The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-03-28
A SATURDAY SERMON.

A SATURDAY. SEfLAtON.
Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow?
Who hath contentious? Who hath bab-
bling? Who hath wounds without cause?
Who hath redness of eyes?-Proveros
% :2s
knowledge is the tree of which
conduct is the fruit; but the tree does
not always bear The world has
known for ages. from the practical as
pect, as much about the evils Of in.
toxicating liquors as it knows today;
yet only within recent years has So
ciety manifested most serious dispo-
sition to act in accordance with its
knowledge. Now the temperance
question has become a leading politi-
cal issue over the whole continent,
with Great Britain also taking unex-
pectedly radical steps toward this re-
form.
In the long ago of the land of the
grape, the contemplative ones had
perceived the evils that befall the
drunkard. What modern arraignment
of strong drink equals that Of Solo
mon:
"who hath woe? Who hath sor-
row? Who hath contentious? Who
hath babbling? Who hath wounds
without cause? Who hath redness of
eyes? They that tarry long at the
wine; they that go to seek mixed
wine. Look not upon the wine when
| it is red, when it giveth colour in the
cup, when it moveth itself Alright. At
| the last it biteth like a serpent, and
stingeth like an adder"
At last the world seems to have got
round to the conviction that the liquor
business is everybody's business; that
| is to say, that the saloon has held
such important political, social, moral
| and economic relationship that prac-
tically every member of the COM
munity is concerned.
General welfare" is now seen to
be a bigger issue than Personal Lib
erty." 1t used to be tacitly admitted
that if a man wanted to ruin his own
moral fiber, make paupers of his
family, commit crimes against So
ciety, and add to the burden of taxa
| ton for the upkeep of jails and aims
| houses and alcoholic wards in hospi-
| tails nobody had a right to object;
| this was his personal liberty
A distinct forward step has now
1
| adoption, where prohibition is not in
effect, of the principle commonly
called 'local option that the ma
| iority of the citizens of a community
are properly the arbiters of what sorts
of business shall be carried on in
| their own neighborhood. No longer
| is it regarded as Enthusiastically
| free and American practice for a few
men who are in the business of SELL
| ing strong drink to be permitted to
| estab Ish drinking resorts wheresoever
| they please, regardless of how many
| persons were offended or injured by
| this extension of business, which, at
its best, has never been considered
| public spirited. In a word, a new de-
| termination seems to be abroad, to
| the effect that the best and not the
worst shall rule.
| Along with this extraordinary politi-
| cal aspect of the present-day temper
| ance situation goes new attitude
! toward it on the part of employers OF
| labor. A few years ago public service
corporations felt that they were doing
their utmost when they required em-
ployes to abstain from liquor during
working hours. In the speech of the
| men themselves it was considered
none of the company's business what
man does out of working hours
Today that standpoint has been left
far behind. Railroads now commonly
require that their employees shall let
strong drink alone altogether. Neither
off duty nor on duty is q man permit
ted to drink. Total abstinence is the
|
industrial establishments are advanc-
ing to the same ground. 1t now looks
as if the man who means to drink mus
make that his exclusive employment
| The liquor traffic is today being out
lawed, and a new generation of youth
is having a chance to grow into sober
manhood, free from the seductions OF
the saloon.