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Review and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 17.

His Matchless Love

Review and Herald

Apr 6, 1916

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 6, 1916

His Matchless Love

By Worthie Harris Holden

WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN
He lived for me; and from that holy life, Being with grace and peace amid earth’s strife, There breathes a yearning to be ever true, Alluring me to do as Christ would do Though vanities are rife.
He died for me; and from that broken heart Arose a throb that bids life-pulses start; The cross, once shunned, henceforth is a delight; And self, condemned, is banished into night When power he doth impart.
He rose for me; and from that riven tomb A mighty power dispels sin’s pall and gloom; It wakens zeal and quickens dormant will, That Christ in me may all his work fulfil For an eternal bloom.
He pleads for me; and shall he plead in vain? O, can I e’er his holiness defame? Bowed low before his cross, I humbly pray That, crucified, I prove his power today And magnify his name.
Portland, Oregon.

The War a Shock to Faith

OUTSIDE of the great war zone of Europe, where many professed Christians on both sides of the controversy are fighting for what they consider worthy ideals, and where they are praying the God of heaven to give success to their arms because of the righteousness of their cause, the faith of many Christian believers has been inexpressibly shocked and almost destroyed by this terrible conflict. They marvel how it can be that the high ideals of the twentieth century should be so ruthlessly sacrificed. They inquire, “If after nearly two thousand years of gospel effort there is not sufficient power among so-called Christian nations to keep them from deadly warfare, what hope is there for the future?”
These doubters clearly mistake the teaching and import of the Sacred Writings. The Scriptures of truth nowhere declare that this world will be converted. On the other hand, they state repeatedly that wickedness will increase, that the nations will be engaged in deadly conflict, that even the professed church of Christ will lose its distinctive Christian character, and take on the spirit and character of the world with which it is surrounded. But the Lord declares that in this time of peril and distress and apostasy he will gather out from all nations a people for his name.
Nor need we with questioning faith ask why it is that God permits the suffering incident to this terrible conflict. Suffering has always existed in the world. The present situation, while more startling in its vivid colorings, presents no really new problems. Speaking of this, the editor of the Sunday School Times for March 4, 1916, says:—
“Let us remember that, although the present European war is the greatest and most awful the world has ever seen, it has brought no new problem, no new facts, into the world. Before the summer of 1914 there was in the world more sin and misery and suffering, ending in tragic deaths, many, many times over, than have occurred during the eighteen months of this war. And there is today in the world, outside of the areas where the war rages, infinitely more sin and suffering and hopeless dying than in the war zones. There are said to be some sixteen hundred million human beings in the world today,—more than one billion and a half. Of these, think of the hundreds of millions in India, in China, in Africa, in South America, whose lives are filled with tragedy and suffering from birth to death. Think of the millions in India of whom it is said that they never know what it is not to be hungry, have never had a satisfying meal in their lives.”
“Terrible as the war is, it is only an incident in the vast problem of sin and suffering in the world. It is perhaps the most terrible ‘incident’ so far in the Christian era. It is in the ‘limelight’; it is so concentrated that all must see it and know about it and be overwhelmed by its ghastly facts. But if we could trust in God before the war, absolutely nothing has happened since the war started that justifies us in losing our faith in him.”
“And we can trust God. He is sovereign. He is reigning. He is love. He wants men to love and to believe him, receiving his Son Jesus Christ as their Saviour. But men will not have it so. And God is allowing men to have their own way for the time being. This war and its tragic accompaniments, as also the sin and the suffering of untold millions outside the war area, are the result of men’s rejection of God and his love. When God sees, in his infinite wisdom, that men have had a full and sufficient opportunity to try out their own plans and prove that they are a failure, then by the return of his Son Jesus to this earth he will establish peace in righteousness.”
In the midst of darkness and distress God is working out his eternal purpose. He takes cognizance of his children. He stands ready to guide every trusting soul; and though the earth be removed, and the mountains carried into the midst of the sea, it is for every believer to look from the darkness of his surroundings to the light and glory emanating from the Father’s throne, and from the transitory things of earth to the stable things of eternity. The present is dark, but the future is bright with promise.

One Roman Catholic Editor Favors a Free Press

THE Continent of March 15, 1916, credits the editor of the Catholic Citizen with the following statement regarding the agitation over the question of a free press:—
“The prosecution of the Menace, instituted by federal officials (doubtless stimulated to action by Catholic complaints), has failed; just as the Fitzgerald and Gallivan bills, shutting the Menace out of the mails, failed to emerge from committee in Congress. We have been strongly of the opinion that these schemes of legislation are unwise; that if enacted into laws, they would remain to plague after the present acute nuisance or provocative cause had long ceased to exist.”

