Alcoholic Drinks by T.

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jan 9, 1912

Alcoholic Drinks

By T.

DURING the year 1910 the United States consumed 1,851,000,000 gallons of malt liquors, Germany 1,704,000,000, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1,397,000,000, Austria 493,000,000, Belgium 412,000,000, France 376,000,000, and Russia 231,000,000.

In addition to the foregoing, France led the world by drinking 1,541,000,000 gallons of wine, and the United States consumed 133,333,000 gallons of spirits, while the United Kingdom consumed 100,000,000.

Of wine alone the consumption per capita in France is 39.36 gallons, Italy 31.17, Portugal 27.39, Switzerland 14.55.

A little study of the foregoing figures will give an idea of the hold the drink habit has on the world. France, for instance, drinks an average of about fifty gallons of wine and beer, besides other liquors, for each man, woman, and child in the whole nation. The babies, as well as many of the older ones, do not drink any alcoholic beverages at all, and hence some of the population are exceedingly heavy drinkers.

The government records show without any mistake the awful amounts of strong drinks that are consumed in the various nations of the world. And no one will point to the saloons and other dispensaries of intoxicants as among the morally uplifting influences. On the other hand all are forced to admit that drunkenness goes hand in hand with crime and every form of degradation and vice.

Right in tune with this appalling amount of liquor drinking, are the crimes and vices that are in open outbreak everywhere and the constant recital of which forms so large a part of the reading matter of the average daily paper. Divorces, defalcations, embezzlements, graftings, robberies, murders, etc., are weighing the world down with their load of iniquity.

Organizations are formed to combat these evil things; they are discussed from the rostrum and the pulpit; they are written against in the papers, in the magazines, and in tracts, pamphlets, and books. And who can depict how much worse the conditions would be were it not for this strong opposition that is waged! But despite the opposition, the evil goes on. There are social and moral problems before the world to-day the like of which have never before existed. These problems are not only immense, but they are charged with intensity, and they fill every part of the world.

God has said in His Word, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." And that same Word also declares that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." 2 Tim. 3:1, 13. As we view the conditions in the world to-day in the light of these and many other scriptures, the conviction of what they mean irresistibly takes hold of us. The "perilous times" of the "last days" have reached us, and far more perilous times lie just before us. There is no occasion for our being led astray upon this subject, for God's Word is too definite and explicit in its prophetic utterances to leave the issue in doubt.

But this does not mean that everything is going to pieces. By no means is this the case. Wickedness is rising in so mighty a tide in the world, that it will call for the divine Father to arise in His majesty and power in harmony with His predictions and promises to meet it with one death-dealing blow. And this will be done by the second coming of Christ in all His great glory. And then will the reign of eternal day and eternal joy and eternal right begin. The heart thrills with joy as we look forward to the great event. The outlook in the world presents no gloomy forebodings to him who is viewing the conditions of this time in the light of God's sure and accurate prophecies. T.