Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-15

be the only safe rule with many men. En-
forced total abstinence has been. In Amer
lea. the parent of unreasonable dishon-
esty and hypocrisy. From this 1t would
seem that the best temperance movement
was that which. in a free land. inculcated
the principle o. self-restralnt." In one
Of his best known works. Bishop Potter
Celebrates at eloquent length his opinions.
In one place he says: I'VE may make
laws until there is no part of lie that
their restrictions do not cover. and then
we may sit down and wait to see them do
our work and redeem our brother man.
Believe me. We shall wait in vain. The
world waits for lOve-the vigilance OF
love, the service of love, the sacrifice of
love. The whole moral sense Of the COM
munity is cOngested with theories of tenn
perance reform. which have in them every
note of excellence but that of personal
service. 1t cannot be denied-the hysteri-
cal and abusive denials which one sees or
hears only furnish to a phfosophic mind
the stronger evidence for the thing de-
nied-that the growth of the consumption
of substitutes Cor things against the Use
of which prohibitory laws are aimed has
risen side by side with the prevalence Of
those laws. and the observation and pub
Iished statistics Of medical men In states
where such laws have obtained open a
chamber of horrors into which I have no
wonder is that that chamber does not
grow more appalling and revolving every
year"
Bishop satterlee of the Episcopal do
cease Of the District of Columbia. recently
addressed a meeting in this city, during
which he said: II am opposed to- prohibit
ton when the moral sentiment of the
community cannot enforce the laws Pro-
hibition has been tried In other places,
and it has been found wanting. In Maine,
which is pointed out as the first place
where prohibitory laws were enacted, pro-
hibitiOn Ia a farce"
Bishop Webb oa the Episcopal diocese
Of Milwaukee, commented recently on the
attitude of his church on this question,
saying: 1.-THE Episcopal Church Is not rad
We believe. of course. that there is much
room for reform
Rt Rev. A. c. c. Hail. Bishop Of Yer
mont. denounced prohibition in strong
was in existence in that state. and his
statements then were recently used in
the Georgia campaign. When he was
written to a few days ago for an express
sion of his opinion. in view of late de-
velopments, he said he had nothing fur
Their to add to what he had declared years
ago. This was his strongest utterance:
Prohibition drives underground the mis-
chief 1t seeks to cure. making It more
and more difficult to DEAL with the evil
and impossible to regulate the ,trade. as,
for instance. in the quality of sthe liquor
sold"
The late Bishop Clark of Rhode Island
was severely censured In some denomina-
tons for this terse statement: "Prohibi-
ton has been disastrous to the; cause of
temperance" Even the lamented Bishop
Nicely of Maine spoke> disparagingly of
the prohibition law Of that state. pointing
out how easy 1t was to obtain whisky.
Rev Joseph P. McComas, rector of st.
AIMS Episcopal Church. Annapolis, re-
fused to give his approval to local option.
He refused to Join in the efforts of a
noted temperance organization, stating
that he believes In moral education Of
people to the proper use of alcoholic
liquor and favors high license.
A Fighting Episcopal Rector.
Rev william A. WATSON. rector OF
Grace Episcopal Church at Riverhead. l..
l.. is in constant hot water with his pro-
hibition friends After his town had been
dry for few years he led the fight to
restore 1t to the licensed system OF sa-
looms. After a red-hot fight that became
noted in New York state he won and
he says the people would not go back to
the dry" game for anything. In letter