Washington sentinel., 1900-06-02


which Prohibitiorists are capable and
the outrageous and contemplate
charges they make to support their case,
we copy the following from the Chicago
Union SigHah
THE SALOON KINDERGARTEN
Some people who are shuddering over
the awful fate of the slum children are
blind to the conspiracy OF the saloon to
debauch their own children, Liquor
manufacturing plants cannot be enlarged
and made to pay dividends unless the
children of solid respectability are MADE
ready to help consume the product Inc
saloon has its kindergarten m methods Tor
accomplishing this, and it may be that
VIXEN solid respectability has its eyes
opened to this last straw OF saloon
effrontery, it will cease to be the conser-
vative drag it has always been In tenn
perance campaigns, and will strike in
sheer self defence the blow it has refused
20 strike in the interests Of other
peoples children,
But have not the children Of solid
responsibility the Sunday School, the
Band OF Hope, the Junior Christian
Endeavor society, and the training in
the public schools on temperance physI'
ology to fOrtify them against intemper-
ance2 Yes, but what do all these things
count for ifthe saloon goes back OF them
all and through the mother inoculates
the child with a taste for alcohol before
il is bornp If this is not a part OF the
program of the liquor traffic, then l can
not read signs, The most attractive
advertising pages of the most popular
magazines are teeming with specious
advertisements of MALT Extracts" for
nursing mothers, win" this, that or the
other, for dispensing alcohol through
the soda fountain, and all sorts oil matted
''tonics' for tired women.
passed a shop window the other day
that bore the novel announcement,
Liquid Bread. Free Samples to
Mothers" OF course it was liquid lie.
The bottles contained a malt extract
that would inevita ply create an appetite
tor stronger stimulants.
But the novelty of the thing and the
specious promises Of strength as If by
magic are not alone relied upon to induce
mothers TO permit the thin edge of the
appetite for drink to enter. The COM
pounds are commended by people in
high position. Now It is a poet, whose
rhymes are better than his morals, who
testi6es he does his best work on the
strength of this preparation. Now 1t is
some continental artist, whose pictures
bring thousands, that tells of the reviv-
ing effects of another decoction. Now
an eminent jurist declares that he
regards "MaIt Extract" as the savior ol
his life.
Once the gateway to the mothers
blood is unlocked to alcohol in ever so
low percentage, the life OF the unborn
or the nursing child is contaminated,
and we'll the cold blooded calculators,
the whisky manufacturers, know that
every saloon license will be a gold mine.
This IS the mothers department OF the
saloon kindergarten.
The next step in the deep laid plot to
debauch childhood, before it IS born If
they can, after it is born, but before it
can be fortified bv Temperance teaching,
il they must wait, is through the con-
fectionery store. The Ventura County,
California, Free Press tells how saloon
keeper in a town in southern California
filed his pockets with small bottles OF
wine which he disirio uted free among
the boys OF the town, in pursuance Of the
policy enunciated at a recent Liquor
Dealers Association meeting, of making
customers of the boys by means of free
treats.
But the class Of boys that would spurn
the offer OF a free treat of wine or beer
are being reached in a way that, for
subtle cunning, matches the serpent in
the Garden OF Eden. They are tempted
by brandy concealed in candy. Here
are Sc yeral specific instances that have
come to my notice lately:
Olive Peck Shaw writes to the New
York Christian AaVOcats thatin teaching
the lesson on the miracle at Cana she
made the discovery that many Of the
girls OF her class had become familiar
with the taste Of liquor through brandy
drops that the stores sold at a cent each
James BrOderick, a six year old boy Of
Kearney, N. e, was found andering in
the streets deeply intoxicated. The
child, told. later, how he bad bought
some candy, "full of sweet juice" that
made him ''ieel funny all over" An
investigation showed that many of the
school children we're spending their
money for brandy drops.
Even the candy that is distributed at
our Christmas trees is not always free
from this bait OF the pit. The kinder
garten work OF the saloon is to inject
enough alcohol into the blood cells Of
the child to create predisposition for
strong drink that no amount OF temper
ance teaching can neutralize.
And this is the sort of a monster that
the Government of this country Is
coddling on its BREAST for the sake OF
revenue, and that politicians are putting
in between the sheets as a political
bediellow Of good moral citizens" and
professed followers Of Jesus Christ.
The CAnteen IN the Tropics.