The record-union., 1898-11-14
STRENGTHENED MANHOOD.
SERMON By REV. w. S. HoSKIN-
SON YESTERDAY.
The Occasion Was What is Known
as California Temper
ance Day.

AT the English Lutheran Church yes
terday the pastor, Rev. W. ). HosKi,i-
son, preached from the text: StreIis III
ened With Might in the Inner Mail
Eph. ill.,, 16. He said:
In this temperance work the op1ecI
is to make men strong TO resist tle
temptation TO drink. Paul, DOWN on
his knees, breathed the prayer that
these Ephesians might be made strong
against every evil, and made so by the
Holy Spirit. That was high grounu ne
prayed for them to have, but not too
high 1t would be a high ground IN TINS
temperance work. but not too high. For
it is the only ground not swept by the
flood of iniouity: it is the only ground
where the tempted man can build ms
house of character so that when the
floods do come and the winds do bloW
and beat upon that house, IL idlls
not, because it is builded upon rock
and that rock is Christ. Here alone -
there abiding strength for every travail.
Once more we have passer through !"
political campaign, and 1t Is hltlhe
time for a service like this. Such scenes
as all must have witnessed IN the past
weeks and months make thoughtlul
men serious. And now that purposes
political cannot be charged against US
for such a gathering, We may talk more
freely and lay plans more securely for
future good.
All campaigns have much in COM
mon But some evils contracted with
them become more and more bold and
defiant each year. One of these Is
defiant each year. One of these is the
fact that liquor is the mighty lever in
roadside saloons plastered over with
cards and posters of political aspirants,
and you'n know what it means. Each
one of these is a shop for the manu-
facture of voters for the men that do
business in these shops. There is lit
tie or no political honor in it. Spend
so much money here and you'll get the
support of the place. Who could estl-
mate the number of votes made in this
election simply by the free drinks pass
ed over the counter? Here the candi-
dates We're hatched and put before con-
ventions, and when on the ticket were
pushed with zeal or indifferently, just
in proportion to the money that would
pass over the bar for liquor sold. And
so it becomes that the most corrupt
and corrupting thing in our American
politics is the saloon, and that all think
ing men know
All the organs Of public opinion ac-
knowledge and proclaim the evils
wrought by drink, but at no time are
they so far-reaching as in political
campaigns. No evils among all those
rampant in our land, rival in extent
of ruin and degradation that of drink.
Ask any Specting, reasoning man
the greatest evil in our midst, and he
VIII answer unheSitatingly, drunken
ness. Gambling, the social evil, bias
phemy are only the children of drink.
Murders, assaults, forgeries and the
like are largely caused by drink. Four
fifths of crime and pauperism are
caused by drunkenness. And yet, in
the face of all this, right in the hotbed
of drink are our law makers and law
enforcers made and put into offices.
s Men Will say that we cannot get on
without the traffic; that it is the saliva
tion of the country Well certainly
our politics would be very different
were it not for the traffic Politics as
now known would then be unknown
Offices would seek and find the men
worthy to fill them, and only such. And
much Of this low business of degrad-
ing our American manhood would
cease. The vile trade in mems honor
would be greatly hindered, if not com
pletely broken; and hundreds and thou
sands of men who now disgrace the
right of suffrage would no longer find
employment
1t looks like a war for the very life
and pYlGfpn0n Of
tions, and that the saloon must in
some way be eliminated from our poll
tics, else our prosperity as a people
VIII cease and decay, and disintegra-
tion will surely begin. Or has it al
ready begun? We have reason to look
upon this as the gravest question be-
fore our national, State and municipal
governments to-day.
1t is easy to see whittier we are tend
ing. The worst form of tyrant, monop-
oily, is over our national life. AS the
machinery of our democratic institu-
tions is now run, a few hundred OF
thousand men, with a few millions in
money back of them, can control and
command votes by the hundred thou
sand, and can hold the balance OF
power in any of our elections All
this power now stands behind the Grim
inal classes, sustaining them. massing
them by the attraction of a common
interest; herding them like sheep. and
voting them at will. While all men
know that these votes picked UP and
packed in from the streets. cannot and
are not fit to execute our laws. thou
sands of votes cast on last Tuesday
were no more fit to represent the true
American citizen than would be vote
of the most ignorant Hottentot, be-
cause the man casting it was no
longer a man, crazed by drink the
work. of the saloon in politics.
Here, then, is a great problem await
ing solution. and surely no one can be
blind to the peril that threatens US
Tt calls on the church of Christ tc
awake and put on her most beautiful
garments and go forward. We have
confidence in the saving power of a
complete gospel to solve the problem
of poverty, and restrain the saloon