The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-09-16

IN koo 0But DoC8Uoo tWos ooSOVu 1AhOSsS
them and hindsrs the progress Of Gods
ago, lived one Of the greatest preach
ers this STATE has ever produced. In
his town there wac . saloon, into
which the preachers only SON was de-
coyed and made . drunkard. This al
most broke the preachers heart. But
the saloonkeeper was not satisfied
with this. In some way he secured
picture of the boy. framed It and hung
II up in his saloon, and then boasted
that he had the picture OF the preach
ers son in his place Of business. What
the saloon did for that preachers boy 1t
would do for every preachers boy in
the universe II It could. Who will
deny this!
But preachers are not engaged In
this fight for the sole reason OF pro-
tecting themselves and their families.
Preachers are called Of God to do a Pc
culiar work. God who called them and
| sent them out into the world to preach
has said: Woe unto him that giveth
his neighbor drink" mo drunkard
shall enter into the kingdom Of God"
As ministers Of God. It IL our business
to help men to heaven and to God Be-
fore we can do this there are many
obstacles that must be taken out of
the way Of these. The SALOON Is the
greatest.
2. The women and the children are
lined up against the saloon. Someone
has said that men are responsible for
all the tears shed by women. do
not know that this IL literally true:
but do believe that II Is practically
true. Men are certainly responsible
for all the saloons and the whole liquor
traffic. This form Of evil 10 RESPONSE
| - - III
that women bear why then should
they not be fighting the saloon with
all their might? Yes. womanhood has
sufficient provocation to fight eternal.
ly against the evil of drunkenness.
The women of our land see 100000 OF
their husbands and sons die every year
Of tho drink habit: they see another
100000 made drunkards to take the
places Of those who are killed; they
see another 100000 sent to jails and
penitentiaries as direct result Of the
saloon: the saloon makes a 100000 or
phans. a 1000 paupers. 100000 insane
every year; because of the saloon co.
600 women are led into life of the
most infamous ruin: 1000 women are
murdered by drunken husbands. and
1000 babies are smothered. Are NOT
these sufficient causes for women to
array themselves against this cursor
Only the heartless and the fool say.
no.
J. Tho people Of nine-tcnths OF the
territory of Virginia. and over one
half Of the population OF the State
have by a large majority Of their votes.
not only arrayed themselves against
the saloon. but also have voted 1t an
outlaw against society. OF the 100
counties in our State ninety OF them
have voted the saloon GU. Virginia has
a population of 100000 OF these L.
400 900 are living already under pro-
hibition laws. OF the twenty cities in
the State, eleven Of them are already
dry. There are 100 towns in the State.
173 Of them have voted out the saloon.
So then we have here In Virginia 274
dry counties and towns and cities that
have already espoused the cause Of
prohibition. while there are only thirty
six wet counties. towns and cities that
are still holding out in favor of the
saloon. The question might as well be
asked: Shall the thirtysix dominate
the z7i or shall tho 274 dominate the
thirty-six.
III. Let US notice tho weapons used
feat each other.
am quite SURE that you all know
that these forces are Joined In deadly
combat The hight will 60 on until
the saloon and the whole liquor traf-
fic In completely annihilated. In olden
days Rome and Carthage were rival
cities, and they hated each other. The
Romans finally rose to the seriousness
OF the situation. and said: II Rome
does not conquer Carthage. Carthage
will conquer Rome" In this day OF
II the church Of God does not conquer
the saloon. the saloon will conquer the
church.
In our text we read: For the
weapons Of our warfare are not carnal.
but mighty through God" The
weapons here referred to by Paul are
the weapons that the Christians must
use In fighting against the strong
holds" OF sin. We have found these
weapons specified by the apostle in an
other place as being: First. truth. then
faith and the sword of the spirit
These are the weapons that the church
and all her agencies, including the
Anti Saloon league, are using to pull
down the stronghold of drunkenness
How different are these weapons
from those used bt the saloon people.
The truth is the last thing they want
the world to know. Righteousness and
peace are strangers to them. They de-
ptIu upon taisshptd anu citt cSCu-
tation; the perversion of the press and
-ea+Es fstiHG- use ef money! here iy
no truth about the saloon that they
have not tried to conceal. and no evil
about 1t that they have not white
washed.
l. Their first falsehood Ia that al
coholic drinks are necessary and bene-
fetal. In an attempt to substantiate
this error the testimony of one OF
Richmond's doctors has been secured.
But over against his testimony IL the
| unanimous testimony OF the great med
ical and scientific societies of the
world.
2. Then we are told that the saloon
stimulates all honest business, and that
the State cannot get on without the
revenue that II derives from the sa-
loon.
The best business men OF the coun-
try tell us that the only business that
the saloon stimulates Is that OF the
lawyer, the doctor, ana the under
taker. One of the wet senators said
last winter while he was arguing in
the senate against the passage Of the
enabling act. that II Virginia voted for
prohibition II would mean q loss to the
state Of a $4,000. 10000 liquor business.
This would mean that in ten years the
LIQUOR people would get from Virginia
the sum Of $4,000. 10000. But the sa-