The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-03-09

king. nevertheless. TIE ODi1SdsiOlS u
good citizenship require him to see
that they are fairly enforced, in the
interest of al concerned. Even the
saloon keeper may not be unlaWfuity
oppressed. Every man must be ac-
corded all his rights under the law.
One may go SO far as to declare that
the conservation of the law is Of great
er Importance than the enactment OF
new temperance l~egislations. Law
~lessness, in promoting which h liquor
traffic has undoubtedly been a factor,
is a graver menace to the life Of our
time than even the curse Of intem-
perance itself. So all who would
cast their influence unreSeryedIY on
the side Of sobriety- and purity should
be at greatest pains to assure the en-
forcement of existing laws.
In a self governing land, obnoxious
laws may be repealed by the due pro-
cess of legislation. That is what is
taking place, with astonishing rapidity,
all owe the United States. Six states
have come wholly under prohibitory
statutes By the operation Of local
option laws, the major portion Of the.
population of the country now lives in
dry territory. This is one Of the
most significant signs Of the times.
The mighty hand Of the law is throt-
Ting the traffic in strong drink. The
L bCIolSS LII 1ASl ~Sto 49,
world in temperance legislation. II
the present trend of society continues,
we may expect a wholly sober people
ere many generations.
After all has been said, though, law
is but the concrete expression of the
public mind. The fundamental mis-
sion~of all temperance workers should
be to put a mind Of sobriety and self
control into all the people. The work
Of education may not be neglected for
the sake of promoting legislation. The
most effective temperance law is that
which reigns in the individual will,
and. as one temperance speaker ex-
pressed it, CLOSES The liquor shop
which is carried on between a man's
WI chin and nose"
In connection with this topic a deal
of impractical advice will be given to
EndeayOrerS to become thoroughly IA
miliar with the temperance laws in
force in their own communities. n
throughout the land. Now the aver
age young person is no lawyer. He
has better use for his brains than to
lumber them with q mass Of needless
and technical information. The or
ganiZed temperance movement should
have experts upon these matters. All
that may reasonably be asked of the
average person interested in temper
ance is that he should possess a gen
eral knowledge of the laws which he
is called upon to help enforce in his
" community.
Once laws had to do primarily with
property rights. Nowadays, to an in
creasing degree. they are. concerned
with the social well being OF men and
women. An astonishing total of legis-
lative e~nactmentS during the past de-
cad has had to do with the better
ment of the conditions Of life. Labor
laws, pure food laws. laws upon mat
ters of sanitation and hygiene, conser-
walton of natural resources, child labor
laws, temperance laws, safety-device
laws, educational laws-the total is
really q staggering indication OF the
in which society has become
permeated with the leaven Of the
Gospelsof the Saviour. Half a cen
fury ago ali this sumptuary liquor leg
islation would have been regarded as
gross interference with personal lib
erty: today the world has learned that
h individual must be subordinated
to the w%ell-being of the entire social
body. The Pauline principle Of self
denial is coming to be recognized as
sound economies and sound politics.
The law Of the Other Man is the an
cient Scriptural common law" upon
which all temperance legislation is
based.
A capacity for moral Indignation is
a. first element Of noble manhood.
Sweet saints are sometimes supine and
spine1ess. The man on whom God
must depend for carrying on the
Kingdoms war has to possess the
ability to flame with hot wrath against
wickedness and Injustice. A few
days ago I sat in the lobby Of an Ala
bama hotel beside a distinguished eX-
governor of the State of North Caro-
lima. The room was filed with mem
hers of a certain secret society which
is supposed to be a gentlemen's order.
Yet these mel were. most of them,