It Attacks the Very Best
By E. R. Potter
The Warmest Hearted and Most Generous in Greatest Danger
An important point that needs to be emphasized is the fact that it is the kind-hearted, liberal, and sociable sons and husbands that are taken in the snares of the demon drink. While I was talking a few days ago with a man who claimed he made all the money he ever had, out of the liquor business, he said, in trying to justify the traffic, that only the naturally weak-minded become drunkards; and in almost the next breath, he boasted of the generosity of the drinking class in helping the needy. But what are the facts in the case? Attacks the Largest Brains
The popular Canadian evangelist, the Rev. H. T. Crossley, has well said: “Any person270who says those who become drunkards are weak-minded, shows that he is lacking observation and common sense. Whether a person shall become a drunkard, if he drink, does not depend upon the strength of character or will. He who has the largest brains and finest nervous organization is the one who most readily becomes a victim. He who boasts how much he can drink and not get drunk, is ignorantly boasting that he is lacking in brains or fine organism. The greatest minds have been overcome by this giant foe.” Captured Kings, Statesmen, and Poets
“I would sadly mention Philip the Great, Alexander the Great, Frederick the Great, as kings; Pitt, Burke, and Sheridan, as great statesmen; and Burns, Poe, and Prince, as brilliant poets, that have been laid low by this spoiler of humanity.” I said to the friend of the liquor traffic: “I agree with you that many of the men who are ruined by drink may naturally be more liberal, kind-hearted, and generous than many of us who are temperate. Can you blame us, then, for trying to save such noble men?” The Cold-Blooded and Stingy
On this point also, Evangelist Crossley says: “Those who are cold-blooded, hard-hearted, or skinflints, may possibly drink, if they are not too stingy to buy it, and not become drunkards; but if you are warm-hearted, social, and generous, do not touch the drink, unless you want to become a drunkard.” Some people have told me they thought liquor was actually necessary for the health of certain persons. But the fact is that the best physicians have largely discarded liquor in their practice, as they have bleeding, which used to be commonly employed. Liquor destroys the health of pulse and pocket. The drink habit poisons the influence of the best of men. One moderate drinker will influence more young men to begin the drink habit than will half a dozen drunkards. John B. Gough, after he was reformed and became one of the greatest and truest reformers, said, “My father drank all his life, and never got drunk; but I, his son, thinking to follow in his footsteps, became a drunkard.” The Catawba Indians used to poison arrow tips with rattlesnake venom, and place these, with points up, in the path, to destroy their enemies as they, barefooted, pursued them. Can we be guiltless if we set an example before our family and friends that may lead to their ruin for time and eternity? Responsible for Most Crimes
One of the best known modern moral reformers and legislators of Great Britain says: “Wherever you find human beings huddled together in wretchedness, wherever you find men living in a condition of vice and crime, they all bear testimony that drink is the prime agency in the creation of all those unsightly masses of pain and degradation.” Our jail here at Vernon, British Columbia, recently held five young men charged with the murder of a fellow logger while all were on their way to a logging camp. On all hands it is admitted that this most brutal murder in the history of the fair Okanagan Valley is due directly to the accursed drink. The General Synod of the Church of England in Canada, meeting in Ottawa in 1908, passed the following resolution: “In glancing over the several provinces of the dominion, it is manifest that there is a great consensus of opinion concerning the bar under the present licensing system, namely, that it is a public menace; and your committee would urge upon the synod that it is the duty of every man to endeavor to further the effort to abolish the bar.” The liquor business is arraigned before the great bar of public opinion, and I trust that every member of the great “jury” has as clear convictions concerning the punishment due the “prisoner at the bar” as the man who, preparatory to being sworn in as a juryman, was asked if he had any conscientious scruples against capital punishment. “Not in this case, your honor,” was the prompt reply.