THE INFLUENCE OF RUM by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jul 18, 1916

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 43, No. 28.

THE INFLUENCE OF RUM

By Editor

THE liquor dealers of the nation are endeavoring to make much out of the recent action of Vermont in her vote on the prohibition question. They would try to have us believe that the action of Vermont shows the tendency toward a sentiment of individual liberty that will not permit prohibition to be forced upon people.

Arguments of that kind may serve to quiet the consciences of some individuals; but why do not the liquor men come forward with facts to show the great benefits that have come to the world through the drink habit? Why do they not have pictures of college and university presidents who have been elevated to their exalted and useful positions through the power of rum? Why do they not show mountains tunneled and railroads built by men who got their inspiration and their power from the use of rum? Why do they not show widows and orphans that have been rescued from misery and hopeless poverty through the influence of rum? Why do they not show insane asylums that have been emptied by the liberality and the power and the influence of rum?

The trouble is that they have nothing of this kind to show. The showing is all on the other side, no matter how much they may try to cover it up. They all know that this world is full of women and children who are suffering because of the liquor business. They all know that our almshouses and insane asylums are crowded because the liquor traffic has driven men to ruin and despair, without hope either in this world or in the world to come. They all know that the liquor traffic makes efficient men inefficient; it makes happy homes unhappy and miserable. The facts are clearly all on one side.

Is not this a time when each man and woman should earnestly ask the question, Is not the individual blind and on the road to everlasting ruin who insists upon drinking intoxicating drinks? God’s word holds out no hope for the drunkard; and if there is no hope for the drunkard, what will be the condition of the individual who insists upon selling him the liquor that debases his soul?

Liquor men may succeed in deceiving themselves; they may succeed in deceiving many of their fellow men; but they must all understand that there is a great tribunal before which every individual must soon appear, where the Judge cannot be deceived nor bribed.

It will be well if we bear this important fact in mind.