Present Population of the United States

Some interesting statistics, based on estimates of Census Bureau experts, are given in the New York Times of Feb. 14, 1916:—
“Census Bureau experts estimated today that the population of the United States on January 1 last was 101,208,315, and that by July 1 next it would be 102,017,302. On July 1 last year they figured the population at 100,399,318. Western States have led in growth, Washington heading the list, with Oklahoma, Nevada, North Dakota, and New Mexico following in the order named.
“The bureau’s estimates are based on the rate of increase between the 1900 and 1910 censuses.
“The population of New York State will be 10,273,375 on July 1 next, according to the estimates. The bureau gives the following estimates for the State: July 1, 1915, 10,086,568; Jan. 1, 1916, 10,179,971; July 1, 1916, 10,273,375.
“Based on the average annual increase in New York State between 1900 and 1910, it is assumed that the increase in population is 93,403 every six months. According to this computation, the population of the State will be 10,927,203 on Jan. 1, 1920.
“It is estimated by the bureau that there is an increase of 808,997 in the population of the United States every six months, or an annual increase of 1,617,994. The census estimate is that the population of the country is increasing at the rate of 4,433 a day—184 every hour and 3 1-5 persons every minute.”

Note and Comment

Beautiful Sentiment

It was a beautiful sentiment expressed in the will of the late Justice Lamar, of the United States Supreme Court. He said, “My friends, many and precious, I leave to my family in the hope that they will be cherished and continued. I know of no enemies, but if such hereafter unhappily arise, let them be forgotten.” Would that every one who is called upon to render his earthly account could leave to his family a similar legacy.

A Wonderful Fountain

By G. B. T.

THE Lord has promised that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled. The fountain of life is accessible to all; the water is free. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
A wonderful fountain is this. It is a fountain that pours forth blessings for all mankind,—
A fountain that sends out the invigorating water of life eternal.
A fountain from which we may drink and thirst no more.
A fountain which, unlike the fountains of earthly joy and pleasure, satisfies the desires of every heart.
A fountain where the beggar from the hovel may drink as freely as the millionaire from the mansion.
A fountain where the child and youth may partake of this life-giving stream.
A fountain where the aged and infirm, with hoary locks, tottering on the brink of the grave, may stoop and drink and live.
A fountain where the bereaved, as they stand by the open portals of the grave, may drink the water of comfort.
A fountain where those whose souls are bowed down with bitter sorrow or affliction, may drink and find peace and consolation.
A fountain where those who sit in darkness and the regions of death, without hope, may come and drink and find light and joy.
A fountain where those who are tempted and buffeted by the enemy may drink and secure strength to resist all the adversaries of the soul.
A fountain where the most crimson sinner may freely drink and find pardon for all his sin and iniquity.
A fountain where the servants of God, worn and weary with the burdens borne in the heat of the day, may drink and be refreshed.
A fountain, boundless and exhaustless in its fulness, the waters of which sparkle in purity and pour forth a stream of endless life and blessing to all.
Truly, those who come to this fountain and drink, may say that their cup runneth over.
“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Isa. 55: 1.
G. B. T.

Is It a Compliment?

By F. M. W.

ARE the changes taking place in our church life for the better? As we have improved our methods of doing business during the last few decades, have we increased in zeal, devotion, and consecration? These are questions which arise in our mind as we read the following newspaper editorial regarding a convention of Seventh-day Adventists recently held in one of our large cities:—
“A few years ago an ‘Advent’ assembly meant the clanning of long-haired, anemic individuals—the men in long coats and with long faces, the women with ultraplain gowns and unbecoming hats. The delegates would walk through town with solemn mien and with Bibles under their arms. Altogether it would be a very doleful affair, with exhortations to the sinners and long-visaged advice to the sanctified.
“Today the Adventist conference is a businesslike, dignified, and altogether model convention. The delegates look like so many merchants, doctors, or lawyers. They wear good, substantial clothing, cut to the prevailing style, minus the radicalisms and eccentricities of ‘fashion.’ The ‘ministerial voice’ is less in evidence. The delegates talk, look, and act like human beings.
“At their meetings the Adventists talk business—the dollars and cents of good management. They go at it prayerfully, and the religious atmosphere is omnipresent; but little time is wasted, and the heads of committees, divisions, and various branches of the work know their fields like a book.
“Why, the Adventists today even have a press agent,—a genuine newspaper man, who wastes no valuable time trying to get the papers to republish tracts or close their forms with prayer, but who supplies the facts so keenly sought by reporters, ‘covers’ the sessions which the newsmen are least apt to attend, and sees that the truth about Adventism is spread as widely as the ‘bunk’ has been distributed for the past few decades.”
The editor meant this for a compliment to the denomination. We trust that the denomination is worthy of it in a true sense. We believe that our methods of doing business have improved. They surely should with the years of experience through which this movement has passed. But after all, it is not improved methods alone which will carry this movement to success. We may be ahead in plans and methods; ahead of some of “the men in long coats and with long faces, and the women with ultraplain gowns and unbecoming hats,” who as pioneers in this movement formed its very backbone and strength years ago; but that, after all, is not the real, vital question. Are we quickened by the same or greater zeal? Are we bringing to the work of God today the same devotion, the same faith? Is there seen in our lives the same simplicity that characterized theirs?
Of many no doubt this could be said, but of some we fear the reverse is true. Let us welcome better methods, but let us remember that it is “not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord,” that this work is to be accomplished; and that our power as Christian men and women will rest in the simplicity of our faith, and in the humble, devoted, God-fearing lives which we live. Let us adapt ourselves to the world’s changing conditions, seeking, as did the apostle Paul, to be “all things to all men,” that we may “by all means save some;” but let us be slow to get away from the simplicity and the faithful, earnest devotion which characterized the plain men and women whom God used to inaugurate this movement.
F. M. W.

