TEMPERANCE COLUMN

Otago Witness, Issue 2810, 22 January 1908, Page 74

TEMPERANCE COLUMN

THE FINAL FIGHT THE CJETOIIOH iANB 'JSALOON INI CSRUCIAIL^BATTLE. ■X By Hon. J. Fbank Hanly, Governor of , .\ .Indiana. '"" .' The following, is a digest .of a masterly speech recently - delivered by the Governor .' of Indiana before a large body of ministers 'of Chicago and vicinity. Governor Hanly places the burden, of conquest on the Church, and makeß a strong appeal to Christian, citizenship to exercise at the polls the privilege of the freeman to demand 1 a protective Government. It is not often that a -layman has the privilege of talking back ._ to so many ministers, but you x know there are things that only a layman may say.' There are things tkat even a. minister may hesitate to aay, which a layman may voice. The Christian Church had its birth amid scenes of grief and tragic sacrifice. The consecration of the Christ in the garden, His scourging, and - His crucifixion and agony, are striking evidences of this ,truth. .The unnatural' death one . after another' of all His chosen disciples, save one or.- two, land the martyrdom of their followers on> 'the cross and' in the dungeon and. the arena during the early centuries remind us that consecration and .sacrifice were the pillars, ■upon which, ita foundations rest. Christ's love for man .was the impelling cause, -of. -the 'consecration and sacrifice- out of which the Christian. Church arose;', indeed, sacri-! fice, impelled by love, began with God Himself, ■ for it is -written, "He so loved . the 'world that He gave ■ His only begotten Son that whosoever belieyeth on Him should not perish, but should have everlasting, life." commissioned! and">.thus' impelled^ the Saviour came . to earth to re- "" deem J and - reclaim the sons* of men. His' •pathway led' "Hun to Gethsemane and on to Calvary, the ' on© marking • the consecration, the other the ' atonement. , Through -Gethsemane and the cross, prayer . and the consecration and. sacrifice incident "to them, He drew His disciples unto Him and cemented between them ties "that persecution could not "-break. The Saviour was sacrificed ; His apostles met death, their followers were stoned and killed and burned, but the cause' survived ; it could neither be killed nor, burned nor crucified. ' From rthe scattered ashes "the ohurch^arose. glorified and triumphant, aflame with inspired purpose and endowed 'with divine power. Centuries have come and gone. Between them and now the years are piled high; other men have fallen, and institutions have crumbled,but the Christian- Church remain*. The gentle Gospel of the Christ has brought to -the people of the present day a new j life, a new oiyilisation. The days of the shedding of. the blocd of saints" are past, and with them have- gone something of the devotion, something"" 1 of the consecration, something of the militant spirit which in its early life gave the' Church a power and glory, and made- it a flaming sword. _ J THE CHURCH STILI> POWERFUL. I do npt deny the Church's present, power, nor the progress/ in certain directions that is being made ; indeed, I affirm; that , the Christian Church, taken as a wjhole,' never .exerted as .powerful an in v "fluence along, ethical lines as to-day. It never served the world as effectively in its tenipoial need, never responded as quickly, j or as generously, -to the cry of physical ■ pain and of bodily suffering. It never- was as charitable', ■it never insisted as earnestly ifrat man, if he b© not Ms brother's keeper, ,is his" brother's brother/ But I- sometimes fear it. 'grows- leas effective to meet -the j I needs of man'.s inner life.- It is more con- i ' cerced about the welfare of his body than about the salvation of his soul. Its mirasj tries are ethical and not spiritual. It lacks ! intensity of conviction, it lacks devotion, ! if lacks oonsecration, it laoks the inspira- *! -tion, the unction, of pentecostal fire. It is ■ j too patient with sin, too tolerant of evil ; j I it is too placid, too well pleased with iteelf, | and too well satisfied with the world in which it is. * We are forgetting that the Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, that God Himself ia a Spirit, and that " they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." It is too near for getting that God's church on earth must be a militant church, its members mill-. ' tan Christians, too near forgetting that ■ there are crosses to bear and crowns to win to-day as in the olden time. _ I would not have less of the altruistic church, but' I -would have more of the essential elements of power of the olden days. In my humble judgment the world still needs ,a militant church; it still needs a living, vital Christianity; it still needs consecrated . me.n and women,' men -and women who are.profoundly concerned about the salvation of. their own immortal 6ouls, profoundly^. concerned about ihe salvation of the immortal souls of other people — men and women who meet unrighteousness in any " form and who are wilGng to meet armies ny day. The world's need of such a church and of _ such men and women is enduring. An' oft-repeated challenge lice even now at the feet of the Christian Church of .America, and unless it runs away there is fighting to, be done. Tha issues of present importance are the welfare of „ society, the faithful administration of government, the incorruptibility of the American city, and the well-being of both the bodies, and souls of men and women. The domain to be I fought for is this republic, its manifcood. iift wojnanhoodt it* oinldlioodi

