The Ocala banner., 1905-11-24

kegs, demijohs, and packages un-
marked to prevent identification.
More than half of the trade of the
Ocala saloons comes from dry"
counties, so-called. The "driest"
counties are sometimes the ''wet-
tiest," and they have their crimes,
casualties, tragedies, and big court
dockets. Do:,'t be shocked, please.
Examine the Gainesville and Citrus
county newspapers.) No dry" town
in Florida has yet done away with
policemen and the ministers still
find sinners to preach to and call to
repentance
Noah and Christ forced to vote for
the saloon! What muddling of
scripture! 'NOah began to be an hus-
bandman." In this beginning he
knew Lot the nature of the coming
product. The first experience knock
ed him down and two of his sons COW
cred him with blanket, just as good
people have to nurse the results of
the liquor traffic. Who was cursed?
Not the ones who covered the faith
er's nakedness, but the beastly son
that exposed it. (The saloon does the
same, (After Noah's experiment God
warned against 'strOng drink"
'Look not upon the wine when it is
red, that biteth and stingeth." Christ
was consistent with His own book.
He did not drink the wine that was
''red," but the ''good wine,' called
the ''fruit of the vine."
Our Bible says that Noah planted a
vineyard" and "drank che wine."
1t was Ham, the younger son, who
wanted to make a great stir about
it, and not Noah, who received
the Course" which made Ham and
his descendants the servants of
others'' unto to this good day and
has made the "white man's burden"
almost intolerable to bear.
The "wine press' is as old as the
Bible. Wine drinking seems to have
been co-equal with the human race.
The planting of vineyards was en-
couraged in the olden times as it has
been in modern times. Wine was not
prescribed nor interdicted by Moses
nor any of the prophets of Israel. 1t
was the ordinary drink of the peo-
ple-men, women and children-in
ancient times as it is to-day in the
wine-growing districts of Europe and
it is the testimony of travellers, al
most without exception, that in those
districts drunkenness is largely less
than it is in Great Britain or the
United States.
No fact of history is palmer than
that wine was a very common drink
in biblical times Christ did not con-
denim the custom, but, on the contra
ry, sanctioned it. St. Paul recon-
mended it. None of the early faith
ers of the church wrote against il
nor made it the matter of church
creed, and for eighteen hundred years
the church was silent on the subject.
Senator Tillman, of South Carolina,
saws:
''When l hear a fellow get up and
twaddle about what he knows moth
ing of; when l hear preachers talking
about the drinking of whiskey being
blood money, l look back to the his
tory of the world, find that no man,
no preacher, priest or statesman ever
dreamed of attempting to prohibit
the use of liquor until about IS or 100
years ago, have not undertook until
the last 80 years to say that man
should not drink or that it was a sin.
l do not hesitate to say 1 can find in
the Bible dozen or two dozen texts
recognizing the use of liquor to where
you can find one which discourages it
or denounces it. Where does the sin
come in?
''The sin does not rest upon Bible
authority. it rests upon the preachers
authority, and object to any preach
er changing the scripture TO suit his
fanaticism and to make me swallow
his religion. Laughter and cheersD
You cannot show me in the scriptures
except in one or two isolated cases
where the use of wine is denounced
as a sin, and can show you a dozen
passages where it is spoken of other
wise'
The vacated stOrerOOms, if occupi-
ed by the same calss of stores that
are already here, will ''Givide the
trade with our merchants" Just like
they did in Gainesville! They so