Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-03-25
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY MAN.
son for March 2S is a Temperance
Lesson. Proverbs %: 29-35.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

ton and possibly of the experience OF
the Wise Man:
who hath woe?
Who hath contentious?
Who hath complaining?
Who hath wounds without causes?
Who hath redness Of eye?
They that tarry long at wine;
They that go to seek the mixed
wine.
Look not thou upon the wine
When it Is red,
When it sparkleth in the cup,
When it goeth down smoothly;
At the last it biteth like a serpent,
And stingeth like an adder.
Thine eyes shall behold strange
things,
And thine heart shall utter peryerse
things.
Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth
down in the midst of the sea,
Or as he that lieth upon the top of
mast.
They have stricken me,
And | was not hurt;
They have beaten me;
And l felt it not:
When shall l awake?
l Will seek IL yet again.
A step in advance of this mere en-
phasis upon Solomon's incontrovert
ible testimony as to the evils of strong
drink is to. quote present-day instances
to the same effect. These may be
drawn from each days newspaper, or
from personal observation In truth,
however, society has advanced so far
with respect to the use of intoxicants
that there is no dispute upon the
point that drunkenness is an evil and
to be stunned. The place and power
of the horrible example has been over
stimated by temperance propagandists.
The men who see most of the evil
effects of strong drink are the men
who are least moved thereby-the
drunkards themselves and the saloon
keepers.
Some Rainbows.
A broader and more modern concep-
ton of the theme deals with the pres
ent status of the temperance progress.
A bow of promise spans the whole
horizon. Temperance victories are
ever recurring and the foremost politi-
cal news Of the day. Whichever way
one turns within the sphere Of legisla-
ton, he finds the temperance issue the
engrossing subject before lawmakers.
1t is good to realize, after all the years
of seemingly hopeless campaigning,
that today the issue is squarely joined
between temperance and intemper-
ance. The liquor traffic is literally
fighting for it's life.
The modern Christian man Is now
getting into his head the notion that
re, &c nj a1n at HING n
be wept for and prayed for, but 1t is
tangible political result for which he
may get out and work. These modern
local option crusades, and the other
forms of anti-saloon legislation, have
been the means OF enlisting whole
army of good citizens in practical poll
teal work This debt society owes to
the temperance cause: it has intro
duced great company Of the best
type Of citizens into the realm Of prac
teal politics. AS never before, men
are learning how to bring into effect
their ideals Of good government.
The Twentieth Century Man..
This is the day Of the apotheosis of
manhood. All considerations stand
aside for the coming man. It Is in or
der that the man may emerge that
innumerable reforms are being press
ed to victory. This new conception OF
the worth and place Of manhood is the
real secret of many Of the reform laws
that have lately gone on to the statute
books of governments. Such epochal
events as the international congress
upon the opium question: which is now
sitting in Shanghai, may be traced
directly to the new apprehension OF
the worth of the character of men in
every part of the earth.
1t has become the settled conviction
of the worlds leaders that strong
drink is one Of the greatest obstacles
TO the progress of manhood. The
social efficiency, industrial efficiency,
and political efficiency of the man is
hindered by the unrestrained use OF
and traffic in strong drink. Dr.. Samuel
G. Smith, in his. book. THE Indus
trial Conflict" points out that during
the seventies in England in three
annually two hundred million dollars
That made six hundred million dollars
for three years. Did the workingmen,
by common impulse, fired by great
ambition, save these two hundred mil
lions a year? Did they change the
savings into gold? Did they control
the banks and dictate terms to finan-
ciers? For six hundred millions was
just the amount Of gold in circulation
in Great Britain at that time.
IF these things had been done the
past thirty years would have seen a
new England, and the whole world
would have been filed with the sense
of the great achievements that had at
last been wrought by the working
classes. They would have superan-
nuated the aristoe racy; they would
have swept out age-worn superstitions;
they would have come into their own
empire. The working people of Eng
land earned two hundred million dol
lars extra per annum, and the sad
companion fact Is that the drink bill
of I'm gland too during each of those