The San Francisco call., 1904-09-12
CRITICS
TO co SLOW
Rev. Bradford Leavitt Dis
cusses Bishop Potter's
Stand on Saloon Question
NEEDS CAREFUL STUDY
Says What May Be Good for
One Is Bad for Others
and All Have FailingS

'The Bishop and the Saloon" a sub
ject which has evoked volumes of COM
ment from press and pulpit since Bish-
op Potter dedicated the Subway saloon
in New York, was the theme discussed
yesterday morning by the Rev. Brad
ford Leavitt at the. First Unitarian
Church. DR.. Leavitt, while not express
ing an abiding faith in saloons as
civilizing influence, dealt rather Sc
verely with the critics of the Bishop.
He said in part:
The fact that a Bishop should assist in the
formal opening Of such place has shocked
many good people. and it is clear that the
great majority of clergymen and church lead
ers in this country are utterly out OF SYM
pathy with efforts to Christianize the saloon.
The newspapers are divided In their opinions.
or course those who believe all drinking is
wrong have nothing but disapproval OF the
PLAN But there are a good many other people
of alert conscience who do not snare this
conviction Bishop Potter believes saloons are
here 10 stav thai thew cannot be got rid Of
and that the next thing to do is to make the
bad saloon a good saloon. Personally 1 DO
not believe the thing can be done. do not
believe there can be such thing as good
saloon" do believe youth or a man could
get drunk at the Bishops bar well as at
any other bar And yet would not JON tne
hue and cry raised by fanatical men and
women who not worthy to stand in the
good Bishops shadow, and who have never
donated a tithe of the time and study to this
great problem that he has. Bishop Potter has
lived in the slums all through hot summer,
and has devoted years of study to this whole
matter of temperance. 1t seems to me the
Fart of wisdom TO wait and see how the ex-
pertinent will turn out.
There are some persons who think they
know better than others how to live. and they
waste valuable time trying to make others
live their way. Now. we have no right to COM
pei others to live way. What is meat for
one man may be poison for another. Thou
sands are harmed by the misuse of tobacco
and alcohol who have not the pluck to give
them up. There those who insist that be-
cause misuse Of these things harms others,
no should use them. In a word, you must
rot marry, because the man who is too poor
to marry is tempted You must not drink tea,
because it excites that hysterical person. or
bilious one. You must not use cards OF bill
liards; you must not play, because some, If
they play, play too hard, and you must not
work because some men work too hard. In
deed there never was a cleaner example or
the argument lad absurdum than this theory.
which always has st. Paut 3 wherefore II
meat make my brother stumble 1 will
flesh while the world standeth'' tackled on IL.
if this passage from that soldier of Christ
had anything to do with the matter.
1t is not meat, but gormandZing that ruins
the weak broth=r, it is not drinking but guz-
King. Almost everything we put in our
mouths may be taken as food or as stimu-
liant. Intemperance is never TO be stopped
or by the non-use or what may not De
harmful when not abused. Then we must re-
member that TO the labOring man alcOnOl sup
plies something which others get In other
ways and will not go without Asking him
to give II UP is like asking the well-to-do not
to go to the theater concerts. not to read
novels or go to evening parties. but to sit at
home reading religious books. That is, it lifts
him for moment into another world, where
things seem brighter and more beautiful.
There many things we. can all do for
temperance; can offer every facility for
education for cleanliness, for well-cooked
food omany children get taste Of alcohol in
dwellings, fer wholesome amusement l do
not believe every form of alcohol is a poison
from hell, but l do believe the saloon door,
ton 1t is these fermented loafng places that
tempt men and destroy them.
There smoking chewing them
selves to death and eating themselves into
dyspepsia, and women drinking themselves
bilious with coffee and hysterical with tea, who
vet claim the name Temperance" We have
not yet learned the alphabet of success in deal
ing with this matter.
1t is the must change. and we must
do that by practical methods. What I am
most anxious about is that those who so
believe in total abstinence should not feel
that is all that can be done. and that those
who do not bslieve in IL should not therefore
think they can do nothing. You may not be
able to believe these things poisons and
yet be sure the of them is great deal
too common. fnd that the best thing is to let
them alone.
Take your stand for a manlier, purer sim
all through. ] tell you the heart of modern
lifa is being eaten out of IL by all this display
and catering to self-indulYence and measure
less luxury. There is immense deal to be
done. Have the laws obeyed. prevent men
from making a gain and profit cut of vice
take your part In the struggle. and let IT be
the intelligent and fearless part of Christian
citizens.