The Sentinel=record., 1916-12-10

St. Louis, Dee. 9.-The attitude of
 the great labor organizations of this
 country on the liquor question must
 soon be decided, according to the
 commission on temperance of the l Federal Council of Churches of Christ
 in America, which re orted at today's ! session of the quadrennial meeting ot 1 the Council.
 In its report the commission speaks
 of big fight in the labor federation , coming soon" It says.
 Various groups in the Federation
 have from time to time made an at- tempt to open the discussion, and at
 the convention ot the American Fed
 eration Of Labor held in san Fran.
 cisco. during November 1915. a mum
 Der Of resolutions were brought to
 the convention by various delegates
 seeking to have action. favorable to
 the liquor business taken by the con-
 yention. But these resolutions were
 hastily withdrawn when the conse- Quence Of such action was brought
 home to the leaders of the conven- tion However there is no doubt that,
 in the near future the entire question 1 will be discussed by the American Federation of Labor. Such pressure is being brought to bear by the liquor interests that the Federation must decide definitely where it stands This will result in the bitterest fight that 1 has ever taken llace at any conyen- tiOn of the Federation. Because of this it is supremely important that campaign of education be engaged in 1 (by the churches) which will not only
 furnish material for those who must
 make this fight on the floor of the 1 convention, but for the benefit of the rank and file of workingmen, who 1 should support to the last degree the ! labor men who will be called upon to
 make this fight and against whom all 1 the bitterness of the liquor traffic
 will be hurled"
 Discussing Married Men and the Saloon" the commission says:
 1 Tt is a striking fact that married
 men sren dmore time in the saloon
 than single men This is somewhat I startling. because married life is sup l posed to have a sobering effect upon a man Can it he that in many of these cases the home has failed to function? For let fl be said with all
 the emphasis possible that in rhe last 1 analysis the home must be the best substitute for the saloon. 1t is very generally true that men do not do
 their part in making the home what it should be from the social stand 1 oint; and perhaps too much has been said about wives failing to make themselves and their homes more at tractiye, thus driving their poor hus- | bands to drink; but the fact re mains that careful student of the
 subject revealed that about twice as
 many married men go to the saloon as do single men. This may be due l to the higher idealism of the younger men, and it may also be attributed
 to the fact that they spend a great deal of time iu the company Of their sweethearts who naturally would not visit the saloon with them. Perhaps no satisfactory solution may be found of this particular aspect of the problem until fin some way it becomes possible 10 provide more cheerful homes for working peo le in point or ventilation, light. space and general outlook This condition must be met 1 by men and women of large social con captions It may be taken up by the municipality or the state--somebody must do il, for it is unfair and short sighted to charge up to married mon and women social sins and omissions
 for which they are only in art re- sponsible'
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