The Columbus commercial. (Columbus, Miss.) 1893-1922, 1908-09-13
INTERESTING
ADDRESS BY
MR.. SAUNDERS
READ BEFORE RECENT CONVENTION or
ElKS IN DALLAS, TEXAS.

Mr.. d. r. Saunders of this city z
! deserved compliment by publish
ing an address made by him al
| the recent Convention in Dallas,
Texas; it being one of the only
addresses published out of the
many which were delivered.
The address which is worthy of
thoughtful perusal is as follows:
No one has a right to ask the
time and attention of this mag
nificient gathering of Elks un-
less he has a message to deliver
and that message must be of
sufficient import to command and
hold the intelligence of the mem
bers and to appeal to their hearts
as well. Such is the nature of
the proposition I wish to present
to you today. My only excuse
or apology for my action is my
love for the grand organization
which we represent. l believe
in its principles and that it is
based on the safest foundations
upon whick the superstructure
of any f,aternal organization has
been hdllt.
without accepting or reject
irg the theories of the various
lcreeds or religions prevalent at
the present time, we all realize
that they deal with vague, un-
certain, intangible possibilities
as to a future, which they them
selves admit may or may not be
realized. The principles of Elk
dom deal with present certain,
tangible, practical, everyday
life and instruct and help us to
make it day by day, cleaner,
purer, better for ourselves and
those about us. Love for our
fellow man" prompts US to acts
of kindness, charity, goodwill,
good-fellowship, good-living,
without hope of reward or fear
of punishment hereafter. Our
reward comes day by day.
''The good of our order means
the good of every individual
member of the order and the
proposition l am about to pre-.
sent to you has in view the good |
of the order in the greatest de- |
gree, as we'll as the benefit of |
the individual member. Our or
der stands highest among fra
ternal organizations for its acts
of charity and benevolence, and |
justly so. It's worth in this
direction is appreciated and COM
mended by all classes. The So
cial character of our order makes
it especially attractive, but those
of us who are quite honest with /
ourselves, know that in spite of
the approval, the commentator,
there is an undercurrent of op-
position to the order and that in
many places where our Homes
should be the centers of all social
functions, where it should be an
honor to be an invited guest, it
is looked on with distrust and
suspicion. We are all well aware
of these unfortunate facts.
An analysis of the causes
leading to this hostile sentiment
shows but one conclusion, viz.
excessive drinking with the de-
moralizing effects following. Ac-
cepting this statement as a fact,
and | think none will dispute it.
the question naturally suggests
itself as to the remedy which
my message to which
these crude preliminary remarks
have been leading up.
g A careful observer of human
nature will readily agree with
me that fully 80 per cent. of
comes from the Gus
tom of treating. 1t is rare that a
nan will deliberately sit down
alone and drink until he is intox-
Gated. The results are usually
attained in this manner: A half
dozen of us go into our buffet or
wine cellar or rathskeller and
Mr.. Jones invites all to take a
lrink. Mr.. Brown after reason
able interval, requests that all
oin him. We have then had all
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