The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1911-05-04
FLAG OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE
DR.. Amos p. Wilder, Consul General
for United States at Shanghai,
Talks on Temperance.

pre-, puDllSneQ at Shanghai, contains
most stirring speech by DR.. Amos
P. Wilder, consul general for the
United States at Shanghai, on "A New
Civic and Christian Duty-Total Alb
stinence." The American consul
general said: Il want to talk sensibly
and not unkindly. | shall try not to
forget that the world has known al
coholic drinks for 5000 years, though
by their sanctions Hindu, Buddhist,
and Mohammedan sections have been
protected against it until of late. l
shall not forget that our ancestors
quite generally used these beverages;
that our relatives and friends are still
doing so; indeed, their use is quite
general. | do not mean to scold any
body, but If possible to say something
that shall lead some to be afraid of
alcohol-some because they fear it
will affect their health; others be-
cause Of the menace to the state; and
some others, perhaps, who do not fear
for themselves, but begin to see that
it may be their drinking which en-
courages others to drink.
Il have been fortunate myself in
that l was born and reared in the
state of Maine, where prohibition has
obtained for half a century. 1t is diff
ficult to forbid liquor selling wholly
as 1t is difficult wholly to enforce the
laws against larceny or vagrancy, but
there Is no spirituous or malt liquor
made in Maine, and, more important,
drinking is not a part of the social
life of the people-liquor does not ap-
pear at state banquets, nor on the
family table. Citizens who themselves
have no scruples about drinking are
yet unwilling to violate the law Of
their state in securing liquor. These
things are, of course, great gain; gen
GRAFTON after generation is brought up
who do not know liquor, do not need
It. 1t IS no virtue in such that they
do not drink; they have been fortu-
nate, l say, in not being schooled to
alcohol, 1t is not a part Of their life,
they do not miss it, and they escap-
ed its perils. l recall the horror with
which as a boy of II on a Wis
it to neighboring state l first saw
signs advertising strong drink and
drinking shops in operation with con
sent of law.
81 have seen what an advantage il
is personally not to be dependent on
alcoholic drinks-to be able to go
about ones business without the ex-
pense, the inconvenience, the risks Of
drinking; and | have seen the ad-
vantage Of a social nfe in which wine
whisky, and all the rest are not only
not needed, but not even thought Of
For these reasons must be interested
in the question; also l must do my
part in leading men to think about It,
1t is not necessary to reiterate the
evils of drink We will not stop for
those who do not observe them, and
who will not read TO know that al
coholpoisoning Is the major peril of
the age in which we live. II is en-
trenched not only In profits, as was
slavery, but also In appetite, and
yields very slowly to attack But it
is being forced home, that nations
may be wrecked today as in the past
by alcohol: that while its reckless use
continues man can never come TO his
full stature, and the vision of
higher humanity can never be full
filled. My own country spends a bill
lion dollars a year for drink
But drinks ravages are worse in
some countries than in others. but
one who will consult the literature
(the extent of it is surprising, espec-
tally from French scientists) will find
that the results of alcohol-poisoning
alarms thoughtful men of France and
Germany scarcely less than the coun.
tries which look with envy on the
glass of wine leisurely slipped in
family group in beautiful France, or
the quiet glass of beer "unter den
linden" There may have been a time
when all this was as harmless as It
was innocent; it has gone. The bish.
op of Chalons' 30-page pamphlet
reads like an appeal In saloon ridden
district of America, or whisky,
drinking British city. "One is justi-
fed in believing" he says That alco-
mol is at lHe present uul6 the Cnle1
and most deadly Of the plaques that
infest humanity Must one tell you
that of a hundred insane there are
twenty-one alcoholics? That OF
hundred convicted criminals in our
courts there are forty or fifty alco-
holics? That of hundred murder
ers there are sixty alcoholics?"
After referring to the ruin that came
to hundreds of the small white pop
ulation of China through drink, the
consul general made an impassioned
appeal to his hearers that was alive
with striking facts. and he finally
ended up by saying Total abstin-
ence makes its claims to all 1t is
certainly the duty nearest at hand. 1t
is the creed of many-to leave the
world little happier than they found
It. Is this mere sentiment? Others
paste over their desks a pretty para
graph to the effect that they expect
to pass through the world but once,
and If they have any good things to
do for their fellows they want to do
It quickly, or they viii not pass this
way again. Here again we have a
laudable outreach; but is there body
to it? Do they want to do these