Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1903-12-17
The Temptsr 10 Morally Worse Than
the Tempted.

up on the streets in one OF our great
cities the other day helplessly drunk
and taken to the alcoholic ward OF q
hospital.
No father and no mother can read
of such an incident without horror,
or without fear for their own boys,
amid the temptations Of city life.
The small drunkard when his
senses returned to him cursed the
barkeeper who sold him the liquor.
And that barkeeper ought to be
cursed not by the poisoned child
only, but by all men that are con
scious of the moral duty resting
upon the mature to shield youth
against its own ignorance, curiosity
and undisciplined desires.
1t should be the special duty of
the authorities to curse that bar
keeper to practical purpose by drag
ging him in to court and giving him
long term in Jail for his own pun
ishment and as warning to others
in the same trade not to break the
law against selling liquor to minors.
THE CITY OR TOWN THAT
DOES NOT GUARD chill DREN
FROM WHISKY, AND AGAINST
ALL THE EVIL INDULGENCES
OPEN TO FREE-LIVING MEN,
is PUT TO SHAME.
And lads older than the little
inebriate referred to, boys nearing
manhood, are entitled to better
guardianship from the community
than they receive.
Freedom is good for men. Give
men liberty and hold them account
able for the abuse Of it-that is
sound doctrine. The kind of good
ness which is obtained by making
it impossible to sin is not the kind
OF goodness that will wear when the
time of trial comes. 1t is a hot
house plant. Man should be master
of himself. When he is that he has
the power within to resist environ
ment. But the man that is ac-
customed to props from without goes
to pieces when those props are re-
moved-when he moves to some
place where he may do as be chooses.
But the doctrine Of liberty with
responsibility which applies to
adults does not apply to the young.
Just as a child has to be taught to
walk, so must the youth be taught
to recognize danger when it con-
fronts him. He needs the guiding
hand until his moral muscles have
hardened and he is able to walk
alone.
Lead US not into temptation" is
a prayer which above all other
prayers shows profound knowledge
of weak human nature.
Keep temptation out of the way of
the young and keep the young out
of the way Of temptation.
1t is a crime not to safeguard
youth from temptations that may
ruin character while character is
forming.
The penalties cannot be made too
severe for such as place before grow
ing lads the temptation to drink,
the temptation of gambling-tempt-
alton of any sort yielding to which
impairs purity and vigor Of mind or
body.
And whether temptation be pre-
sented to the young or their elders,
this is truth that is not so well APP
pretended as it should be:
The tempter is always worse than
Tue beIHpbeu.
President Roosevelt, who is as
prolific of moral maxims as a copy
book, says that "the bribe-giver and
the bribe-ta ker are equally guilty"
In the eyes of the law, yes; but
morally speaking, no.
What is a trifle to a rich man or
corporation, to poor man is very
large sum of money. The stockhold-
ers of the Standard Oil Trust, for
example, would never feel the loss OF
a few thousand dollars that would
mean to the legislator enough to
raise the mortgage on his home, or
educate his children, or free him
from the haunting dread of poverty
for his family should be die or be dis
abled.
The man or woman that offers a
bribe to the policeman or the custom.