The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-07-21
POLICY VS.. PRINCIPLE
He Says the President of Clark Is Unwit,
tingly Aiding the Rum Element Hints
At a Motive-Doctrine Intended
For the "Elect" Disseminated
Broadcast By the Press.

| it is good to take a drink" with the or
binary practice of the doctors own life,
admitting, as he does, that he is to-
tai abstainer "for ethical reasons" AS
professor and student of philosophy, ne
lays stress on the time-worn truth,
| THE excitation of the senses which are
the beginnings of our knowledge (prin-
clpia nostrae cognitionis) is an assist
ance to mental work." but as a private
individual, he poses as teetotaler from
policy and not on principle.
Were this lesson confined to the Sc
lect assemblage, one might not take
exception to the teaching, whatever
might be the opinion regarding the
doctors own practice. Whether alco-
i hol is a proper and necessary medium
for the excitation of the senses in the
pursuit of a university education,
would still remain an open question
with Dr. Halls 'ethical reasons"
standing conspicuously against its en-
ployment.
With the Wine and Spirit Gazette
printing an affidavit of DIR. Halls at
I terances, with every brewing corp IRA
ton bowling with delight in its adver-
tisements at this laudation of Bacchus
and Gambrinus, with every sot stand
! ing at a bar learnedly discussing
nerve crepitations, the vision of pr.
Halls goodly ancestors turning over in
| their Puritan graves, might convince
US that the age of spiritual manifesto
| tons had not passed and gone for
! ever
1t is quite the fashion nowadays for
university men to make so-called
| breaks. Not long ago the venerable
| senator from Worcester felt obliged to
make use of very strong terms in deal
| ing with the remarks of one Of the
! leading lights of Harvard. Harvard $
| seniority in years ought not to give the
institution monopoly of breaks" DR..
Hall seems to have gotten completely
away from the hide-bound prejudiccs
of Puritan ancestry, the stern exac-
tons Of boyhood's experience with New
England Sabbaths and the unsatisfac-
tory teachings of the theological SEM
inaries. In larger life, he would make
plea for less restraint, more freedom
and greater enthusiasm. Outside Of the
duty encumbent upon him of instruct
ing the initiated" into the mystery
and value of alcohol as an adjunct in
the excitation of the senses for purely
pedagogical purposes.
| DIR. Hall confesses that he stands for
| total abstinence in those questions
which affect right character and cor :
duct. AS moral agent intelligent and
! free, possessed of a conscience, he is
1
considering the ultimate grounds Of
moral obligations, he is total abstain
err Confronted with ideas Of right and
ought in their relations to a moral
standard of excellence and the require
ments of duty underlying the personal
motives of moral action, as well as in
the attainment of the ideal in charac-
ter and life, he declares himself to-
tai abstainer DR.. Hall is a teetotaler
from policy" Many good man, and
for that matter good woman, has gone
into the total abstinence move
| ment from policy and re-
manned a conscientious worker from
convictions
One of the greatest evils we have to
combat In society life of cur
organization springs from the
presence of fedgling politicians,
wire-pullers and members who
seek admission to advance their own
interests No social organization IS
free from this parasite. Hundreds who
never Joined the total abstinence
ranks are abstainers from policy which
may be selfish and not unrighteous.
The knowledge of a failing, the desire
for better health, the ambition for
success, where clear brains and steady
nerves are required-not the intermt-
tent excitability Of the senses--have in
| duced thousands to take the pledge
from policy, A selfish motive, If you
viii, and commendable one.
Others have never experienced that
exhaustion Of the nerve centers," and
are total abstainers from choice. This
class also right be placed under the
head of abstainers from policy. DR..
| Hall affirms he Is ~teetotaler from
i policy and not on principle" Here we
are in fog. feel sure l am quoting
! him correctly in the statement, Il am
a practical teetotaler for ethical rea-
sons" How ethics can become a factor
in a problem without principle Is in
deed puzzling composition to the gem
| eral reader. The man who is a total
abstalner on the principle that alcohol
Is ma luin in Sc" would experience DIFF
ficulty In clearing himself from the
/ talnt Of the Manichean heresv and otn-
| er antiquatel condemned doctrines
which the Catholic church has met
with in the different periods of her his
tory. II there are fanatics who arc
total abstainers on this principle Of
'malum In Sc" their fanaticism and not
their reason is the groundwork OF their
! abstention from Indulgence in intoxi-
| eating liquors.
i I am firmly convinced that the vast
majority of the $4,000 who Joined to-
| gether in the national union are total
abstainers "for ethical reasons' and
| the wild statements spread broadcast
by fiippant sensational press cannot
| fail to do positive harm to the work
! they have undertaken for higher living
! and better morals. In finginx stones
at the Manicheans. DIR. Hall UNWILLING
Continued on page sevsn)