The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1907-09-19

| boy is. We may not be able to save
the poor drunkard; he may be too
far gone; but may God help US to
tower up in our manhood above the
conditions that surround us, and
save the drunkard's boys. 0, may
the Lord help us to be men, God fear
! ing men, men with backbones, men
with genuine religion, men who do
not fear men, but who will stand for
the ri ht all the time and everywhere
! This is an awful evil, and so long
,lssthe traffic is permitted to run ins
any form, it will continue to grind
upon human flesh and human bones.
Yes, upon the very heart and blood
of American manhood. 1t is also
grinding and tearing at the very
heartstrings Of our mothers and sis
! tiers, and the fair womanhood of
j America. You may think the follow
ing statements are exaggerated, but
God knows they are true. Were it
not for the respect | havefo the feel
ings OF the mothers and sisters and
wives of this town and county, |
could relate, right now, scenes that
would stir your very souls, and l be-
lieye would stir you to action, strong
vigorous action, the action OF men,
yes, to Christian action, If you have
one spark OF human sympathy with
in your bosom. | have talked with
mothers and sisters who were in such
a rack of agony, because Of this
great curse, that they simply could
not control a single muscle in their
bodies, as they tried to tell me OF the
heartrending circumstances through
which they were passing. That has
not occurred once, or twice and stop
ped. Ii it had it would be different
P: thing, but it is an occasional occur
renee. Upon one of these occasions,
several years ago, | registered vow
on high that whenever my voice, or
! influence, or personality could be
used in any way for temperance they
should be given without reserve, and
: regardless Ofwhat any man thinks Of
! me.
Oh, dear friends, you, in passing
about your business from day to day,
see this town on the stage OF action;
and it appears to be moving along
smoothly, and people seem happy,
some of the people are growing rich
while Others are growing poor. But
behind the scenes there are some aw-
ful sights, and | say unto you that
If some OF the parents of this town
could only peep behind those scenes
playing their part in the tragedy of
life, there would be some mighty
moving unless those same parents
love their boys less than they love
money. Why all this? Because some
OF the deacons, and stewards, and
trustees and Sunday-school teachers
in our town are still calling evil good,
and good evil. And in many cases
the women are just as bad as the
men. No SO many OF them, to be
sure; but the womanhood of Hender-
son is not half as outspoken for tenn
perance as it ought to be.
Those OF you who know me best
know that always stand by the
church when the church is right; but |
can't do it this time, for if the dis
pensary is kept running it will be
kept running becauee the church
membership wantsit to run. A man
from the country who has been a
drinking man, and who is interested
III voting the dispensary out ,station-
ed himself on one of our street cor
ners last Monday for the express pur-
pose of testing for himself the situa-
ton. He questioned the men who
passed him as to their attitude on
the question before US. He said, "a
few church members said, we will
do all in our power to vote it OUT
and all the poor fellows who are OPP
pressed by it, said, we want it to
go. But the majority OF church
members that spoke with said, I'VE
must keep it for what it is doing for
our town, or to keep down blind
tigers. ," His conclusion was one
awful exclamation in condemnation
} OF the church that l will not use in
; the pulpit. Another man who is a
J habitual drunkard approached a
leading churchman in this town and
said: "Friend, for Gods sake let
all work together to put that dis
) pensary out of business The reply
was, 20, no, let's keep it a while
, longer, to run our schools and pave
our streets
! Another man who has been a per.
feet slave to drink was talking with
a group of men about the need Oh
voting it out, and they argued that
we must keep it for something like
twelve months yet for the sake of the
; graded school and the streets. His
reply was, my God, men, l may be
5 i'll my grave before that time If il
continues to run it will run because
the church people say it must run
God may have one law for the poor
drunkard who wants to do right
: and another law for the church,nan
who won't help him to do right, out
! don't believe He has; and His law il
| that mo drunkark shall enter the
kingdom OF Heaven" There NAV /,
3 u hell for the poor drunkard who i:
a victim sof drink, and who is lee
through drink to gambling, and te
stealing and to adultery, and te
4 murder; and heavenfor the respect
r able man who happens to have hi
), name on some church roll, but whe
!. will not help his poor fallen brother
!, to get out OF his awful plight. But
t don't believe there is. There is moth
J, ingin the Bible, nor in all the theolog,
u that have ever studied to teach M
e that the God OF this universe deal.
o with men in any such way. 1t make.
n me sick and tired to hear people say
e ~, I'm for temperance; I'm Just al
s good temperance man as you are.
Q and then turn round and sworl
= against temperance with all thei
= might.
n "Woe to him that buildeth "a tow
0 with blood, and establisheth a cit,
e by iniQuity. Woe unto hin
s that giveth bis neighbor drink. tha