The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1906-06-29

and at it, earnest and active, the hope
| long deferred viii be realized in the
banishment of the saloon from Column
bia; and when that is done Mt Pleas
ant has always said they would do
likewise; and then our grand old coun-
ty will be entirely free from the blight
and curse of this wicked traffic in the
heart blood of our people.
My fight against whiskey, which l
expect to keep up as long as I live,
has always been against the traffic
and not against the men. While I
have no respect whatever for the bust
ness, l have always tried to be pa
tient and respectful to the misguided
men who engage In 1t. And I hav
had more than one of them, after they
had quit the business to come and tell
me that they knew, and had known
all the time that was right. And I
have had young men to tell me that
but for my work and words of warning
to them they would have been caught
and utterly destroyed by "the gang.
l have had fathers and mothers to
ask me to keep watch over their boys
for them, and help the boys to resist
the temptations of the night; and
am glad of all the discomforts have
endured for these boys sake, and for
the heartaches I may have saved their
parents I am glad and it comforts
my heart today, for every opportunity
and for the hundreds of times that
have gone out of my way to comfort and
help the broken-hearted wives and
mothers of men who had forgot God
and home and duty in their mad thirst
for the drink that crazed them. These
lkindnesses done to others come back
as bread cast upon the water, to COM
fort me now as face the setting sun
of life.
And now l want to say word
for the encouragement of the police
force To my mind there is no force
in any community that can do more
good for the morals, and to steady and
help young men walk in right paths,
and keep them away from forbidden
paths that lead to dishonor and death,
than an honest, conscientious, police
force Just as bad men break the
hearts of good women, just so do bad
women utterly destroy the manhood
of promising young men and hurl
them headlong into the gutter. Theirs
is nothing in the world that so quick
ly and completely and utterly destroys
young man, as association with
bad women A boy had better get
drunk a dozen times, than to visit
bad woman one time. He had bet
ter gamble all night, than to spend
| five minutes in the company of bad
woman A boy may drink little and
then stop and clean up, though that
is dangerous; but when boy becomes
contaminated by the touch of vile
/ woman, he is filthy forever; he carries
with him always the consciousness
that he has been despoiled; and
though he may live it down in the
sight of men, it clings to his memory
always and hangs as horrible night
mare over his life. have seen it
rise up in the lives Of men suddenly
and when they least expected 1t, and
long years after they had sorely re-
pented it. Whatever else he may do
there is hope for a young man so long
as. he shuns the company of bad
women: but once a bad woman gets
| hold of him and an influence over
him, he is a wrecked and ruined man,
ninety-nine times out of hundred.
And a conscientious police force can
do more to shield young men from
| this danger, than any force in the
community When others are asleep,
| they can meet these young men first
starting on the sure road to hell, and
turn them back Not expose them to
the world; but stop them, and tell
them of the frightful danger; and
warn them that if they will not turn
back and stay turned back, that their
fathers must know and will be told
all about it. An officer who will turn
one boy back from the house of infamy
and disgrace, has done more for the
good of humanity and for the preseyva-
! ton of society, and more for the fu-
ture of that boy, than he who makes
an hundred arrests for small disturb
ances of the peace. I appeal to the
officers who are on the force now, to
help save the boys. You may have
boys of your own some day; save your
neighbours boy now, and God will re-
ward you for it some way or somehow.
Whatever may be mans habit, no
man with a soul in him, but will shud-
der at the thought of an innocent boy
being caught in the arms OF a bad