its institutions ; its institutions founded with tears .and sacrifice, institutions loved by the fathers and revered by the Bons,- inatitu^ tions for which" -men have died, fondly dreaming they were dying to perpetuate them to the- last generation ; but the trophy to be struggled for is the stainless flag, the banner of the free. * „ . % WILL THE CHURCH RUN AWAY? The foe is ihe organised liquor traffic of America. It is an enemy . worth while ; it has great wealth'; it is ;, resourceful ; it touches tie. Jinancial interests .of . many men; it as desperate-; it observes no law, human "or divine; it violates legislative enactments.' 'The rules of civilised warfare are to it .a meaningless jingle- of ' idle words; its banner is a black flag, it is an outlaw ; its. God . is Mammon ; it has no religion but the greed of -gain, no love, no, pity; it debauches the best citizenship of town and; country; for money it spoils the finest of womanhood, it invades the family circle, overturns the house and breaks asunder .the dearest ties that Heaven ever made. The Christian Church of America must meet it or run ,away, but it" will not run- away. vlt must stay and it^must fight, and it will stay; it -will stay, and it will fight not one 'but", a hundred » battles. "Hear me! If it fights it wilTneed men, men of , moral\ fibre, 'of. sound judg- ' "ment- and of inflexible -purpose, nfen 'whonj,. the'' lust "of office -will not 'men /who' have honour,- men who will f not lie; ; The Church <jan--win-, but it must colledt and^ organise ite forces and bringvto bear every influence * - it -possesses ; - -and , these must .be wisely directed — patience, must be exercised. The Church' must be persistent; the field is too wide -and too well defended to be captured'by a single charge. It can only be won a little at a time. There are citadels that cannot be carried by storm at all, and because these strongholds cannot be i taken by assault, the Church "must not refuse to take and hold each point of Vantage it may acquire. Every inch of grotind is worth while in this contest; territory won must be garrisoned and held ;' the Chureb must - educate; it must create and keep alive public sentiment; it must lay bare the economic waste and weakness of the traffic, its harm to the public, "'its injury- to industry and enterprise, its awful strain oh . every vital force of the nation, while ,the ultimate extinction of the traffic, must be' the v goal' toward it struggles; it, must not refuse to regulate, -afld' restrict ■ and -control foE^e^ery^, 'restriction, every' successful effort ..'for control, juoans— added strength; and new . adherents."? .As for myself,* I "have seen, so .mush,. .of-. it*?eco- ■ nomie''" 'waste, ,so much^-of "broken-down manhood so much heartache -of '^the child, and the ruin that the traflßo^ entails upoa the home -and .commonwealth,- that I am prepared to .strike, it anywhere and, every? - -where when.- an .opportunity; presents, v in" public or in-private life..- JFor' three v years I have witnessed an unending procession of .-women— mothers, ' daughters, -and wives — coming with ■ broken: hearts and- in- tears/ to the .'executive- chamber to plead for, clemency for loved" ones who have transgressed thfe^law and whose liberty the State has retaken Vway. I'<have* read hundreds of criminal records in my hotel, in my homo, "in ;: th'e' executive" office; and in' railway trains, and in 85; per cent, of the cases the. cause oan be "traced to ,the excessive .use of intoxicating liquors. • I HAVE COUNTED THE COST. I was opposed to the traffic before I took the oath of office, but after 'three years of close observation, of the fruits of the traffic I am prepared to state that all I have, all I am, is ready for the task that lies before me. * I am prepared to give unqualifiedapproval to any measure looking tq the" further restriction of the 'traffic, which I believe to be within constitutional limitations. It was this feeling that impelled 'me last week, in a public address in Indiana, to pledge my influence and whatever ability I may have to securing the enactment of a remonstrance law that <will make the city and the .county, . the unity of, remonstrance^ -It was ,this that impelled me to say in an address at Columbus,,Ohid, not .long ago, that whatever influence and ability I had and could spare to them,wouU' be given ih\ their -contest ,, in,, jphio.:fot>i county local option r *law>' f£d._.r-it" is;*hatwhich impels me here c &rea.n,QW-to..makfr th - esame promise to you": "The'^prinQiples in- : volved in the right of remonstrance "by -the voters of a township''"itn.crcity/.ward'areentirely sound. TheVprinciple is in keeping •wiih the spirit and -genius of our-.institu-tions. This,- we\inow, is., the. J?e°p.le s, government, "a government the ..'people, of the people, and forvthe. people." . f THE" PEOPLE'S_RIGHT. - And there is ho more certain right of a free people- than' this, tha^they haVe aright to' drive this evil -from' their midst,;.and; say, . for themselves . whether they w f iU continue to bear this" waste 'and subinit,to the urjwry ■to society and public interests, .and toleTate the increase- of crime. That, L undertake to say; is fundamentally right in a tree government. In this contest let us not base our campaign for restrictive or prohibitive measures upon thoughtless fanaticism, but upon the duty of the strong to forego their own personal liberty m this regard as they daily forego it in their lines of conduct for the protection of the weak, and, indirectly, for the of society and themselves from the count-,; lessiorimes of drunkenness. It is sometimes said that personal liberty le involved, but it' is no more involved than ' if is when you say *0..a man in a populous city that he may not drive his vehiole 25 miles an -hour on apublio street; no more than wFen you say to a man in a populous ■ city, "You must, keep your back yard clean c for sanitary reasons '_' ; no -more than it is when you say to men every day that they may not do this or that because it, affects the public welfare. ,My liberty ends everywhere, and any time it touches, the welfare and liberty of others, There are people in this country who are unable to distinguish between liberty and license. LIBERTY OR LICENSE. License is not liberty at its very' best; it is the liberty of the assassin, the liberty of a land where might makes right, -where he takes and holds who Win. Our fathers died to find--no such liberty as that. They wanted to establish liberty, but it was found in having its limitations" in the welfare of others. So, if the ohurch can organise and, unite its membership, and' can inspire it. with a common and harmonious purpose and give it practical anasane leadership, the days will- be too few in which' to number ites^ victories.- And in this connection I want to say that the sanest, wisest, most practical leadership the temperance" sentiment has in Amerioa—today is tho Anti-saloon League. It, appeals to every man who believes in the truth involo>A. without regard ,to big church. $£.

