The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-08-28
Dr. James Cannon Jr. Replies
TO Secretary Ben P. Owen Jr.
Beu P. Owen. Jr., Secretary:


6r. Ben p. Owen, Jr.. Secretary:
Dear 6irCI received your letter ad-
dressed to me as voter at Blackstone.
four closing sentence says: I'VE ask
kou to study this question and to write
h your conclusions"
I can truthfully say that have stud
lea It carefully, persistently, thorough
y and conscientiously for over thirty
PEARS.
''6tudy This Question
You call upon me In this letter
ITO study this question" and ] think
h may truthfully say that I have
studied It carefully. persistently
thoroughly and conscientiously for
over thirty years.
Az = BOY.
NV study of this question began
in my childhood, when as a boy
drove my mother in her carriage to
visit the poor and needy In our COM
munity.
not only heard from her lips.
but saw with my own eyes the great
est, most frequent cause of poverty,
disease and suffering. saw the
father and husband in silly or quar-
relsome condition. or lying in drunk
en- stupor. with wife and children
ashamed or frightened. helped to
carry In the baskets OF provisions
and clothing furnished by the church
TO feed and clothe hungry and
ragged children. / heard the stories
| OF the troubled. often heart-broken,
wives and mothers. which they pour
| ed into my mothers sympathetic ear
! heard her prayers in those homes
for the hayward father and sons,
and for the barkeepers that they
might all repent OF their evil ways.
And I also heard her prayers that
God would open the eyes of the peo-
pie and arouse the members of the
church, that they might realize no.
terrible II was that license should
be granted to men to sell that which
was such curse to so many people
I remember as a boy how she and
one other mother organized branch
Of the woman's Christian Temper
ance Union with handful OF mem
bers, and with what contemptuous
sneers II was received by town
cursed with twelve saloons. And
also remember with what persistent
faith and unwavering zeal those
women worked on until little by
little the community was honey
combed with prohibition sentiment
end finally one day before she died
the men OF the town rose up and
A,.A nI unrtys kny
prayers were answered. and this
work abides TO this day.
When she died not long after. the
little white ribbon bow of the w. c,
T. U. was pinned on the bosom oil
Ter dress. and as stood by the
side of the casket and looked upon
her face for the last time, pledged
myself to give whatever OF time or
money or talent God had given me
to destroy the partnership of the
State with the liquor traffic. TO close
up the saloons. and thus to minimize
to the utmost the poverty. crime and
suffering, which knew by experience
were greatly increased by the open
raloon.
As Student.
Yes, have studied this question
AS a boy studied 1t, and as Young
man at college I studied IT. ! saw
my fellow-students led off into back
rooms and supplied with drink from
regulated, licensed saloons. and
have helped to carry them to their
rooms and put them to bed foolish
ly drunk. noisily drunk. stupidity
drunk. disguisingly drunk. crafty
drunk. dangerously drunk. I have
sat beside them and held their heads
when their stomachs revolted against
the poison which had been poured
into them. I have helped to hold
them in bed when. crazy with the
poison. they have struggled TO get
up and hght somebody. have tried
to get them In shape for work the
next day. so that they might not be
called up and expelled and thus
bring great sorrow to fathers and
mothers. whose hearts were tied ur
with the welfare OF their sons.
As = Pastor.
Later on az q pastor. I saw again
the curse OF the saloon In the homes
OF my people. have seen families
III C6btlNuIlOU. anu yet I'LL civ ici tHN
father, the bread-wtnner. to come
home. I have seen children slip out
the back door when they heard him
coming. l have seen wives bruised
and sore In body and spirit from the
beatings of kind husbands changed
BY liquor into brutes. ! have seen
children dead In one room OF the
house and the father dead drunk In
another room. was called sudden
~ to see child die in filthy rags
the father drunk In the nearby ga
loon. I got him home. sobered him
up, secured the help OF the ladies
of the church to prepare the child
for burial and to buy the coffin.
left the man apparently fully arous-
ed and greatly distressed. but the
next morning when returned to
conduct the burial, found the child
In the CONN almost naked. with Its
new clothing gone and the father
once more In the saloon. drunk from
the LIQUOR which he had bought with
money obtained from the sale OF the
clothing taken from the dead body
OF his own child: and the saloon
keeper knew his child was dead al
his house, and yet sold him liquor
till he was drunk again. ! have
~.t..S ~. d,rufol ~ man IN