The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1913-07-31
THE PEOPLES FORUM.
Gospel Temperance A Law.

alcoholic liquors. more than that we are
to use it as we do our food. with moder-
alton. That puts alcohol on the same
level with food. But they are not
analogous. Food sustains life; while
the constant use of alcohol destroys life
The amount of food should be sufficient
to supply the wants of the body. Three
times day for long life and the result
is the same. Our life depends on this
and is better sustained in health and
strength, without the use of alcohol as
has been proven beyond all doubt by
laborers IN every kind of work. Fac
tories, railroads, in fact every kind of
labor realize this and are employing
fewer, and many of them none, who
use alcohol. Those who train for ath-
letic or pugilistlc contests are not al
lowed anv spirituous liquors. But they
get plenty of good food with abundance
of active and hard exercise as the
agents relied on 20 produce strength
and endurance. There isn't a fast
young man or drunken bruiser who
attends these contests but knows the
way these men possess their strength
and physical power. Yet they go on
drinking; bet their money on the total
abstainer, and howl themselves hoarse
over the successful competitor Why
do they continue to weaken their powers
of body, unless it be for the pleasure,
and excitement obtained from it, yet
they bring untold grief and sorrow.
Pleasure! The masses are going wild
over it. But our pleasures to be iusti-
fed must be morally harmless and
right. 1t must be in accord.with our
physical organization and the relations
we sustain to each other and the law of
God. By this standard alcoholic liquors
have no place among our pleasures.
The appetite for food is natural and
legitimate, and is the proper measure
of its supply. The appetite for alcohol
is unnatural, acquired, and once pro-
duced clamors for more until its stimu-
lating power affects the whole system,
ending sometimes in drunken debauch.
1t is contrary to common sense to put
alcohol on a level with food. or the
appetite for it, on level with appetite
for food.
The appetite for food is a natural
and universal law that regulates the
supply of nourishment for the body;
while the appetite for alcohol is dis
eased craving for stimulant that de-
stroys the body. The law governing
the use of alcoholic liquors has special
application to the necessities of the
case, which we find in the word which
the Bible uses to impose that law: viz:
Restraint founded on the use of moral
power exerted in an effectual self
control
The moderate drinker is like a man
taking a journey with vicious horse,
which may bolt and run away any
moment, and hence he must be contlnu-
ally on his guard, lest he upset him in
the mud, land him in the ditch, or leave
him bruised by the road side. The
moderate drinking idea has dtched
many a fine Young man. Take cold
water, juice of the grape, unfermented,
and they will never run away with you
Churches are awakening to this sub
iect as never before One of the most
influential churches through its annual
assembly in May adopted, without a
dissenting voice, declarations denOunc-
ing the license system, and calling for
the adoption of a prohibition amend
ment to the federal constitution, and
urging the cOnvocation of a national
conference and prohibition organiza-
tons. They also forbade members of
the church to sign wet petitions, rent
property for liquor enterprises or to
have any thing else to do with the use
of are traffic in intoxicants.
Those who plead for the moderate use
of the stuff would do we'll to read what
Sir Thomas Barlow, physician to the
late King Edward SAYS. Here is his
declaration, IF we can safeguard the
young to the utmost. and not only keep
alcohol away from them but make them
realize from early years the terrible
ills that it brings to body and soul then
there may be some chance of the next
generation looking at the whole subject
in its true light, and our children S
children may realize that abstinence is
not fanaticism, but rational self-control
in respect to something which is fraught
with untold risks. " A leading brewer
of New York said to journalist, I'VE
know the church people can beat US
any time they chose, and when we see
that they are really aroused, we have
to bow to the storm. But they soon
grow tired, and then we can come back.
They have the power, but we have the
perseverance. and that isswhy we are
usually on!top.
Not very fiattering comment on the
church, is it? Yours truly,
T M FRANCE.
Off On A Trip Through Europe.
Mr.. w. w. Brown, managing edi