, more
than anything or anybody else, has Great
ed the sentiment which rules dram sellers
out Of respectable society and places
drunkard making In the list Of crimes.
Nearly all of her denominations have
cried aloud against the drink traffic, and
have denounced 1t In unmeasured terms;
and some of those denominations have 80
legislated that none of their members can
lawfully buy, sell or use as beverage the
deadly liquid.
All honor TO the church for her warfare
against the saloon We give to her great
credit and thankful praise. Unquestion-
ably she has been and still is in the van
Nevertheless we are pursuaded that be-
fore she can fully accomplish The great
mission to which we believe God has
called her, she must take much longer
step in advance and strike far heavier
blows. Her forces must be thoroughly
and permanently organized and, combined
with kindred forces, must constitute the
opposition. The foes Of the saloon must
unite against Its friends. The issue must
be squarely joined. The saloon has long
carried the black flag, Henceforth the
church and her allies In this particular
warfare must carry 1t too, The battle
must be desperately fought, and the field
of battle must be the field Of politics.
This opposition must enter that field, just
as did the opposition TO the extension OF
slavery, and II must remain therein until
prohibition, like freedom, shalllbecome an
accepted doctrine, against which no party
shall dare TO speak. From every organi
zation that sympathizes or compromises
with the rum traffic Christian men must
separate themselves and unite in an organ
ization, every member Of which shall at
all times, including election days, and In
all places, including the polls, and with
all powers, including the ballot, stand
against this giant evil Of the day. The
voting clergymen and laymen Of the
church must become a unit on this great
subject at the ballot box-the point at
which they have been divided In the past
and are divided now.
Here is the difficult problem. But 1t
could be solved, and IL would be solved
were 1t not for the strength Of old polite
al ties, than which nothing on earth seems
TO be stronger. In 1S60-65 many a man
who thought himself to be loyal to the ma
tion to the last degree became a sympa-
thizer with rebellion solely because OF his
love for a political party. And today
many man who thinks himself TO be q
true friend Of prohibition becomes an
apolgist for the license system simply be-
cause he fears that the political party Of
his love may be harmed II prohibition
be insisted upon.
Bishop Foster forcibly and truthfully
says; "The church Of today. much more
the church Of the future, must take
to Its heart the duty Of combining and
massine It's forces against that gigantic
atrocity, that diabolical conspiracy, that
nameless monstrum horrendum of Christ
ian civilization that mothers nine. .tenths
Of the woes and sorrows which blight and
curse our modern age-the traffic in intox.
icants, which hides its deformity under
forms Of law. How long shall the face Of
our Christian age blister with this worse
than pagan shame' Has the virtue Of our
time degenerated so low that we do no,
even blush at the legislative traffic IN the
souls Of our own chlldren' That bv the
very doors OF our own homes and our
temples an army Of miscreants should by
authorization Of laws made by Christian
law-giyers, prosecute work Of murder
and deathf How can we 10 10
the heather with this cancer Of worse than
heather infamy fostering in our bosom ~