The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1900-03-02
WHISKY AND
ITS EVILS.
Discourse of DR.. A. S. Pet
tie at the
FIRST M. E. CHURCH SUNDAY NIGHT
The Open Saloon Has Caused More
Desolation Than All the Wars of
the World Since the Discovery OF
America.

Dr. A. S. Petite, of Nashville, repre-
sentlng the American AntI-Saloon
League, addressed u large audience at the
First Methodist Churcn Sunday night.
The First Presbyterian, Baptist, Gum
berland Presbyterian and Christian
Churcnes gave away for this service,
and each congregation was we'll repre-
sented.
DIR. Petti's address was a strong
argument against the liquor traffic, and
his remarks were highly entertaining.
tie took as a text tor his discourse Il
portion of the parable of the Good
samaritan, from the tenth chapter or
Luke. This good Samaritan, he said,
dld not have the compassion which says,
Il am with thee" or God be With
thee," but he had that kind of compass
sion which Is p actical and bears good
results. He went and helped the poor
wounded traveller at the sacrifice OF
both time and money; he incurred ex-
penSe to do good, and he was a bold,
brave, manly man. But his act in aio-
ing the wounded man did not remove
the cause of his wounds. So long as
those robbers Infested the highways,
other men would fail victims TO their
lawless- deeds; but, once they were sub
dued, the roads would be as safe as any
IN the country and travellers could pass
chat way without fear of danger. 1t is
wen to help the unfortunate, but 1t is
better to remove the cause which
brought them to their condition.
There is business In this country,
the speaker continued, which has maze
more wounds, stripped more people
of their clothing, aud caused more
hunger and hearts ache and desolatlOn,
tnan all the wars the world has known
since the discovery of America 400 years
ago. AS result of this business the
open Saloons xty thousand boys are
marching every year to drunkard s
grave and drunKard's he'll.
In the past, we have been playing the
part of the good Samaritan caring and
providing for the victims of this lnfam-
Gus business, by filing our jails and
peuitentlarles with criminals, our poor
houses with paupers, and our asylums
with lunatlcs, wnile our churches and
charitable societies have been sending
out and providing food and clothes tor
those who have become victims of this
great evil. In the future, would it not
De better for US to remove this 50 fruit
ful source OF 50 many calamities to our
land? Would it not be better for the
church to spend its money and use its
energies to remove the open saloon?
| am against the saloon, said DIR.
Petite, because it has never made any
mans moral character better; it has
never made a bad man good, nor a good
man better. On the contrary it has
made thousands of good men bad, and
thousands of bad mon worse. The re-
port of grand jury in Chicago some
time ago showed that 70 per cent of the
crimes committed in that city were
traceable to whisky. Several years ago
as a result OF an investigation by the
Massachusetts legislature, 1t was ascer
tanned that SO per cent of the criminals
IN that state were addicted to the drink
habit. and that 81 per cent were under
the influence of strong drink at the time
their crimes were committed. The
speaker said that he had been a resident
of Nashville for seven months, and dur
ing that time there had been "a dozen
murders committed there. lie had
noted all the cases and each one of them
loon. When so much evil is caused by
this nefanous business, why is itailowed
to be carried on? 1t has no right TO ex-
list, and IN the name of GCd and human
Ity ought TO be suppressed.
The saloon makes a few men rich,
while it makes thousands of men poor.
Not only that, but il makes thousands of
women and children poor, who are in
nocent of the crimes of their husbands
and fathers. The Bible says "the drunk
ard shall come to poveTt,,' bat. worse
than that, the women ana chl....,A are
brought to poverty with him. The sa
loon Dullds mansions for few and fur
nisnes huts and hovels for thousands of
others. 1t furnishes electric lights for a
few. while il brings the darkness of de-
SPAR into thousands OF homes. 1t
clothes few in purple and fine linen;
out II clothes thousands of others In
fifth and rags. It feeds few with
plenty, and enhungers and starves
thousands OF others.
The saloon Is heartless and brutal. A
few months ago, at a meeting of the
Ohio Liquor League in Gin .innati, the
President made an address, IN which he
stated: 1.-The open field Tor the era
ton Of appetite Is among the boys. After
men are matured and their habits form
ed, they rarely change IN this regard.
We must do missionary work There