Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-11-08
In The Religious World;
(REVIEW OF SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.)

"MR. GROCER, stand up and an
swer why you should be allowed to do
business, and take the peoples
wealth."
l give men food in return for their
money; they cannot get along with
out me-" .E
"MR. cLoTHIER, what have you to
say?"
II provide protection and adorn-
men1 for peoples bodies, doing them
good and not hurt
"MR. BOOKSELLER, you take in
much money; by what right?"
"By the right of service I furnish
food for mems minds: am an indis-
PEN sable agent Of civilization A"--'
"MR. BUILDER. what do you give
for the millions you receiver" w..
II make the peoples homes. shell
tering them, and making stable our
social life" '&
"MR. sALooNKEEPER, you ask
hundreds of millions Of dollars from
the public; Justify yourself"
Here we find for the first time, re.
sentiment and impertinence. what I
do with my business is nobody's con-
Germ but my own. stand or"personal
liberty If man wants to take
drink because he likes it, or thous-
and drinks, whose affair is it? What
if he does lose his steady nerve. his
self-respect. his health, his ambition,
his savings, his position and his fami-
ly's happiness in my place of business?
That is no matter Of yours. When I'm
through with him, I'll send him. and
his family. to the almshouse. the in.
sane asylum. the jail or the hospital,
and there you may take care Of him.
l have powerful friends in all political
parties who will see that you don't
go too far with your meddlesome laws.
A New Social Conscience.
The relentless modern social work
ers. with their surveys and statistics
are playing greater havoc with the
liquor vendor than ever the old-fash-
toned temperance orators did. For
they are proving up to the hilt tho
charge that he is an unsocial force
m the community. He contributes
nothing really necessary to human
welfare. and he lays toll upon society's
most priceless possessions. He Is the
open and confessed ally Of all the 9TH
err evils OF our day. from white slavery
to debauched legislature and judiciary.
Steadily and relentlessly the restric-
lions upon the liquor business are in
creasing in all parts Of the land, and
the number of it's open supporters
grows fewer and fewer.
At the very time Of this lesson there
is meeting in Ohio what will doubtless
be the largest and most formidable
temperance convention ever assem-
bled. This great anti-saloon national
gathering, nerved by many and mighty
victories. Is contemplating new and
still holder attacks upon the liquor
business. The cry raised by President
Francis E. Clark. of the Christian En-
deavor Society, "A saloonless nation
by 1a2O' is no idle slogan; the most
powerful forces in the life of this wes-
tern world are seriously undertaking
to realize It, The victories In behalf
of the common welfare along other
lines have nightly stimulated the foes
Of this ubiquitous evil.
Nothing that looks to the well-be-
ing of the plain people is too radical
for these times. The whole lump of
the social order has become leavened
with the Pauline teaching of altruism.
Society is resolved to get rid Of every
thing that hurts the life Of the people.
In every court-of science. of ethics,
of politics, Of industrial efficiency. Of
education, Of athletics, Of religion
liquor has been tried and found NAL
factor. The pleasure and enrichment
of the few must give way to the we'll
being of the many. Once the forlorn
hope of few fanatics" temperance
is today the victorious cause of the
common people and the church.