The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1907-03-15
MASK OF THE FALSE LIFE.
No Helping Hand. But Everywhere the
Reverse Extended to the Man Who
is Trying to Live Within His Means
Glimpse OF q Downward Road.

want to make a plea for the nam
who has a reasonable income and tries
to live within it. His problem be-
comes greater as his children grow up
| around him and the expense of living
increases. He needs help n he de-
| serves it. for when you come to think
of it. he is the bedrock of u civil
! cation, the supporter Of law and order
| ana. as a rule, the example Of a clean
life.
This help he needs against the
hourly temptations to grant this o. al
low that to his family or to himself
| to KEEP up with others, to whom shall
he look for it? To his church? 1t
would seem that it. or tthe members
Thereof, ought to be able to help him.
But does it? On the contrary some OF
the most irresistible appeals come
from the very source, appeals that
! tempt him most, appeals not always OF
alone through the ~elOquence OF the
preacher to his religious duty or char
liable instincts, but sometimes, it must
be admitted, to his pride and vanity
by methods some would rather not
see employed.
That man of the class | am describ-
ing, who hasn't Lac the strength to re-
! sist these appeals, will also be found
lacking in the power to withstand the
temptations that come to him when
the coils of debt tighten about his al
ready weakened soul. The process OF
decline is As plain to reflective OBJ
servers as the descent of the drunk
adj, although it may be less spectacu-
lar. First there a hardening IN
his dealings with his fellows, a feeling
that the world owes him a living, a
growing recklessness in the manage
ment of his affairs, ending in specula
ton, gambling or worse.
In view Of this well-knOwn fact, [
venture the deliberate statement that
he who induces a man to assume obi
cations that he is unable to NEE.
without a revolution in his manner OF
living, is guilty of as great a wrong as
one who tempts another with drink
II one tends to lead 20 rabbits which
destroy the body AMI ultimately the
soul. the pressure of debt on a man
who is led into it through pride and
vanity tends equally to destroy tn'
soul. There IS more hope to the com
munitv. to morality and to religion
from the drunkard, than there Is from
the gambler an the thief.
Fortunately for the good OF III
. n.enity, all men who drink do no
become d~runkards, and al who dav'
been led to assume debts they caluo
, raw do not become gamblers o
thieves. The world over, good peOull
are trying TO help men and womel
who are disposed towards drunken
ness, and same drunkards are no.
leading in this. fight. Public sentimen
had lessened this evil before h ~ea
activity of recent years began. Blu
= 50 far as l know. there is no helpin
j hand extended to the man who is Try
{ ing to live within his SOcieJ
t demands more from him, pubic cna;
ity demands more, and the church dc
mands more. Infatuated and excite
" advocates Of various schemes of cure
alls and uplifts ridicule or abuse hin
in ~ignorence of what he may be dom
in directions gu of their narrow lin
l. OF vision, and the only b Up he has
e, direct from God Almighty and his ow
% inherited backbone.
:e I make a plea for this man WI
lie saves us from the grinning mask
! the false life.-Tha Charlotte Obse
"a yer -. ! as IL