Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1896-08-17
w. C. T. u. COLUMN.
o: sGod and Home and Native Land.
THE CHURCH MUST ARA Z HER
SELFAGAINSTT THE RUM
IRA FFlC

It is impossible in the present day
to tell the absolute truth concerning
the liquor traffic without placing
ones self in the position to be charg-
ed with making a third party speech.
Take the declaration of the Methodist
conference, "It can never be legal
zed without SIM That is third
party speech, for all parties except
the third party Prohibition stand for
license. The official utterance of
other denominations on the same
question in their OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
they have said that "no party is
worthy of the support of Christian
men that was unwilling to declare
against the saloon,n is third party
speech.
The above expressions, coming as
they do from the highest official voice
of the church, commit the church to
the third party platform; at the same
time, the claim that any utterance
OF this kind is call for any one to
join the so-called third party, in
other words, to vote the Prohibition
ticket, while it may be the ultimate
result, it does not necessarily follow.
1t is a call to keep out of any license
party, old or new, and if it forces one
into the Prohibition party by the
logic thus presented, it is only be-
cause of the fact that there is no
other standing ground at present.
But it does not hinder the formation
of another party to carry out the
same idea, or a getting in line with
church resolutions, and voting out
the liquor tr affic by the united effort
of Christian men.
Any one, therefore, who does not
obey that utterance of their church, is
untrue to his church's highest dec
larations in conference. 1t is un-
doubtedly true, however, that the
church at large, today, is response
BILE for the existence of the legalized
saloon in our midst; for she has the
power to rise in her might, and in the
strength of the Lord put it down,
blot it out. repeat that the legali-
zed liquor traffic exists because
Christian voters think more of sue
cess of party than they do of getting
rid of this evil. In many it is because
of apathy; in some, "My people doth
not consider" In others it is honest
misconception of what is right; i'm
-
in great majority it is too positive
confidence in the truthfulness of a
party press.
/ belive in foreign missions, and am
glad to do what 1 can, according 8
God blesses me, to further their in
terests; but when realize the extent
to which the Christian church is ne
glecting to use her power to sweep
our own doors clean, l am amazed, 1
am appalled,, at her apathy in this di-
rection.
For every foreign missionary sent
abroad we send thousands of barrels
of rum to debauch and degrade and
demonize the very heather we are
trying to save; and our own land is
lying in waste, and our own citizens
are becoming more and more alco-
holized. We as Christian nation
consent that it shall be beyond in
difference to the cause.
If the same amount of energy were
spent in awakening our own people
to sense of their duty on this mat
ter as is spent on that of missions
not lessening in one iota the effort
for these-the church would be shak-
en- from center to circumference. and
all over our fair, but now cursed land
(by reason of RUM, there would be
such an uprising that this vile serpent
of darkness-this hellish monster,
this destroyer of home and happiness
would bite the dust, and America, at
least, would be free.
We can not say ours is ssthe land of
the free and the home of the brave''
until we are brave enough to set our
selves free from this awful curse.
Unless we do this, I see day of
darkness approaching. The church
and all concerned will suffer. The
liquor power is becoming more and
more powerful, entrenched, and for
titled, and when the struggle in earn
est against it comes, as come it must,
it will fight till the death. see riot
and bloodshed in large cities, for this
monster is not going to die easy.
see the church, by her long neg
lect to do her Lords will, will have
brought judgment and suffering upon
herself. | see her split in controver-