Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-28
GRAFTON WINS
GREATER HONORS
.ELW0oD MlNCHIN WILL SPEAK
IN MINNEAPOLIS
Whittier's Junior Who Won Prize
With "The Triumph Of Principle"
viii Compete In National
Contest

|
As result of the masterly oratory
Of Elwood s. Minchin at the prize
speaking at whittier college Friday
night, the young orator will be con-
testant in the national competition to
be given under the auspices OF the In
tetcollegiate Prohibition association at
Minneapolis.
Mr. Minchin has been the recipient Of
numerous congratulations from his
friends because of his success in win
ming the first prize of 500.
He is a Junior at Whittier. having
come to that college from Oregon. He
represented not only his own college
but all Southern California as well.
His subject was THE Triumph Of
Principle"
He said i'm part:
Expediency and Principle
"In a reform movement there are
always two methods of action that
struggle for dominance. The one is
based upon expedency, the other upon
principle. All the reforms of the past
have circle long in the by-paths of
compromise before they have reached
the high ground of perfect truth and
righteousness. Thus the most difficult
task in a reform movement is to get
men to take the step upward from ex-
pediency to righteousness, from COM
promise to principle. The compromiser
! is always popular and easily catches
the public ear. To the average man,
parley is better than a battle, even
when a moral issue is at stake. Hence
the sequence OF compromise. An ex-
pedient is embodied in law, precedent
becomes oracle to the public conscience
new occasions can but very slowly
teach new duties
Compromise is but a temporary
makeshitt, which postpones but can
not avoid the final battle.
| when the Missouri compromise was
passed in 1920, the greatest statesmen
in this country declared that the sav-
| cry question had been settled Again,
after Clay's great compromise of 1885,
they said that at last a final solution
had been reached. But not so.
The Slavery Issue
"a great principle was 1narshalling
its forces. The south saw the onward
march of that principle and took refuge
in secession. 1t was too late. The
truth of all the ages now rang out
Gear and strong. 1t woke the echoes
on the plains of Bull Run; it roared
from Grants guns on the heights Of
Vicksburg; it thundered along the crest
of Missionary Ridge; Sheridan sounded
the cry in the valley of Shenandoah
and Sherman told 1t from Atlanta 10
the sea 1t was the old truth over
again, sealed in the tears and blood Of
a nation; compromise cannot settle a
moral question: righteous principle
must prevail.
In the battle against the saloon ex-
pediency has taken the form of the Ii
cense compromise Let us examine this
system. The supreme court of the
United States has declared that no citi-
zen has the inherent right to sell in
toxicating liquors for beverage pur-
poses.
The Bible and Drink
THE supreme word of God says:
Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor
drink Yet we know that under our
license system the saloon is made legal
1t has as much protection under our
| flag as the school, the church. or the
home. During a recent political cam
| paign politicians argued that bad
money could not be made good by law.
Sin is sin, even when protected by the
laws of Christian nation.
From the treacherous shoal waters
Of compromise, the true reformer heads
straight away toward the great haven
of truth and righteousness. What the
pole star is to the mariner, principle is
to the reformer
The old sea captain charts the shift
ing shoals, calculates the changes of
wind and wave and tide, and then
takes the helm with a clear eye for the
star of the northland and never
changes.
The true reformer realizes public
sentiment and changing conditions in
society but steers his course true to
the eternal verities of God. He does
not forget conditions, but in looking al
conditions he does not lose sight Of his
pole star.
Right Never Changes
LAS the centuries pass, ideas and con-
dtions change, but the principles of
right add wrong are the same forever.
Principle is the embodiment of eternal
truth, established by the laws of God.
Principle in mans heart holds him
true to hiT convictions, 1t fearlessly ex-
poses falsehood, sham and unrighteous-
ness. 1T has the courage to stand for
truth and to proclaim 1t from the house.
tops. For strength and grandeur it Is
like the giant oak, which holds firm
amidst the fiercest tempests. For un-
wavering fidelity to it's mission, it is
like the great ship, for principle stems
the tides of persecution and outrldes
the storms that compromise dares not
face. For untiring perseverance it is
like the little coral, building slowly up
ward, toiling in the darkness through
years of seemingly useless effort until
at last 1t lifts its head above the waves,
defies the opposing tempests and gives
safe refuge to ship-wrecked mariners.
$50 the principle of prohibition has
toiled i'm America for four decades. The
tides of compromise sentiment and Ii
cense policy have surged madly against
it, but in vain. Slowly it has built on
and up until here and there in our