The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-08-11


which he knows will surely come,
and perhaps on his own dear boy. If
you intend to vote for the sale of
whiskey come with me into the
bright and happy homes in our city
and State, and with your finger dip
ped in the blood of the poor victims
of this accursed traffic, set a mark on
each bright eyed boy in it's mothers
arms-who you would be willing t.
help destroy. both soul and body,
and all for the money that it brings.
Yes. come with me to your own home
and set the mark on your own son.
| and tell your loving wife that you
want the dispensary run, and some
one must raise the boys to run it,
and why not you? Would to God
that this were only a fancy dream!
But 1t is only too true, and every man
knows that If the sale of whiskey
goes on, it must claim its victims
from these bright and happy homes,
and that the record of the past is as
certain to be the record of the fu-
ture as that men will be born and
live and die in this country. All men
must admit that any one who know
ingly and wilfully assists, or in any
manner aids another to commit g
crime. is held to be as guilty as the
man who does the deed Now I have
never yet seen any man, even the ba,
keeper, but admits a man does wrong
to himself and family when he gets
drunk, and under the law Of our land
| it is crime. These are hard facts
and this being true, I can see no way
for the man, who by his vote puts
whiskey in the reach of his poor
! weak brother and thus helps him to
he a criminal in the sight of God
| and man, can with a clear conscience
say he stands in a different place
| from the man who helps another to
| commit any other crime.
Wrong is wrong, and no excuse can
make it right. ] warn you to be pre-
pared in a few short years at most,
to stand before the awful Judge and
hear him say, where is thy broth
err" ''Thy brothers blood cries to
me from the ground"
Are you willing to take this fearful
risk for the sake of the money it
brings, for there Is nothing else that
would induce any man to run a bar
room, blind tiger, or a dispensary,
except the money that is in it.
We are living in an age of prog
ress men and women are opening
their hearts to help brighten the
homes in our. land, and the dark
places Of the earth. They are doing
a grand work in alleviating the pain
and suffering of humanity, and shall
we who are free from this fearful
curse stop our ears, to the cry of dis
tress, coming from the drunkard's
homes In our city and State-from
our own loved ones and boyhood
friends, now bound hand and foot by
this destroying monster? 1t Is worse
than mockery to turn from their
bloated faces and palsied steps and
say, IF the poor, weak minded wom-
en- can escape the grasp of the "ac-
cursed stuff by the exercise Of self
control, why can't the men and boys
escape by the same means?" The
sad fact is, they don't. Better that
the owls and bats should roost in
yOrr school buildings, and that the
CHI. dren should go to log cabin
school, than to train them with whis-
key money. and finally bring many to
drunkards' graves. BE not deceived,
man soweth that shall he also reap"
The Song OF Wine.
II can tell of banquet and revel and
mirth,
Where I was king, for I ruled in
might,
For the proudest and grandest souls
on earth
Fall under my touch as tho struck
with blight
From the heads of kings, have
torn the crown,
From the heights Of fame, 1 have
hurled men down,
l have blasted many an hOnOred
name,
I have taken virtue and given shame.
| have tempted youth with sip,
taste
That has made his future a barren
waste.