The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-09-09
Reforming the New Testament.


A prominent member of the W. C. T. U.
once called that body the We'll See TO
You Society, am persons intimately ac-
ouainted with it think the name is good
ore There are various things and per-
sors upon this mundane sphere which are
in urgent need of being seen to-" it is
true. and the society has at various times
turned its attention to them. The prayer
chain" movement which. by the way, is
repudiatcd by most of the members of the
association as notion with which they
are not in sympathy, seems to be an eX-
IRENE development Of the system of see
ing to- things The advocates thereof OBJ
| viousIy regard the White House within
! their catalogue of things which must be
set to rights.
As most people know, the movement was
started by "a coterie of people who are
much exercised over President McKinleys
refusal to abolish the army canteen. They
do not know. or do not wish to believe,
that chaplains in the army have asserted
! this canteen 10 be the best means for pre-
venting drunkenness among the enlisted
men; what they want is the whole loaf or
nothing AS soon as they get around to 1t
they are going to prohibit the existence of
saloons anywhere on the earth, but in the
mean time if the soldiers must drink. the.
would prefer them to drink bad whisky,
gin, and nameless Oriental connections out
side the jurisdiction of their superiors
rather than good American beer in de-
I cent place. where they will be under some
( kind of supervision. The trouble appears
to be that in the latter case the officers
will be "countenancing' the practice, and
! in the former they viii not 1t is the old
I Pharisaical principle that keeps cropping
! out in modern society. Some people do
not. apparently, care much whether sin is
actually committed in their neighborhood
! SO long as they cannot be held responsible
for it. They would. rather see young
man go headlong to perdition, against their
advice and warning than "countenance" a
slight deviation from their principles as
concession to wayward human nature. In
| the former case their skirts will be clear,
| anyway; in the latter they will have to
admit that their principles are not applica-
! bic to every problem within the range OF
human experience.
But one of the advocates of this prayer
| chain business goes a little further than
even the most jealous Wen See to You"
He is Mr. John Ward, Of New York, and he
acts as if he might be some relation to
John Ward. Preacher. He serenely re-
marks. after glowing eulogy Of the plan
of praying Mr.. Mckinley out of the White
House:
81 have felt fer some years that Christ made
1 a great mistake IN drinking wine and by his
example advocating its moderate use, and thi.
/ whcu he symbolize9 this in the Lords Supper
/ he left heritage that has proved curse 10
un-e,d generations.
Mr.. Ward, it Will be observed. does not
stop with the conviction that it is the duty
Of temperance advocates to reform official
society. He thinks it would have been a
good thing II they had been on hand some
nineteen hundred years ago. and evidently
considers it an oversight on the part Of the
Lord that he did not provide for them.
Perhaps if delegations of the W. c. 7. L.,
and the Y NJ c. A.. and the A. B. c. F. NJ.
and all the other societies with alpha
betical titles had been around when the
New Testament was constructed it would
have been considerably improved. and per-
haps If the founder of the Christian re-
ligion had heard what the temperance lee
turers Of today could tell him he would
have refrained from performing that mira
Gle at the Galilean wedding feast and OK
pressly stated to all who heard him that
the only beverage OF which he thoroughly
approved vas cold water But the fact re-
mains that he did nothing OF the kind
There were persons around in those days
wh1 disapproved of his conduct in drinking
wine, however, and perhaps they belonged
to temperance society; We have no means
of knowing. 1t is on record that they
found fault with him on several occasions
because he did not move in the best So
ciety. and because when he dined with the
persons whom they were pleased to call
what his hosts did, and did not take the
opportunity to rebuke them for self-indul-
gence. The persons who said these things
were called Pharisees. and they were the
only class OF people for whom the great
Master appears TO have had a thorough
dislike. 1t Is doubtful. therefore, if Mr.
Wards remarks would have had much eff
feet had he been In Palestine in those days.
But this will probably only cause him to
be convinced, like John p. Robinson. that
they didn't know everything down in
JUDGE
Nightmares.
Most neonle have had Nightmares v,bar