The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-12-23
Flashlights On The
| emperance Question
The Two Banners.
w M


When teeming thousands are preparinp 70
welcome the anniversary of the Prince Of Peace
~ hitting manner. the black flag OF Rum is
haunting itself in the face of society with add
eo complacency. The traffic which we are told
is licensed for needed revenue, and 70 ..rag
. uia.e the drink business fattens and Is par
'icuiarly ousy at the season when the echoes
OF the angelic song. Peace on earth good will
to men, are heard the whole world round
AS was walking along public street this
morning on my way to my Office I noticed
drunken negro attempting to drive mule
team "hicE was pulling a coal wagon Hap
pily policeman espied him-but suppose an
innocent little child had been run over and
killed! OF course the child would have been
letting whiskey alone" but whiskey wouldn't
nave been letting 1t alone! Less than two
squares further on ! saw another mule team
hitched to a coal. wagon, standing In front
or saloon and no driver In sight! Pre-
sumably he taking his morning bracer,
Again. / was accosted by neatly dressed
white man. who requested the price of a drink
He said he had been spree for sevx-al
days and upon going home had found that
his Wife and little boy had deserted him."
as he termed It, and he muttered direfu threats
against them. The saloon. licensed by law
and law Is the will OF the people in this coun-
try'-wll get the Santa Claus money Of this
mans family. cor the city and State
Will get the revenue" for the licenseD Yon-
der is man with his Christmas jug. He Is
on his way to the train which will carry him
and his jug to his country home. Here come
two negroes. laughing gayly and Of them
tells the other ne has Sufficient money left
to get another dram--come oni" The mail or
der houses presumably husy-in shipping
wet goods into dry territory. Everywhere you
turn may be seen evidence OF the Christmas
drink high-tfd And innocent women and lit
tie children are going to suffer and the
columns Ut the papers will chronicle tragedies
caused by drink-and at the peculiar season
OF peace and good VIII What travesty! What
A mockeryi
And alasl some good people ascribe to
Christmas an immunity from the strict code Of
abstinence sobriety that they recognize at
other times. How inconsistent
There Is quite enough OF royal good cheer
at Christmas. no less than always, without the
necessity OF resorting to liquor Stimulation or
"exhilaration!' Let the good people who are
to indulge their Christmas cggnos ana
punch bowl proclivities consider the effect OF
their example. Certainly all Christian homes
should be free from any contribution to the
Christmas drink high-tide!
Yes the banner OF the Prince Of Pea,e waves
in radiant beauty! From thous lnds of churches.
cathedrals and homes psalms OF praise viii
be sung as the Star OF Bethlehem points to the
nianger! It Is the unstained banner flung cut
from the courts of heaven and will never be
furled until the world is won for humanitys
God by Him whose birth Christmas Is supposed
commemorate
And Christian civilization should sac to it that
the black flag OF Rum is no longer Haunted IN
the face Of society at Christmas or any time.
There is weapon surer yet
And stronger than the bayopet!
1t falls as soft as snow flakes the sod
But executes freemans WILL as lighting
does the will OF God"
Reader. make memorandum OF the distress
ing things you the Christmas-tide as a
result OF the LIQUOR traffic. In quiet secusion
read them over and ponder Multiply the In
stances that come under your personal obser-
walton ten thousand times. Then read the
following appeal:
by all for which the martyrs bore their agony
and shame:
BY all the warning words OF truth with which
the prophets came
Rv future that awaits us; by all the hopes
that cast
Their trembling beams across the SHADOWS Oh
the past!
And by the blessed thought OF Him who for
earth's freedom died
Strike quick. strike hard. strike now on Goa
Almighty's side"