Am I My Brother's Keeper?
By Mrs. J. E. McKee
WHEN we see all the want, wo, misery, and crime caused by the licensed liquor traffic and its attendant evils, we should cry out in anguish of soul, and promise God this new year that we will reconsecrate ourselves, our churches, and all that we are and have, to the great work of overthrowing this awful traffic. When we realize that intemperance is responsible for 5,000 suicides, 100,000 paupers, 100,000 feeble-minded, 3,000 murdered wives, 40,000 widowed mothers, 100,000 orphans, 100,000 criminals, 100,000 insane, and requires 100,000 of our noble sons, and 60,000 of our precious daughters, $2,000,000,000 of our hard-earned money, and untold sorrow and anguish, every year, can we afford to sit idly by, or gather our robes of indifference about us, and ask, "Am I my brother's keeper?" If your handsome, manly son were one of that 100,000 boys, or your beautiful golden-haired daughter one of the 60,000 girls, would it be worth your while, O father, to vote as you pray? Would you, O mother, serve the sparkling wine in glittering crystal? Think on these things. We know and realize that the evil of the liquor traffic is the greatest curse the world has ever known. It is the Alexander and Napoleon among the warriors against the good and peace of mankind. It is a thief to the purse, a destroyer of souls, the orphan's sorrow, and the widow's wo. It is the one thing that makes a knave of the knight, a fiend of the lover, a wreck of the happy home, a sad woman of the joyous bride, and starving vagabonds of the helpless little children. Were it possible to wipe out intemperance and its attendant evils, the conversion of the world would be half accomplished, and there would be a sure, solid foundation on which to build the beautiful temple of Christian character. The church is of God, it is one of His strongholds; and shall we not marshal all His forces, and bring them up to the help of the Lord against the mighty? There is so much lost every year, every day; hearts broken, lives taken, hopes ruined, souls lost. O, could we but have the 60,000 dear girls, and the 100,000 noble boys, who are lost every year on account of this great evil, could we but win them for God, what a rejoicing there would be in heaven. Is this vast army of souls worth working for? Yes, even one soul is worth a lifetime of effort; for who can estimate the value of a soul? Then let us strengthen God's army in every possible way to attack this stronghold of Satan that is causing more misery, poverty, and wo than all the earthquakes, conflagrations, pestilence, and war the world has ever known. It ruins the rich as well as the poor, the mighty intellect as well as the common mind. This business can no more run without boys and girls and money and wrecked lives and ruined homes and lost souls, than various factories can run without wool, cotton, hemp, silk, etc. Do you want to furnish a loving son upon whom you have learned to look with such pride, or a pure daughter who is the sunshine of your life? Do you want them to go down among the 100,000 who are lost every year? If not, then arise in your might, let your eyes see the evil, let your ears hear the cry of the innocent, and let your tongue speak in behalf of God and home and native land. The hope of our nation is in the boys and girls of to-day. O, churches of the twentieth century, stand firm as the Rock of Ages, and uncompromising as truth itself, along this line. The battle is on even now, and victory will be ours; for "if God be for us, who can be against us?" Let us hold the fort until the shouts of victory shall sound from every shore, and every island of the sea echo joyous tidings. We are free. Then the children of haggard want can sit in halls of plenty, disease will be robbed of much of its power, and the dark clouds of despair will vanish like shadows from thousands of afflicted homes. The nation stands appalled at some great earthquake or fire or cyclone disaster; but the average American citizen sits with calm indifference when confronted by the awful truth that intemperance causes the death of 103,000, and worse than the death of 160,000 more, every year. Consider these things. Are we our brother's keeper?
MRS. J. E. MCKEE.
Lakewood, N. Mex.