Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-05-23

lines OF travel. Inc puDi1c safety d'
mands II. And also corporations wi
4 not risk the financial losses drunken en-
8 ployes entail. The complicated machiI
cry Of the present time requires clea
active brains and steady nerves to opel
ate 1t with safety.
I'll While the evil and DISASTROUS effects {
I. alcoholic drink Is recognized by ever
: intelligent person, IL seems strange {
! | our womanish understanding that il
manufacture should be allowed by
, Christian Nation. And yet our Govern
ment enters into partnership with th
brewers and distillers, having revenu
tax on all which Is manufactured; an
for money, licenses men to deal IL out {
the public. But when harmful food
bad beef for instance, is sold, the Who'll
nation Is righteously indignant and
systematic course of inquiry Is at ono
instigated with view of bringing tn
offenders to merited punishment. An,
we have our Gov. Inspectors for mill
and other food products and whatever /
found uuhealthful is destroyed.
Il Could any conscientious Board o
Health fail To condemn all products o
the brewery and distillery, and tobacc'
In all its forms, as unhcaithfnl and dan
gcrous to those who consume them?
And our Christian Nation Is alread.
sending ship loads of rum and beer u
Porto Rico, Cuba and the Philippine
''in the interests of trade"
/ With regard 10 the tobacco habit,
wish to quote the opinion Of some o
Names we'll known educators:
Pres. Chase of Bates College says
at Injuries the users health, lessens hi
mental energy, lowers his ideals All,
blunts his moral sensibilities.
Pres. Hyde os Bowdoin College says
II have known students In nearly ever,
class in college, who have left colleg'
with nerves unstTung, power OF persis
tent effort destroyed and aspiration fo
life OF usefulness dulled aud deadenet
rs direct result of constant and exces
sive smoking"
The Prin. of Bangor High School, ii
h. White, says:-''in an experience o.
- years with high school scholars,
have never known a boy To form q habi
of smoking without utterly uniting
himself for school work"
saw In statistics OF 1890 that the to
bacco bill Of this nation was $500 ,0OO, ,Oot
or $3.50 per individual, while that sam,
year the expense oil the nation for pub
lie education was s96,0OO,0O or sl.5.
per capita, against $3.50 for tobacco, ano
sl4.2S per capita for spirituous liquors
Thus making 81, 500, 100000 worse thar
wasted, million times worse than
wasted!
| That was the direct cost of the run
and tobacco for one year, but who car
estimate the indirect cost To the nation
in the loss of physical and mental power
and the time lost, the loss of labor, sick
ness caused by the habits, the crimes
perpetrated, the insanity created and
the pauperism?
Life insurance statistics show thai
alcohol shortens the lie of the usei
nearly one-half. The total abstainer has
an average Of ~ years of life, while the
age Of only about 50 years.
The Supreme Court Of the United
States has voiced the opinion that "rhs
| police power of the State is fully compe-
tent TO regulate the liquor business, to
mitigate It's evils, or ~ suppress Ii en-
| tirely."
Why then Is not this done? Is IL be-
cause public sentiment does not support
tie action? How is il in our own com
munities, which are miniatures of the
nation? Are people living up to the re-
quirements of the laws of our State? IL
not, who is responsible?
"A 90
Cain, "Am my brothers keeper" Is
still the shield behind which ease loving
souls seek 10 hide. The question, "How
far we are partakers OF other peoples
sins?r is one which Ii would be well foi
us each to ponder.
Women, though not having the righ,
| Of franchise, can do much toward rene
dying public evils; for they can and do
mould public sentiment IN large de-
gree. No new laws are needed 10 give
women this privilege. IL is universally
conceded that a woman's tongue Is her
inherited right! SO whatever evils We
deplore, we can If we will make them, In
time, so unpopular and contemplate
that public sentiment against them Will
become an unwritteR law, harder To
evade than the statutes lawyers are too
prone To interpret To suit their clients.
For illustration, take the tobacco hab-
IL. Ii ali the respectable women and
girls would show contempt for the weak
ness and folly OF using this insidious
| narcotic, how soon would there be a
reformation in regard 10 IL. No self
respecting young man would begin its
use. and large proportion Of the young
er men especially would make strenuous
efforts 10 overcome the habit We can
always feel tolerant toward the aged.
BY whatever habits they may have be-
come enslaved, u those We expect them
To be in bondage, as general rule, till
they are freed from the infirmities of
the flesh. But Is Is for the young we
would raise the strong barrier Of public
opinion against everything which will
harm them physically, mentally and
spiritually.
Then too, with regard 10 the social
purity question. When every decent
woman ard pure minded girl shall recog.
nize the indelible Scarlet Letter on every
man OF impure life as clearly as they do
on his victims, then and then only can
we expect this evil to cease.
When Nehemiah was filled with zeal
to repair the walls OF Jerusalem, his be-
loved city, he set every man TO build
"over against his own house" and soon
the city was encompassed by a strong,
high wall. And SO the great army OF
the w. G.. L. U. each working to repair
the wrongs in her own vicinity, in uni
son with the thousands working all over
the country, will eventually build this
nation in justice, temperance, purity and
righteousness.
DO you not suppose those Israelites
were cheered and gladdened day by day
by hearing one from another OF how
work was progressing on the various
sides, beyond the limit of their vision!
apprehend that one great cause OF
dormant and dead Unions Is that they
were too self conferred and intr0spective.
The results of their own work seemed
90 small aud meager, they soon began to
| feel that it amounted to SO little 1t wal
not worth the trouble. While from q
larger knowledge of the work, they
would have seen themselves important
factors of the whole, and their work un
done, the defences Of their own homes
insecure!
Every white ribbon is silent protest
not only against intemperance, the to
bacco habit, impurity, profanity and Sab
bath desecration, but against everything
else which q boy or girl feels to bt
wrong. You will see this In their &C
tions, If you closely observe them. 81
the very fact of such IN organization II
" town is defence against . host o
evils, as we'll ss an educator Of public
sentiment.