The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-03-11
Tn. saloons and tho pharisees.

Erom time to time we have printed II
this column notable public expression
of eminent men of the day, as being ths
wisest and best things that could De saie
mon the subject discussed. Today, w
nuota a considerable portion of BishoI
Potter,s letter to the Rev. Lyman Apootl
90 axaetlv representing the opinions o.
.The gsswss upon h LIQUOR question:
II Is the old situation-as old as The
re,,e;on of Jesus Christ-with h
scribes and Pharisees on the one
hand. the Saducees on the other, ana,
over against them, the Truth.
No more perfect reproduction of h
frst named has appeared in our day
than he Prohibitionist, ct id omne
genus. arrogant, denuneiatory, ignor-
ant. INSCRIPTIONS and untruthfuli
holding one meagre fragment OF the
truth to their eyes, n denying great
and fundamental facts in human ma
t,1re. in their foolish and futile en-
deavor to remedy the perversion OIL
human Instincts by e~xtirpating them;
tr,,e children of the medieval sys-
TENS of monastic asceticism, Whicn
they would fain substitute for the
Freedom of regenerated manhood. The
grotesque hypocrisy of the prohibition
system, from Maine to Kansas, IS a
sufficient commentary upon their
theories. Meantime. the endeayors OF
wiser men and women to better the
c~ondition-the homes, the domestic life,
the recreations-of their less favored
brethren go untouched of these fit sue
cessors of those to whom Jesus said:
.Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharl-
sees, hypoerites, for We biz heavy
burdens upon mems shoulders, and
grievous to be borne, and We yourselves
viii not touch them with the tips Of
your fngersl"
What I have said has its consider
Able and inspiring qualifications, and
men of wealth and intelligence who
had originally dismissed the saloon"
question, and all that it involves, as
equally hopeless and insoluble. nave in
recent years, and in some conspicuous
instances which l need not recall,
grappled with the larger problems of
the housing and lettering of wage
earners in all the various aspects in
which those various problems present
themselves: and have ion noble and
generous things along the line OF a
wiser and more brotherly consideration
for their fellow men.
But the whole movement is as yet in
its infancy, n waits for guidance,
enlightenment and, above all, co-ordi-
nation. AS yet we nave been but fun
bling with social problems, whether
in this country or elsewhere. unable
or unwilling, apparently, to recognize
that the radical changes in our indus
trial and social conditions which ave
come to pass during this century have
brought with them demands upon
wealth. experience, scientific sympathy
and s~elf-sacrifce which the favored
classes are as yet but slow to recog-
nize. The p~ermanence, however, of our
present social structure will depend
upon their recognition; and of the APP
probation of this fact I am glad to see
that there is daily increasing evidence.
OF course, in this larger aspect of a
vast question, the saloon is a mere in
cident. Its causes, its phases, its rela-
fion to the home life as well as the
Individual life of communities. the evils
that feed it, the miseries that support
ii: a whole host of questions such as
these wait for a consideration which
as yetsthey nave hardly had.
Meantime, it may be well to relieve
the minds of fanatical and hysterical
people by saying hat there is no one
cure for so vast a mischief as the
saloon stands for; and, generally. that
in dealing with humanity and it's per-
verted instincts and appetites. the
Divinest Teacher that the world has
had would seem to ave taught US a
law Of Transformation, as that for the
regeneration. whether of society OF Of
the evil instincts Of individuals-not
extirpation.