The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1909-11-25
BITTER WAR ON Ii NiEMPERANCE RANCE:
SOLDIERS FIGHTING THIS CURSE
GREATLY CHEERED.
The Catholic Church and the Amer.
Jean Saloon.

interviewer with the life-activity of
| the individual 1t falls within the
scope Of each ones conscience, and
| efforts for its repression will depend
largely on the effect of an intelligent
| appeal to the moral nature of the in
| dividual. In this work of personal
and social recognition, religion must
| play no minor role. Religion cannot
! be divorced from the permanent bet
terment of the masses; 1t must stand
sponsor to every successful effort to
improve their condition and elevate
their moral tone. But the great OBJ
stacle which bars the way to indi-
vidual reformation Is the ever-present
| saloon. It's door stands invitingly
open to entice the unwary; its siren
voice never ceases to allure its victims
| from the path of rectitude; its very
| presence is a silent but almost ire
sistible call to indulge in strong
drink. The saloon is the plague spot
of our National life; and hence II is
that the Catholic Church is arrayed
against 1t as an institution, which, as
from Pandora's box, spread all the
evils of the liquor traffic. The Cath
olic Church is the avowed and uncom-
promising enemy of the American sa-
| loon; and 1t desires most earnestly
that this "pestilential evil" be wiped
out entirely, that It may no longer
curse the race.
Few peopl, have any adequate idea
of the enormous growth of the saloon
business during recent years, and of
the influence 1t Yields in State and
! National affairs. More than fifteen
hundred millions of dollars flow an
nually into the Golfers of the Amer
lean saloonkeeper; and who can doubt
that this stream is crimsoned with the
blood of vice and crime, and saturated
with the salt tears of untold misery?
Against this formidable foe the Cath
olic Church raises its voice in vigor-
Gus denunciation. The saloon would
contend with the church for suprem-
acy on American soil; it would, If it
could, destroy her power. and glory
in its emancipation from the restraint
which religion imposes. Therefore,
between the church and the saloon,
there can be no truce, no compromise.
Light and darkness cannot exist side
by side.
The disorderly and disreputable
practices which characterize the sa-
loon traffic are the natural result of
the system itself. The saloon is con-
Quoted solely for the money that is in
the business. The more drink sold,
the greater the profit. Hence the sa-
| loon fosters intemperance. "The
American saloon" says Archbishop
Ireland, lis responsible for the awful
| intemperance which desolates the
land, and which is the physical and
moral plague of our time. In the
! saloon is dealt out the drink which
/ intoxicates, and there temptations to
use it are deliberately planned and
multiplied"
| The glamor of the saloon enthralls
and degrades its victims, pollutes the
/ home-the nursery of childhood, the
sanctity Of womanhood-and men,
aces, if 1t does not undermine, the
/ foundations of the social structure.
! Moreover, the saloon strikes at the
/ very cornerstone of our rights as citi-
zens by fastening itself on the body
| polite and placing its own welfare
above that of the State and Nation.
/ The saloon depends upon political
I corruption for its very existence. It
( makes no secret of the fact that 1t is
in politics for the purpose of sending
men to the halls OF legislation to vote
as 1t dictates. To accomplish this It
turns over to its favorite candidate
the votes OF the idle, the purchasable
and tie vicious members of society.
Bribery and corruption have increased
to such an extent that ever the brew
ers have reached the conclusion that
| ;he saloon ought to be divorced from
politics They realize that, in almost
every State in the Union. 1t has en-
tered into an alliance with the very
worst element in the political arena;
and in its withdrawal would undoubt-
edly improve the prospects for a
| cleare" and better conducted munich
/ pal government.
BY reason of this alliance the sa-
loon carries on its business in defiance
OF law. Moreover, the disreputable
resort, the vaudeville saloo: and the
wineroom are prolific parents of all
kinds Of criminality and immoral ex-
! cesses. The United Brewers Associa-
! tion, at its convention in Milwaukee
last year, declared that The saloon
should not be used to foster the social
evil, but should be entirely divorced
from it." The environment of the
saloon lends itself to the encourage
ment OF the social evil because the
two vices OF drunkenness and social
immortality are closely linked. Drink
influences the passions and leads to
! excess.