The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-06-21
AND THE MOVEMENT WILL, BIZ
FURTHERED AT A Meeting
TONIGHT.
CHURCHMEN TO BE RELIED ON
To ReIegate the saloon to Place
Where 1t Will Do No More
Harm.


platform where the presidents of va
rious temperance organizations-wom
ems societies, Catholic women's So
cieties, w. c. T. T., temperance and
young peoples societies of the city
together with the pastors of the several
city churches. j. D. O'Brien occupied
the chair
The meeting opened with the singing
Of America" by the entire congrega-
ton, and prayer by Rev J. w. COnley
d. D., after which Prof. COngdOn led
the singing of the hymn, Throw Out
the Life Line"
Chairman O'Brien in introducing the
speaker of the evening said that every
person would admit the potency of the
arguments on behalf Of temperance; nc
person pretended to dispute that the
use Of intoxicating liquors was a dan
gerOus and useless custom, and one
that was not only prejudical to the in
diVidual, but of the most potent evil
to society and state. But there were
some people who yet believed that this
| question was entirely a personal ques-
ton, and matter of option with the
Individual as to whether he would ad-
vocate the cause of temperance in his
| social or political relations. There
| were some people who saw. no incon-
| sistency in praying to God to let his
| kingdom come on earth as it is in heav-
en-, and still remaining passive to an
| organization Of society which allowed
! the liquor traffic to run rampant and
control the cities and their best in
| tQTaStS inf Of I,o, e
whiskey in politics was more powerful
! than that Of 500 voters, and it was time
! to awaken to the fact that something
must be done to discontinue the pres
ent state Of affairs.
John G. Woolley was introduced and
received with tremendous applause.
He spoke in part as follows
Mr.. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: 1
want TO commence my discourse this evening
| by referring to the responsibility of the
| Christian people, and Christian government
| for the weak and helpless of our citizen
| ship. l rejoice that l am to speak to so
many young Christian men and women, and
! L wish to impress upon you the Importance
| OF Keeping the hands clean from contaminat-
| ing influences. The cause of the shame and
sorrow under which the Christian church
! today lives is that too ndry Of our Judges
| priests and elders have reIinquished their in
! teTest in this work. without obtaining any
! adequate measurement Of the ruin that has
| been effected by the liquor traffic. They are
! praying nightly, but their hands are not
| clean. 1t is useless for us to pray for FIGS
when we SOW thistIes, or pray for clean
! young men and VirtuouS young women while
we SOW along all the city's by-ways tempta-
! tons to allure them from the paths of right
eCusness. 1t is nonsense for men to pray
| to God to work upon the LIQUOR traffic of their
| own town, when in the rest of the country
they are consenting that hell shall be glori-
hed at so much every quarter CT the year.
| (AppiauSe.)
1t is nonsense to suppose that God will
| close up the saloons, when we SO to the
| ballot box every general election day and
deposit our ballots in favor of the party or
| parties who are directly opposed to the
temperance cause. 1t is necessary that we
| take a practical view of these matters. 1t
| seems to me that there is a great deal too
much dealing and trafficking in theoretical
| stocks, and not enough hustling done when
the time comes around to deposit our bal
lots. There is far too little of the far-reach-
| ing salvation of Jesus Christ
great deal is heard of the liquor traffic
and other similar vices being a necessary
| evil in community, but 1 say unto you
there is not such thing as a necessary evil
/ and there should not be. If there was to
| be such necessity for these evil things why
the life, death and sacrifice of Jesus Christ?
| The saloon is the devils principal handiwork
| in St Paul and elsewhere, and it stands
upon conquered territory if the word of God
| can be believed.
The overthrow of the liquor traffic can
! about by sacrifice. 1t will certainly take time
and cannot be done in one two, three ten
or twenty years, but it must be done. The
! cause of education will bring along it's quota
of good work; the w. G.. T. u and certain
young peoples societies. together with other
! kindred church organizations, will all do
great work in the fight against the influences
now so active against the best interests of
| the young people of the country Some
body will undoubtedly get hurt in the opera
ton. but it can be done if God is alive, and
| His word not false.
Glance at the spectacle; see the git-edged
signs hung behind the bars in your city
and all over this country. and decorated with
| the United States coat of arms-the license
| to kill your boy and mine, for that is what
it amounts to in the end. The whole ambi-
ton OF my life is to bring the temperance
! cause. as it is called, back to the Christian
| church, where it belongs. When say that
| do not mean the church steeple. nor the
building, nor the accoutrements, but that
great Intellectual power of this earth which
is geared up by guard wheel of simple faith
| in Jesus Christ For the building of the
temple for the King of humanity, pending
! the coming of the King
! 1t appears to me that for a generation or
more, and especially in these latter days,
Wnen the temperance question has com
menced to embrace national politics. it has
! become the habit Of the church to allot the
| temperance cause to the minor church So
c1etles proceeding by which the cause has
not been able to make itself felt but the
| church has not even kept UP with the tenn
| perance societies. These societies appear to
have done what they could but with society
| and everything against them, and the church
| always eng-ossed in other matters it is not
| surprising that they could do but little else
! than keep the matter at dead level I
must say that the temperance reformer who
sticks to the cd line stubbornly and re-
fuses to grow up with this splendid movement
in these latter days will gibbet his power or
become a dotard in this great reform The
| great blear-eyed, dull-faced public drunkard
is not so much freak he is a CROP An
ounce OF prevention is worth ten tons of cure
in this matter. If work the cure end of
the case we give the saloonkeepers all the
best of the argument, ard we have done this
pretty well here in Minnesota The solution
Of the problem which | bring to you is not so
much to get the children OF drunkards and
drunkards themselves to sign the pledge
while that is an important part of the work
but to get members of the churches to keen
their promises to that organization 1t must
be in direct opposition to the church rules
that you members should go to the polls on
a general election day and vote for a party
which you know to be welded to the inter-
ests of the liquor traffic, and yet it has been
done time after time. Whatever dishonors
girl ruins boy. or breaks a womans heart
whatever it be that helps harms humanity
must be fit subjects for gospel pronunciators
and fit for any pulpit in the land. And any
church that cannot stand this kind of argu-
ment or preaching should disband. We need
more of the dusty foot kind of religion-those
who worship God where they are-on the %
in the railroad trains, the way to the iurv
box to the legislature or to the city council
and when we get that sort of religion moro
firmly imbued into our hearts we will not
be long in finding the solution of this vexing
problem. l want you people, when you leave
this building, to go home and dream of the
300 drunKards who are killed by strong drink
in this great country of ours every day 7
wish | could get every one of you to say no
man should keep a saloon in st. Paul after
this Gay so lar as your recognition was con-