The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-26
DOBBS ON EVILS OF LIQUOR TRAFFIC Calls Meeting for Men After
 Regular Service COMMITTEE WILL ASSIST Am My Brothers Keeper" is Taken as Text by the Pastor of the
 Five Points Methodist
 Church.
COMMITTEE WILL ASSIST

suDJecI or prpnlDltlOn sermon preaCned by the Rev. Hoyt M Dobbs yesterday morning at the Five Points Methodist church. There was large congregation which listened to a carefully prepared discussion of all phases of the subject. At the close Dr. Dobbs asked that any person of the opinion that wrong had been done remain and talk 1t over with him. He also requested that any of the male members who wished to ally them selves with the prohibition campaign re- main in an after meeting.
 About twenty-five men met together and each expressed personally his feel ings on the subject. A committee of three was appointed from numerous volunteers. to assist the central cam paign committed The three men who will represent Five Points church are R. s. Munger. George H. Harris and Vassar Allen.
 Dr. Dobbs said:
 The Christian religion Is social re- | llgion as well as a religion for the indi- vidual. The character and power of every civilization. in .every age. have been de- termined by the measure of It's active interest in and its care for the citizenship of which 1t is composed The greatest good to the greatest number has come l to be the highest good' in every re- ligion and in every community.
 Not Political But Moral Issue.
 This is not political Issue. though 1t has political side. It is a moral issue and therefore has an economic phase. a social side. political bearing. an edu- l catonal influence, and a religious char l acter. This question touches and deeply ] concerns every department of society. That which concerns politics also con cerns society and therefore concerns Christianity. A silent pulpit under such circumstances would be contemptible
 MT. Gladstone in the House of Commons said that Greater calamities have been inflicted on mankind by intemperance than by the three great historical scourges-war pestilence and famine" It has been further claimed by one Of Europes greatest statesmen that Drink alone destroys-ruins more people than all the other plaques which afflict hu- manity"
 Professor Huxley has gone on record as saying that ''There is an immense amount of remedial misery among us | Unless this Is effectually dealt with the hordes of vice and pauperism will destroy every modern civilization as effeotually as unclvilized tribes of another kind de- stroyed the great social organization which preceded ours
 An institution of any kind which should declare as its aim and object Missionary Work" among boys to teach them the l cocaine habit, the opium habit or the morphine habit would be closed by the citizens of the community and out-lawed by the legislature of the state of Ala bama. AS an expression of the attitude of the liquor men toward the boys of America, we call attention of the follow ing extract which Is from the speech of one of the officers of the ohio State Liquor leaguei
 'It will appear from these facts, gentle men, that the success of our business Is 1 dependent largely upon the creation of an appetite for drink. Men who drink liquor, like others. will die, and if there Is no new appetite created. our counters will be empty, as will be our money drawers. Our children will go hungry, or | we must change our business to some- | thing more remunerative. The open field for the creation of this appetite is among | the boys. After men are grown and their habits are formed, they rarely change in 1 this regard. It will be needful, therefore. that missionary work be done among the boys, and I make the suggestion, gentle men, that nickles expended in treats to the boys now will return in dollars to your tills after the appetites have been formed. Above all things, create appe- tites.
 Effect on Race Problem. But there is another and more danger ous aspect of the question than this, The race problem is inextricably involved with the whisky traffic The population of Alabama according to the most recent figures Is 2.O3O,oOo Of this number 452 per cent are negroes. This gives Alabama today s17,5eO negroes. with whom the state. society and industry must deal every day. The black man is less able to resist the appetite for drink than the unfortunate white man. And the black brute that passes the door of the white mans daughter has also passed the open door of the white mans legalized saloon It Is not strange that the state of Geor gia should seek protection in prohibition since the clash between the races there few months ago.
 There Is truly a political phase of this question also. The supreme court of the United States brands the saloon generally as "a nuisance"
 Judge B. B. Lindsay of Colorado says: "As judge I have faced the woes. the trials, the miseries and broken homes of society caused only by the want of q proper solution of this problem of prob lens. Thousands and thousands of homes have been broken up, caused by the 4O00 people. I have tried no less than GOOD children in the past six years. This lanentable social condition is traceabIe
 in a large degree to the legalzed sa- loon."
 It Is estimated that 75 per cent of our national crime is traceable directly or indirectly to the saloon. The officers and judges of the city of Birmingham author ize us to say that 65 per cent of the crimes committed in Jefferson county are attributable to the influence of intoxicat- ing drink.
 The total arrests made in Birmingham alone during the year 1906 numbered 10,59l. And the amount of stolen property recov- cred during the same length of time was s26, 800 Therefore. 6cS4 arrests were due to whisky. Allowing the conservative esti- mate of $l0 per case this would net the asA