The Newtown bee., 1904-12-30

Editor of THE BEE: For years I have read the articles in THE BEE up on Social Topics by Rev 0. O. Wright with a great deal of interest if not at all times with unqualified approval. In your issue of December your read CTS may recall the essay upon "Use and Abuse" have waited patiently since then to see where such sophistic- al reasoning would lead our good brother. The following week came his article on Prohibition" followed by "Stimulation" in THE BEE of De- cember 16. If the writer is desirious of wider circulation or of pecuniary benefit I would suggest his sending and Spirit Circular" or 1.-The Texas Liquor Dealer" or to any of the papers published in the interests of trade in spurious liquors. They all advocate the "moderate use" of liquor and de- preciate it's "abuSe' aud are most happy when they can get reputable clergyman to advocate their side Barring the fact that MT Wright is not known nationally as is Bishop Pot ter, he would almost equal in rank that eminent Divine's position, in the gratitude of the "trade." 1 am in- clined to think, since the liquor men are seldom blind to their own financial interests, they wOnld prefer these ar" ticles as being more insidious and not likely to cause the shock and almost universal disgust which swept our country when Bishop Potter consecrat- ed(?) the Subway Tavern.
 God permits evil in the world be- cause he created man a free agent. Moses gives us no record of God set ting up and operating a distillery just outside the Garden of Eden in order that poor weak Adam when leaving the Garden would be made strong by resisting temptation. Evil is pervert- ed good. Did God change good into evil to tempt man? Because man him self has converted good things to evil uses, is it the duty of Christian men to assist by precept or example this continued conversion? Is there any where in Christ's teaching authority for our moderate use of evil in order that we may show our strength of mind by not abusing it? MT Wright compares the stimulant of aEohol and alcoholic drinks to tea, coffee and opium and cigars that if we deny our selves alcohol we ought also to give up tea, coffee and opium to be consistant. Most of us will agree with him about the use of opium, since everybody knows it is even more deadly than al- cohol, but now let us consider the comparison with tea and coffee. Doubtless we should all be better physically and mentally without either but have you ever known tea or l coffee to so enthran man that he | would spend every cent of his earnings | for either, leaving his family to starve? Have you ever heard of any man selling his wife's or children's $ aclothes to buy tea or coffee to satisfy his appetite? Have these drinks ever stimulated man to the point of roasting his own innocent baby on a red hot stove? Are these drinks re- sponsible for drunken brawls, fights and murders? If they were, who would say there was not good reason for the prohibition of their impOrta- tion and sale for beverage purposes. That MT Wright is arguing from a superficial study is evident from his reference to the prohibition of what a man should eat and drink as the aim of those whom he generalizes under the head of the ''good people" who are so indignant against evil namely the Prohibitionists. A very little study of the facts would show him that ''sumptuary law," that bugbear of the one time Democratic party, has never l had place even in the brains of the one-idea cranks and fanatics. A great statesman declared the object of good government was to make it easy for the people to do right and difficult for
 them to do wrong. Is that good com. mon sense or not? How about oul
 nation measured up to that standard:
 Here, with few states excepted, we
 make it as easy as possible for mar
 to wreck his manhood, blight his
 brain, impoverish and abuse his fam ily and bring up his children ir wretchedness and vice by placing traps for his unwary feet in which tht Government, National, State ant Municipal, share in the money profit
 accruing from his downfall. Then b! adding a few million dollars to thes' profits we are able to establish extr; 3 courts, build jails, prisons, insan g asylums, reform schools and aims . houses to partially take care of tn human product of the legalized saloon
 Yet, if we may credit his writing, M
 Wright believes no effort should b
 made to do away with evil lest fo
 lack of temptation we fail to prov
 our strength. MT Editor, have n
 desire to enter into cOntrOverS
 through your columns but in readin the articles referred to above, thi New Testament dictum rang so loudl in my ears, 'it must needs tha
 offences come but woe unto him b
 whom they come. It were better fC
 him that a mill stone were hange
 about his neck, etc.," that l felt it
 duty to enter the protest 04 one WI