The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-02-04
PRAISES FRANCIS MURPHY.

| f1ultof Advertiser: While reading tn
last Saturdays edition of the Advertise
L was very much surprised to see hov
viciously and thoughtlessly Mrs. Heller
Cougar denounced Mr.. Francis Murphy
the temperance advocate Who Mrs
Cougar is and what mission she is try
ing to accomplish here 1 don't pretend
TO know, but l must say that she has
made very un-Christianlike attack OF
a man who undoubtedly has done a greai
deal of good in Honolulu.
! Her scathing remarks on Mr. Murph,
We're entirely uncalled for and show q
very poor spirit Is Mrs. Helen Cougar
aware of all the harm and undoing OF
good work her accusations may do and
( VIII do? Under Mr.. Murphy's influence
in this town many men have been in
duced to sign the pledge and are stick
ing TO that same pledge, and her words
may be the means of many OF them
breaking their VOW, by making them lose
all faith and confidence in their bene-
factor.
Mr. Murphy is practically unknown to
ME and L do not propose to exalt him
or denounce him; but with all due re-
spect to Mrs. Helen Cougar l must say
that her remarks were anything but
Christianlike or wen-timed.
Mr.. Murphy is far away from here now
and cannot defend himself, and that fact
alone condemns Mrs. Helen Cougar as
being cruel and unkind to one whom /
have every reason to believe is trying to
lead and live a good life. s--@----
Who is she. that she should be his
judge? In the best of men and women
there is always room for improvement
more or less, and why should that lady
take it upon herself to Judge SO harsh
ly?
AS tnr ATr ie-,
success, although he did his best-and
mortal man cannot do more. To my
mind his lectures savored too much of
slang expressions and hardly the talk
one likes to hear in the pulpit.
Regarding the "money-in-it'' question,
well that is an old story Every temper
ance reformer / have come into contact
with has the dollars and cents in view
just the same as we have in our daily
work and l never knew one man or wom-
an yet in that line of business that did
the work for love of their fellow crea-
lures alone. Every man must live, and
even if he does depend on the generosity
of others for that living it surely is no
crime to take UP a collection.
This lecture business is not all fun. 1t
means a lot of work, and if a man sets
out and does good to his fellow man as
Mr.. Murphy has done let him continue to
do so. Don't rake up all the bad he has
done. Rather than that, look at the
good. There are men here who can say
"God bless Francis Murphy" and mean
it, too.
The idea of law being the only way to
prevent drunkenness is ridiculous. There
is law against murder, stealing, and ev-
cry other crime, but that fact don't pre-
vent those crimes, and prohibition by
law has been proved an utter failure. If
Honolulu We're declared a prohibition
town then more crimes would be COM
mitted than ever before, and Francis
Murphy is right in his teaching of moral
suasion and love of fellow man. How
ever, Mr.. Murphy did good here that
no one can deny, and if even one man
has been rescued from a drunkard's
fate, and is once more ON the level he
ought to be, then Mr.. Murphy's mis-
sion in Honolulu has not been in vain.
None of US can undo our past; SO let
us look to the future. It does no good
to backbite our neighbors and 1t is con-
temptible thing 10 do it when they are
not in position to defend themselves.
Rather let US say kind word when we
can. LIVE AND LET LIVE