Just as I Am

By G. B. T.

MANY of our best hymns were composed under circumstances which, when known, make them of special value. Take for example the following hymn, which has brought blessings to thousands as it has been sung:— “Just as I am, without one plea But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bid’st me come to thee; O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”
The circumstances which called forth these beautiful words are said to be something as follows: A minister was one day invited to dine with a gentleman who had a very lovely and accomplished daughter. After dinner, while visiting with her in the parlor, he asked her if she had ever given serious thought tothe subject of religion, and considered the future welfare of her soul. She very curtly told him that she did not care to converse upon that topic.
Seeing his words had given offense, he said no more, but silently prayed that the Spirit of God might in some way touch her heart.
That night as she lay upon her couch, she could not sleep. The question troubled her. A new influence seemed to creep over her. New desires came into her heart. The wickedness and depravity of her heart were uncovered. A terror came into her soul, as she saw herself lost, a sinner without God, and without hope in the world. Her sins appeared so dark that all hope of salvation seemed to be cut off.
In her distress she sent for the minister the following day, and told him her condition and distress of mind. Her great question was, “How can such a sinner as I come to Christ?” She was told to come just as she was. Her faith grasped the glorious promise, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,” and peace like a river filled her heart. Then on the day of her conversion, from the pen of Charlotte Elliott came the beautiful words of this hymn. In the words she gave expression to the experience which had come into her heart.
Glorious indeed is it that we can come just as we are. We cannot make ourselves better; thank the Lord, we do not need to do so. Those who believe, the Lord accepts, and grants unto them a full and free pardon. G. B. T.

Signs in the Political World

By L. L. C.

