The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-09-07

therefore, the less progressive, Wnile
the higher up In the scale II II. the
more law abiding In it---fhe more does
1t bear the likeness OF fhe private in
an army who thinks and acts only
under orders for the common good.
With every new advance of human
knowledge comes or ought to come In
every enlightened community new re-
strictions of individual license leading
to new conception OF collective
freedom.
A Dangerous Practice.
You have the abstract. or II you
choose to cali 1t so natural liberty
to spit on the sidewalks: but medical
science says: THE practice Is danger
Gus to public health" and the law
your law--steps In and says stop IT."
You have the natural liberty to use
your own property as you please: but
the law--your law-~says you shall not
use 1t to create a nuisance and annoy
your neighbors. You have the natural
right-harmless in itself--to cross the
street at any angle you please; but in
some cities / have visited II you try
to cross certain busy corners diagonal
ly you will be halted by a policeman
and IL you still insist on your personal
liberty will be put under arrest. Even
so you may have the natural right
to take a drink Of liquor and run n
liquor store II you please; but medical
science says that the liquor traffic 's
the fruitful parent of disease--of
Brights disease, cirrosis of the liver,
heart failure, consumption. delirun-
tremens and insanity; and crimiono-
logists tell us that 1t is responsible di-
rectly or indirectly for at least IS per
cent of our crime: and sociologists tell
Us that 1t Is one. II not the chief,
cause OF poverty. shiftlessness. divorce,
nonsupport, feeble mindedness in off
spring. the breaking up of homes and
the breaking down of hearts; and
political experts tell us that the most
corrupting influence in the govern
nent of our larger cities emanates
from the underworld of which the
saloon is the CITADEL and. this being
So true personal liberty demands that
society. shall step in and say: This
thing must stop. Thou shalt not fill
my hospitals and penitentiaries with
the by-products of your personal
liberty" mill, Thou shalt not ensiave
multiplied thousands to preserve .ne
fancied liberty of the few. Thou shalt
not murder women and little children
thou shalt not fill the divorce court
thou shalt not bring grew hairs oil
fathers and mothers In sorrow to the
gra ve--,vthou shalt not bequeath &c
future generations a legacy of weak
ened wills and shattered ne1-ves-thn,i
shalt not debauch the political life OF
the country and make democracy a
laughing stock in the great cities
which should be our common pride
and boast--thou shalt not do these
things simply TO preserve an abstract
doctrinaire theory about the rights oi
the individual.
We talk about free institutions and
free people. But what are free in
stitutions? What is a free people :?
Free institutions are the institutions
Of lf-government-a free people Is
a people that govern themselves. Try
as you will you cannot get rid of thai
thing called government and govern
ment at every point means control
The point is that the free people are
se1f-controlled.
People Make Laws.
The people, mind you. not each In
diyidual among men. In n free coun-
try the people make the laws-bu'
they are laws nevertheless. The peo-
pie establish prohibition, but they
prohibit just the same. The people
/. e. you and / and our neighbors-
say to ourselves. This Is the way ws
wish to govern ourselves These are
the rstrictions we wish TO lay on the
brute and devil which we well know
to be within us. These are the pro
hibitions which we freely lay upor
ourselves as individuals in order tina
| we--the whole mass Of the people
may rise in the scale of civilization
and become worthy inheritors OF tht
freedom which our sires beQueathet
unto us" The real tyrants of ans
people are. their natural unregulatef
appetites and desires, and the very
business. purpose and meaning O.
freedom Is to deliver men from tina
| tyranny by laying the inhibitions o.
the law upon their unbridled exercise
There can be no freedom in q mora
world to murder. pillage and destroy
There can be no freedom to taks
poison into ones own system mucf
less prey upon the weak wills of Others
to introduce it. for money profit. Int
them There can be no freedom Il
keep men and women enslaved to &
soul and body destroying drudge. Tan
about the free institutions of ou'
country! Their greatest enemy Il
the saloon. Talk about free people
There can be no freedom where kin.
alcohol. igns.
But there is another side-a Chris
tan SlQe--Lo inc question:. dHu uil Nid
| | wish to say just a word What
/ ever liberty may mean to the man o
the world, 1t certainly means for tn
Christian the willing and joyous sacrl
! flee Of all so-caifed liberties who's
exercise Is injurious to ones fellow
man. About that there can be n
manner of doubt. Christianity is no
self-assertion but self sacrifice--th'
gaining of real and permanen
| through the surrender of a fanciet
and temporary freedom. No one wa
ever such q champion of the libert.
OF the Christian man as the grea
Apostle Paul. To defend it agains
the attacks of enemies both withou
and within the church he wrote pag'
| after page of brilliant eloquence which
still sounds like a trumpet peal in GU
! ears. But OF what kind Is the libert,
| for which he suffered bonds and i'm
| prisonment. - 1t was the liberty Il
| serve the word. Not for a momer
| did he confound liberty with licens'
! or self-pleasing. Not far momen
| did he countenance any so-callet
| liberty that entailed injury to some
| one else. To that he returns agar
| and again. I'VE have been called
unto liberty: only use not that libert,
/ for an occasion to the flesh, but b,
! love serve one another" Fol
j though / be free from all men. ye
! hova pnade rnyseIf servant unto all