p. 27 | Why I Am Against the Saloon by Rev. Wm. C. Burns

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 9, 1913

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 41.

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Why I Am Against the Saloon

By Rev. Wm. C. Burns

I AM against the saloon because it takes all I have and gives me no equivalent.

I step into a shoe store and purchase a pair of shoes; result, my feet are kept warm.

I step into a clothing store and purchase a suit of clothes; result, my body is protected from heat or cold.

I step into a grocery store and purchase bread, meat, potatoes; as a result my body is fed and made strong.

I step into a bookstore and purchase a good book; result, my mind is fed and enriched.

I step into a saloon and take a drink. As I wish to be regarded as a good fellow, I take another. Soon my brain is less clear, my hand less steady, and my walk less firm. Soon my value as a doctor, a lawyer, a merchant, or a mechanic is lessened. By and by I cease to have any economic or social value. Finally I am an outcast and a wanderer.

My opposition to the saloon and the liquor traffic is simply a matter of decency and manhood. It is simply saying that I prefer prosperity to poverty, sobriety to drunkenness, and honesty to dishonesty. It is but an expression of a preference to remain clean and strong and manly.—Rev. Wm. C. Burns, in the Amethyst.