! party. 'A question as broad as this rSt quires a leadership broad enough to appeal to all men everywhere. There is much in present conditions throughout the country; to justify confidence and to inspire to re« n-ewed effort. The past two years havo witnessed a marvellous change in public sentiment, a change so great and so general ad< to -amount , to the moral uprising of the Christian people. You know the sublimest thing among' men is the- moral uprising of 4 great nation.- There is nothing so inspir« ing, nothing co majestic, nothing.- so potential in its effect : upon the destiny of the human., race as the moral uprising of-4 mighty ,* ..> ,-* •' ', MARVELLOUS PROGRESS. A Tc/rVeiaeTit -seems 'to" be}-'- in f-progreste",. nati/hwide ; the wave of 'Sentiment-i.whioS,-marks its progress .will: . probably'- recede? : but, I pray God, it will^ieveir-reacl»''ag«ini(i the level of old age. \ Four-" State#^Mainfiw Kansas, South Dakota, and Georgia— Sow, have prohibition, arfd Oklahoma^, the new star that has crept into this afield out yonder, will be more effulgent Hn its glory because it,, too, reflects, the sentiment of a State /without' legalised -^ liquor traflie. The Governors, of; both-Kansas^and Maine, who are enforcing the "inhibition clause :im, the ..constitution, have."botK«been re-e)eoted. ,They - have „,'made substaniial ' progress. , -Ninety-two ;covnties-ip. Kentucky ;<?ut ,of~ll9 . inhibit the- traffic;' '[Since carried/ Stnfe prohibit'ibh'.] .-In Tenness'ee»jt is permitted! in only" ' three cities — Chattanooga, ' Mem.phis, and "Nashville; -Illinois much' for' the comirig-1 year; |and' it ie. TTi t leaders of the" Christian ohuroH of Illinois to make* - good the promise. ' [Over 300 saloons -closed since then in Illinois.] In Indiana, 723 townships out .of a total of 1116 have excluded it. There are ,in Indiana but '393- townships in which it is permitted; 1,300,000 people in Indiana now live in inhibited . territory, and we have, through the amendment, made two years ago to the remonstrance' law, pieventedl the establishment of more than 900 ealoons-, enough, allowing 20ft to'eaoir room, to line a street four -miles long. • .When, you think of -that -you" begin" to measure power for- good- tHis la/w iuL3 K&ezx to *ilxe p«oplo of Indiana. The temperance cause will first; be won in rural districts. Then the tramo entrenched in the cities will make, its last desperate stand. And we must loot to the '. church, ,with .its immense power an<^ influence, itp immeasurable potentialities, for aid in thjs :iast great; battle in the cities of Americi. - „'-"•' Note. — Governor Hanly -6peeks . with full knowledge of the results of .no-lioerisef ."as have nearly^ , one. , and' a-half " mill ionpeople under no-license* in his; 'State.7" Editor temperance column.