The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-07-01
TEMPERANCE PROBLEM
AND ITS SOLUTION.
Doctor r. D. Smart Says That
Liquor Traffic Can Be Elimi.
mated by United Effort.

The Reverend Doctor r. d. Smart, pastor
OF COOK Avenue NJ. e. Church, South.
preached special sermon on "Temperance''
Yesterday morning The doctor chose the
words IN Ecclesiastes vi. Il: For who
X X. what is good for man in this
hte! He said, in part:
mere are i've things which It seems all
sensible people will agree upon as being
good for man in this life-a good name. a
good conscience, q good understanding a
good provision for this life, and a GOOD
nope OF the lift to come.
:, Whatever destroys, or robs. a man of
these good things must be his deadly foe
some evils rob him Of one, and some Of an
oIn I OF them, but II asked to state what
Of them. / would answer, the habit Of i'm I'M
temperance in the matter Of intoxicating
drink drink ., Doctor Talmase quoting his father
S ny hsaa became TEMPERANCE man in early
that, though l was physically weaker than
other men. could hold out longer than
they. Ihsy took stimulsnts; took none
employ. He says, after investigation. The
peer d FL Hoa who made the fewest bricks
fewest bricks made 746,o00 a difference in
behalf Of the abstainer over the Indulge. of
5000. There came an exnaus,ing time In
prolonged till nearly ali the men xot SICK.
or worn out. Out Of the f56 members only
two went through unchanged. They were
teerotai i, sa,a When the Russians 50 ont to
line and smells the breath Of every soldier
II there be in his breath the faint Of inttx-
t eating iiaqSr the men is sent back to the
All our young men Of athletic sports know
this. When training for the regatta, the
ball club, or the champion confess they in
This evil is said to carry bstween sixty
and hundred thousand people to prema-
ture graves every year. and that ons-hslf
and five-s!xths Of the crime Of this nation
are traceable to it. had occasion last Sun
day to refer to Protagoras who boosted that
spent forty Of them in running youth. but
this evil may make the more Infamous boast
that all its life It has been running the bod
wonder what is termed the temperance
evil. The history Of that movement sgt the the
evn in into whsn M
against distilled spirits only: second, teeto-
talism in 1880: and. third. prohibition in $40
But how is this evil to be put down? In
my opinion 1t cannot be successfully done
without assistance Of law, and the ma
chinery of government. II government Is
instituted for the purpose Of securing JUS
of its citizens. for the punishment Of evil
doers, and for the praise of them that do
WELL then is It as much its right, and its
Obligation to afford protection against the
demon Of intsmperanee. as against the de.
mon Of pestilence; the demon OF crime, OF
the demon Of the gambling table May II
not be that the dreaded loss Of revenue has
Of our lawmakers in dealing with this
question as thei- honest objections to enact
ing what they term eumptuary laws? Some
Of Ohio a delegate had the hardihood to
arise and express the conviction Of a great
many by saying that when he considered
the misery caused by intemperance on the
one hand. and the immense financial inter
ests and revenue to the Government, some
twenty million dollars annually. involved In
the trafi1c on the other. he was compelled
to oppose temperance legislation. Weighing
money in one scale. against misery in the
et !.Wou,a TN, ". had more Gladstone,
S dstess an II LIQUOR deaiesa rep
resenting the loss Of revenue to the Govern:
ment that would result from the proposed
legislation. had the wisdom and the moral
courage to reply that loss Of revenue was
not to be considered when legislation on a
subject Of public morals was under dis
cuss!cn.
and enforcement OF the needed lawsi
that but speak out clearly its demand; and
dare thwart 1t: They are its servants. not
,ss at the next election. But. you
NSt a. that is srns ony Gsis tG en
the principles Of religion into politics. very
desirable thing to do. And how may this
public opinion be aroussd; and induced e
our country giving forth no uncertain
sound in their spheres OF influence. BY the
press in theirs By the platform. and by
these begin to quarrel among Themselves
il the pulpit attack the temperance 50.
cieties, because 1t does not like their meth;
DDS, or the temperance orsanizations nolc
do not care to fight the battle as the tenn.
perance society may have pitched II, con
fusion and defeat are certain to follow.