The copper era and Morenci leader., 1914-10-30

creature of God and a higher crea
ton than water; secondly, He mani
Tested His unbounded trust in humani
ity, which, later, even crucifxion
could not kill; thirdly, means Of
development. The sin lay in the tenn
human will which challenged tempta-
ton and led to the eating of the
fruit
And just because temptation was
and is a necessity for mans develop
ment and progress then and now, God
still suffers it. The expediency of the
lprohibitionist in his futile attempt to
remove temptation was certainly not
Gods method, and for this life 1t
never can be.
The only basis of reform, then, is
Through the individual; the building of
his moral strength and will-power
which will result in self-control. This
clearly is the work of the Christian
Church, and the only solution of the
problem. Regulate the saloon by all
means; rid it of its debasng condi-
lions, or change the method of supply
Iof intoxicants by abolishing the saloon,
if needs be, for governmental control
and sale, or some other judic1ous
method-all this may be well and good
and wise, but the one essential that
NO-~O~
men to be masters of their appetftes.
When this is done, the problem is
solved.
If one has a nervous horse that
SHES at posts and pillars in town, 1t
| is manifestly absurd and impossible
to remove each and every obstacle
that abounds. This would be no sane
leducation of the animal The danger
lies not in the post the horse SHES at,
lbut in the beast itself. Therefore, the
| wise driver will continue to lead or
whip his horse up to the disturbing
cause to teach'it control.
T on the practical side of the present
day prohibitionism there is manifested
defects. Men will never be legisiated
into real morality, and, in pinn1ng so
much faith and value to law as q
moral reformer, the prohibitionist Is
leyidencing a decided weakness OF MS
system It Is here that haste ID SO
destructive, 1t has taken nineteen
hundred years of Christian teaching
to bring mankind to the state OF
foolish in the extreme to suppose that
now in a few short years, by acts OF
LEGISLATION, we are going to root out a
moral difficulty 1t is the haste, the
wanting to see results, that is the root
of all this. To a large degree 1T is IN
its motive commendable, but plainly
impossible, If past history is of any
value
AS a consequence, we find men act
ing on impulse, clamOring for leglsla-
ton which is not truly reflective or
the corporate or community Ego me
ethical value of the law lies not in
the law itself. but in it's rejecting and
recording of public thought-so that
no law is stronger than public opinion.
So it often follows, even in local OPP
ton towns, that men have voted for
what they were not inwardly willing
to maintain for themselves Inc
thought has been for the "other fell
low and then, when the restraint
their votes had imposed has been felt
personally, the tendency is to d1ssem-
ble-to become a creature OF appear
ances. Hence the display of moral
is nowhere more deplorably
in evidence than in prohibition states
and local option towns. The man VINO
wants his liquor gets it surreptitiously
from the drug store, or in the unmark-
ed packages that are shipped by ex-
press, or from the pocket pedler. In
each case he is apt to drink concoc- |
lions which are full of impurities
sometimes vile and health-destroying
or. he has recourse to the more res /
pectabIe method of buying patent med1- |
cines, containing anywhere from ten
to seventy-five per cent of alcohol, |
with the advantage of feeling free TO |
point the finger of reproach at the |
open Grfnker with his bottle of beer
containing four per cent of alcohol!
Each year he, perchance, votes no /
license to measure up to the standard
of artfficialfty, and congratulates him.
self that he can successfully humbug /
his neighbors when they only think /
they are humbuggfng him!
AS consequence of all this, the
disease is driven in, and the danger
as a. result, terribly increased. The
words fthe Bishop of Vermont in |
recent sermon in London, in which he
warned the English people against
acting hastily, by dwelling upon the !
dangers of the hidden disease of drink
in America-the result of prohibition
are words that will be weighed by
all except fanatics.
The writtr speaks as one who is
familiar with the practical results of
prohibition in Prohibition States in
east and west, and as one who has long
studied the question. 1t is clear to his
mind, at least, that the weaknesses of
that system are manifest in the man.
ner which he has set forth.
Surely it were betttr to frankly
face the whole situation, even at the
risk of a shock to religious prejudices
Or the ideals. of well-meaning prohibit
tionfsts, than to go on, blind to facts,
pursuing the impossible for our time.
Moral reforms never come in hurry,
and none that is lasting has come
purely as result of a legislative act.
The seat of moral disease is within
the man. And, after all, as we have
shown, drunkenness is but the ex-
cessive indulgence of an appetite |.
which the example of the worlds great
est reformer shows us has a perfectly
legitimate use. TIC turn back to that
cardinal virtue translated into Chris
tianity from Greek Philosophy, and
blessed in the Name of Christ, Tenn