The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-03-03

tnnity Of buying them. Preebyterians OF
| high standing in the denomination are
Wholesale vendors Of the liquors sold at the
bars Of the town, and they would oppose
the prohibition Of their traffic as an outrage
on their rightful liberty.
The public demanding that the liquor busi-
ness shall BIO carried on. 1t Is the great prob
lem OF legislation. both American and Euro
pean. to determine how and how far 1t shall
be restrained and regulated SO as to mini
nlize the unQuestionable evils of inordinate
stimulation. In New York the plan OF re-
quiring that licenses shall DO obtained for
opening liquor saloons has been adopted.
and the measure Is enforced strictly by tho
Excise Commissioners. Yet DR.. SAMPLE
says that the traffic meets few restraints"
1t meets as many as the law allows. so far
as licensing goes. Practically. 1t Is not re-
strained to the degree required by the law.
80 far rs concerns Sunday liquor SELL
ing; but this failure cannot be attrib-
uted to She negligence Of the authorities.
1t is due to the opposition Of public senti-
ment to the law. The Presbyterians Of DR..
SAMPLES congregation drink their wine on
Sunday no less than on other days. and the
rest Of the people who drink alcoholic bev-
erages have the same habit. No law which
tries to drive them from 1t can be enforced
in New York. as the whole experience OF
the town since the passage OF the Sunday
closing law has proved. The fault.
therefore. Is not with tho authorities.
but with the legislation which is so mani
testify against public sentiment and public
..,ract %. The pending Excise BILL which
DR.. SAMPLE stigmatizcs rs an Ubiquitous
and wholly wicked measure. IL simply IN
effort to make O regulation Of the traffic
which will be in accordance with public sem
timent. and therefore enforceable. It pro-
poses to substitute law for lawlessness. So
far 1t Is O conservative measure. because 1t
protects Law from the contempt Of public
opinion and practice. an evil far more dan
gerous than drunkenness itself.
Vice Is inseparablo from all great and oil
small communities SO long as tho work OF
purifying society by means Of religion is
Incomplete. It is in tho individual human
heart. and. as the Church teaches. no merely
human law can drive it thence. Legisla-
ton and police regulation can only
restrain Its manifestations 80 far ns
they interfere with the general order.
and with public deoency and propriety. In
no other great city Of the world is this police
duty performed 80 thoroughly and efYectu-
ally as in New York. as everybody who has
travelled abroad and every visitor from
abroad can bear witness. In outward de-
cency New York Is superior to London or
Paris. Berlin or Vienna. Vice is less under
tho public view. Tho improvement in this
respect in New York itself has been steady
and marked during tho last generation.
though as newcomer hither Dr. SAMPLE Ia
Of course unable to make the comparison.
The vice Is here. undoubtedly. but it does
not tiaunt itself us Of old and as in tho Eu-
ropean capitals. 1t remains because the
Church has not yet eradicated the tenden-
cies to it in the human heart. but nowhere
else has police regulation been so successful |
in lcssening Its visible offensiveness.
The general moral improvement OF the |
town. SO far as it can DO effected by law and |
police effort. has been very remarkable |
during recent years. Actual crime has |
decreased. tho public order is better pre-
served, life and property are moro secure.
no other great city in the world is SO |
free from riotous demonstrations. and in |
none are the lawlcss kept In greater terror
of the law. These are facts for whose con-
firmation we refer DR.. SAMPLE to the his
tory OF this town and to the experience Of
the other great capitals Of the world.
Instead of talking rs il New York were
tending backward morally, he should.
therefore. take courage from its progress
in civilization as affortling an incentive to
the Church to persist in its efforts to bring
about corresponding advancement In its
spiritual and religious life.