Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1907-03-13
MASK OF THE FALSE LIFE.
A Pertinent and Finely Article Which is
Worth Careful PerusaI.

L want to make a plea tor n
man who has a reasonable income
and tries to live within it,. His
problem becomes greater as his
children grow up around him and
the expense of living increases.
He needs help and he deserves it,
for when you come to think of it
he is the bed rock of u civiliza.
ton, the supporter of law and or
der and, as a rule, the example of
a clean life.
This help he needs against the
hourly temptations to grant this
or allow that to his family or to
himself, to keep up with others,
to whom shall he look for it? To
his church? It would seam that
it, or the members thereof, ought
to be able to help him. But does
it? On the contrary some of the
most Irresistible appeals come
from that very source, appeals
that tempt him most, appeals not
always or alone the eloquence Of
the preacher to his religious duty
or charitable Instincts, but some
times, it must be admitted, to his
pride and vanity by methods one
would rather not see employed.
That man of the class I am de-
scribing, who hasn't had tho
strength to resist these appeals,
will also be found lacking in the
power to withstand the tempta-
tions that come to him when the
coils of debt tighten about his
already weakened soul. The pro-
cess of decline is as plain to To-
Elective observers as the descent
Of the %drunkand, although it may
ne less spectacular. First there
Comes a hardenin in his dealings
with his fellows, a feeling that
the world owes him a living, a
growing recklessness in the man
agement of his affairs, ending in
speculation, gambling, Or worse.
In view of this we'll known fact,
I venture the deliberare state
menJ that he who induces a man
to assume obligations that he is
unable to meet, without a revo-
luton in his manner of living, is
guilty Of as great a wrong as one
who tempts another with drink.
If one tends to lead to habits that
destroy the body and ultimately
the soul, the pi essure of debt upon
a man who is led into it through
pride and vanity tends equally to
destroy the soul. There is more
hope to the community, to morall-
ty and to religion from the drunk
ard, than there is from the gambl-
er and the thief.
Fortunately for the good IF hu-
manity, all men who drink do
not become drunkards, and all
who have been led to assume debts
they cannot pay, do not become
gamblers or thieves. The world
over, good people are trying to
help men and women who are dis
posed toward drunkenness, and
some drunkards are now leading
in this fight. Public sentiment
mad Iessened this evil before the
great activity of recent years be-
gan. But, SO far as I know, there
is no helping hand extended to
the man who is trying to live
within his means, Society de-
mands more from him, public
charity demands more and the
church demands MORE. In~fatuat-
ed and excited advocates of vari-
GUS schemes of cure-alls and up
lifts ridicule or abuse him, in ig-
norance of what he may be doing
IN directions out of their narrow
lie of vision, and the only help
he has is direct from God Al
mighty and his own inherited
backbone,
I make a plea for this man who
saves us from the grinning mask
of the false life.-X in Charlotte