El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-05-27
Is Carnegie On the Wrong Track
Statement That War Is the Foulest Blot Questioned
By j. Bulen, Square Baptist Church

" HERE is such thing as the
wrong track" Ny question is:
Is Andrew Carnegie on the
wrong track?
On the wrong track about what?
Well. as you know, a gift Of 10000
600 to abolish war was recently made
by this good man; and in his speech
when handing over the gift, he said,
War is the foulest blot on our civ
ilizatfon"
Was he right in his use of the SUI
per1ative? Is war the foulest blot on
our civilization? It makes a thinking
man think when he comes up against
such a statement. 1t is an unquali-
fled statement.
War is the foulest blot on our civ
ilization."
The Charge Challenged.
Is such a charge to so unchallenged?
1t has been questioned, and I join with
those who fear Andrew has lost his
bearings and has wandered on to the
wrong track. You have a right to ask
me why 1 think so, and my reason is
this. While all men must admire the
generosity Of the donor and his desire
to distribute his wealth in such a
way as TO benefit the human race, he
errs in his judgment, as the plainest
which, unless compared with war,
might be likened to the upsetting of an
ink bottle on the page on which am
writing. while war is but the OCCASION
al dropping from my almost empty
fountain pen.
I mean the traffic in strong drink
Let me give you the enlightened and
thoughtful judgment Of a man who.
without millions, stands UNNECESSARILY
beyond the other, and whose Judgment
has never been questioned on either
hemisphere
The uncrowned king of England,
Gladstone, said in his day: 1.-The liquor
traffic has destroyed more of +he hui
man race than war famine and pes.
thence combined
That statement has stood urchal-
lenged all the years since it was first
uttered.
Comparing the bIots.
Take both blots and compare them
for yourself. War comes when two
nations or portions of nations struggle
for the mastery It lasts a month, a
year. or several years-and comes to an
end. and the dead and wounded are
gathered and number few thou
sands
But the liquor traffic goes on and on,
365 days in the year and every year
Of the century and every century of
the millennium. Think OF it, For the
past thousand years the sun has new
er risen on any day that it did not
shine on from 10000 to 1000 drunk
ards going down to death and dishon-
ored graves because of the liquor traf-
fic.
And in the face of this fact. the
Scotchman says: WAR is the fouiest
blot on our civilizat ton" 1t was Ar
mold who gave his students this mot
to for the year: tThoughtlessness is
crime" Carnegie, I am afraid,
simply did rot think, for had he done
So he could never have said what he
is reported to have said
What Statistics show.
Let US take Carnegie's own Scotland
Criminal statistics show a record for
1909 Of $4,000 convictions for drunk
enness- How many Of this legion
might have beer Carnegies had they
ret stumbled over the whisky bottle?
'Old Scotch" is Scotland's biggest en-
envy
In England and Wales. for the same
year, there were over 10000 convic-
tions for drunkenness. And as every
one knows ret more than one in five
who get drunk is ever arrested and
brought before the courts. so that in
these cOuntrieS-En gland and Wales
half a million of the population are
being slain each year on the battle
field Of king Alcohol
Remember, Mr.. Carnegie. that dur
ing these centuries past. these lands /
boast of a soil unhampered by the |
blood OF a soldier killed in deferce of /
his Island home against foreign foe, /
yet during these same centuries of !
peace from foreign invasion. the :
licensed foe has entered every nook !
and corner of the land ard DETAINED !