The San Francisco call., 1904-08-09
THE CASE OF BISHOP POTTER.

gether of millions of of all sorts and con
dtons. The greatest of these in the estimation ot
numbers of good people, is the drink problem. The
population of New York is cosmopolitan In it the
set habits and inherited tendencies of all and
tionaes. 1t is desirable to bring them all to com
mon habit of self-restraint and sobriety.
1t is a most complex task. The principles which ap-
peal of value with another. They are
wary of each other One nationality antagonstic to
another There and national prejudices be
considered, and he who seeks a common ground on
which all the practice of habits that foster
morality and good citizenship has before him
task from which the stoutest-hearted and most en-
thusastic may we'll reco in despair.
Bishop Potter TO have concluded to make be-
ginning by promoting a modification of the type OF
drinking saloon To that end he became the patron
kind Of drinking place, sort of tavern 1t is To-
Gated command the patronage of about the hardest
class in the city, the mixed laborers the subway
We advised of the extent of the mod-
hcatons, intended be carried in this establish
ment They to have appealed to the Bishop as
step forward toward pronounced REFORM for he
took part in the opening and dedication of the place AS
practical proposition he may have been wrong. The
leading of the place toward better things may have been
overestmated Craft and greed of others may have de-
ceved him. But in law and morals is entitled to
the credit that in the quality Of his motive his nten-
ton. In this view of it reasonable will doubt
the excellence of the Bishops intentions, the purity
of his motive.
But this view does not appeal to his brethren in orders
and he has been the subject of the vigorous pulpit
criticism heard in the churches of this country He
has been called everything from bartender under
study of Judas scariot One intense preacher
Gated to his flock the news that the devil laughed and
danced when the Bishop dedicated the saloon and gave
immediate orders to his engineers stake out more
ground begin selling for addition hell
accommodate the immigration that expected to follow
the Bishops act
The various lay people who control the temperance
organizations have returned the clerical lead, and join
the chorus of condemnation that beats discordanty
against the great churchman. Never before has there
been such stir in the teetota ranks. If the Bishop be
sensitive that of attack he get little sleep
His reply has brief and is free from the epithet and
invective that is pcltng him like broadside.
In the midst of the excitement and confusion two
lines of thought the subject appear clearly defined
The abuse OF liquor is a conceded evil The multipca-
ton of opportunity for that abuse is contributing
evil that should be regulated and in way discour
aged How to do this is the problem that has led the
Bishop into trouble The two lines of thought the
subject do differ in their estimate of the evil. The
division appears when the remedy is discussed The
Bishop and those who think with him, looking into the
psychology of the problem believe that human nature
can be led when cannot be driven His opponents be-
lieve that it should be driven and not led
The whole prohibition in this country has
been based upon the policy of making sober and
moral by force To this end States have prohib-
ton in their constitutions and others in their
In this way all who be controlled by force have
been restrained But these prove be a minority OF
those whose sefcontrol needs reinforcement The ma
ority of those who abuse liquor have proved that they
be driven AS far they concerned all that
has done labor wasted Their destructive habits
have strong grip upon them ever, and their
form and control wait for other way
Bishop Potter, and those who think with him, con-
cede the evil and want lead and drive men away
from it. 1t to many unimpassioned observers that
the philosophy of the with the leaders and not
the drivers If the Bishop believed that the place he
indorsed shorn of single Objectionable feature OF
the ordinary saloon his action is justified by his belief
though he prove to be mistaken in the fact
1t is the army canteen question again. If the
Improvement upon the outside dead
fall if minimized the abuse of liquor and took the
soldier away from the associated vices of the deadfa il
was step forward Army officers differ in their opinion
about it, but the balance of testimony the side o
the
Now if the Bishop intended that same sort of stet
forward out of the degrading tendencies and
vices of the low saloon of the type to by those
who would be led to patronze the institution he
has deserved the oboquy that has been visited upor
him. No man is commissioned to report the proceed
ngs in heaven or hell incident to this affair That par
of the attack may we'll be and the question
treated in the light of every day knowledge of men
Clerical errors committed by municipal emplove
have been discovered and corrected and expose the
annoying fact that the aggregate value of taxable prop
erty in San Francisco less by several millions of dol
lars than at first reported and that the income of thu
local government may be materially reduced Let u
look upon the bright side of apparently dark situation
reduced income curtailed employment of un
necessary employees lessening of the chances of ex