Temperance Battle in Minneapolis
By David Paulson
Woe to the Man with the Bottle — The Bad Fruit of the Saloon — An Enthusiastic Campaign The question of whether Minneapolis, Minnesota, should be a dry or a wet town, was voted upon October 4. It was the largest city in America that had voted upon this question by itself, and so the struggle there naturally attracted national attention. I was invited to participate, in the last three days before the election, in the whirlwind closing campaign. On Sunday morning, I lectured in the Bethlehem Presbyterian Church. There was a responsive audience, who felt deeply the call of the hour. This temperance campaign had been waged largely on the economic issue. I felt specially impressed of the Lord to present the question from the Bible and a moral standpoint. God says, “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken.” Hab. 2:15. That settles the saloon keeper’s status with me. He may ride in an automobile here. He may live on Prospect Hill, and his wife belong to the women’s clubs, and his children move in the best society in the city; but God has pronounced a curse upon him, and that can no more be reversed than can the law of gravitation. Unless he repents of his sin, and abandons his business, that curse will be ratified at the bar of God. Twice the Bible declares that no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God. I am interested in getting men ready for heaven, and the product of the saloon cannot be admitted there. The Saviour Himself said, “Every plant, which My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” Matt. 15:13. I know God never planted the saloon; and so I know He wants it rooted up; and I propose to be earnestly at work pulling it up; and if the job is not entirely completed when the Master returns, He will certainly say, for what has been accomplished, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” John the Baptist said, “Every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” I have had abundant opportunity to sample the fruit of the saloon. I have heard the unearthly shriek of the victim of delirium tremens. I have seen the poor drunkard’s wife beaten into a pulp by her insane and infuriated husband while he was under the influence of drink. I have seen the children driven to the “home of the friendless” by this accursed traffic. I know the fruit, by personal observation, and I know it is not good fruit. I know God wants that tree cut down; and God being my helper, I am going to spend my spare time hacking away at it. If the tree should not be entirely cut down when the Master returns, I will have been in a good deal better business than if I had been watering it, defending it, and building it up. THE MOST ENTHUSIASTIC CAMPAIGN
Sunday afternoon, I spoke in the Oliver Presbyterian Church; and in the evening, at the Walker Methodist Church. The Lord added His blessing to each of these efforts. I believe the dry forces had nearly a hundred street meetings in operation that same Sunday evening. Minneapolis was stirred as it never had been before. The newspapers said that no political campaign in the memory of the oldest inhabitant had been one tenth as enthusiastic. The dry forces believe they have abundant evidence that men voted illegally, and that much corruption was utilized to win the day. The whisky forces spent thousands and thousands of dollars for expensive advertising and in importing great speakers to deceive the working men into believing that if Minneapolis went dry, they would lose their positions, and grass would grow on the main streets. The devil not only has a special gift for originating lies, but he can also make a host of people actually believe those lies. I was glad to contribute my mite to this splendid campaign. My heart was wrung, the next morning, on my return home, to learn that Minneapolis had gone wet by a majority of something like nine thousand votes. Nevertheless, I believe that much good was accomplished. The temperance forces were aroused as never before. The next time they have an opportunity, they will no doubt sweep this accursed traffic from that beautiful northwestern city, if not from the entire state.