Signs of Christ’s Coming — No. 5

Signs in the Political World

CHRIST said, “Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” It is difficult to obtain any adequate conception of the dreadful loss of life through war. We quote some statistics taken from Haydn’s “Dictionary of Dates and Universal Reference,” concerning those killed in war from the time of the destruction of Jerusalem till the Franco-German War of 1870:—
“In the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, according to Josephus, 1,100,000 Jews perished. In the war with the Romans, sixty-five years later, on the occasion of the rebellion led by Barochab, 580,000 Jews fell by the sword, according to Dion Cassius. At Cyrene the Jews slew 220,000 Greeks and Romans; and in Egypt and Cyprus, during the reign of Trajan, 240,000. . . . The numbers slain by Attila the Hun are appalling; in the battle which resulted in his defeat at Châlons there perished 300,000. When the Saracens invaded Syria in 651, they slaughtered 60,000; when the Goths took Milan, they put to death 300,000. In 734 the Saracens slaughtered in Spain 370,000. In the battle of Fontenay 100,000 perished; in that of Yermock, 150,000; in that of Tours, between Martel and the Mohammedans, 350,000; in the battle of Muret, in 1213, 32,000; in that of Crécy, 50,000; in that of Agincourt, 20,000; in that of Towton, in 1461, 37,000; in that of Lepanto, in 1571, 25,000; at the siege of Vienna, in 1683, 70,000; at the siege of Acre, 300,000. Coming down to modern times, in the battle of Leipzig, 330,000 allies fought against 260,000 French; the former lost in killed and wounded 48,000 and the latter 45,000. In the battle of Moscow the Russians had 130,000 and the French 134,000; the former lost 58,000 and the latter 50,000. At Wagram the losses were 42,000; at Austerlitz, 31,000; at Waterloo, 56,000. In the comparatively recent Franco-German War of 1870, the French lost 350,000, the Germans 17,570 killed in battle, and 10,707 afterward died of their wounds. Yet all this represents but a small part of those who have perished in war.”—Edition 1895; art. “War.”
War has always been in the world, and according to the Scripture will continue to be as long as the world shall last. With the work of the “peace advocate” we have the sincerest sympathy; and we should be inclined to hope with him that through some means war might be banished from the earth, were this possible. But as expressed in the words of another,—
“God seems to be teaching mankind that neither the shuttle, nor the plow, nor the pen, nor the merchant ship, nor the commercial treaty can stave off war or inaugurate the reign of peace. The spring of war is too deep for any or all of these to touch. Facts demonstrate the experiment has failed in this respect, however well it has succeeded in accomplishing other and important results. It is time we turned to older though less popular prescriptions. The Spirit of peace poured into the hearts of mankind, or the Prince of Peace returned to reign, alone will lay the tempests that convulse the world by extirpating the passions in which they have their birth. The Saviour tells us that when the world is nearest its end, and commerce should have accomplished all its enthusiastic promoters have predicted, wars will rage with their intensest fury, and nation rise up against nation with unprecedented animosities.”—“The Destiny of Nations as Indicated in Prophecy,” by Rev. Dr. Cumming, p. 16. Hurst and Blackett, publishers, London.
The Scriptures point out that there will be a “peace and safety” cry (Micah 4:2-5), but the apostle Paul admonishes us:—
“Of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, ‘Peace and safety;’ then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” I Thess. 5:1-3.
Let us not be deceived by the “peace and safety” cry. Many reasons were given why the present war could not occur. Some thought the financiers of the world would refuse to furnish the necessary funds; others thought that the invention of death-dealing instruments had made fighting so deadly and war so awful that it could not break out, or if it did come the struggle could not long continue. But the present war has come, and has now lasted one year and two thirds of another, and still no end is in view. The expenditures have been enormous, and the loss of life has been appalling. According to the Washington Post of March 26, the total loss in men has been 13,033,000, and the estimated total expenditure $39,500,000,000.
Let us recognize the present world conditions as evidences of the near approach of Christ’s coming. Though this war end and peace be restored, it can be but for a short time. No permanent peace will be established until the setting up of the eternal kingdom of the Prince of Peace. L. L. C.

Discrediting the Bible

By G. B. T.

Through all the centuries infidels, agnostics, and unbelievers of every type have done what they could to discredit the inspiration and infallible teaching of the Holy Bible. That this evil work is being carried forward in the schools of some of the strong evangelical denominations is to be deeply deplored. In the field of its enemies we might expect this, but hardly in the house of its professed friends. Under the high polish of higher criticism, and clothed in the garb of religion, the baneful work becomes all the more dangerous.
From an editorial in the Word and Way of Feb. 10, 1916, we gather that one of the Baptist missionary training schools is being conducted on what is termed the plan of the liberals, and in such a way that students who come expecting to be taught to love and reverence the Holy Scriptures are sorely disappointed, and find the foundations of faith removed from beneath their feet. The editor of the Baptist Missionary Training School Echoes (which is published by the training school), is quoted in the Word and Way as saying that on account of the nature of the teaching “there is a crisis in the life of the school now, and therefore a crisis in the life of every training school girl.” The editor of the Word and Way gives a number of quotations which represent the testimonies given by the students. Here is one:—
“I settled the question on my knees before God, and it is to him that I am accountable for my actions. . . . I would not ask any girl to come here and suffer as I have suffered for the last two weeks. . . . I cannot accept the school’s interpretation of the inspiration of the Scriptures and the deity of Christ, and I know—I do not merely believe—I know the personality of the Holy Spirit. . . . I cannot reconcile the teaching that ‘God found in Christ a man in whom there was so much of his spirit that he could do the perfect will of the Father, and that each of us has the same spirit as Christ, but in lessermeasure, with the words I find in John’s Gospel: ‘In the beginning was the Word, . . . the Word was God.’”
A junior student says:—
“I was born and raised in a Catholic home, and of course I received very little Bible truth. I was very anxious to hear all the truth the Word of God contained, and I was anxious to prepare for service for him. These are the two main reasons why I came to the training school. When I came, I was very much disappointed to find that only three hours a week were given to Bible work, and that the view was far different from that teaching I had formerly had. For instance, if I have to believe that the stories in Genesis are only suppositions, that they are only Babylonian legends to present to the people a theory of how the world came to be; if the books of Esther, Ruth, and Jonah are only stories,—in other words, if the Bible is not the Word of God as I believed it to be, my time here is being sadly wasted.”
A senior student is reported as follows:—
“I was a senior in this school, and therefore was not in Miss —’s classes, but I heard a great deal about what was going on, and to satisfy my own mind I went to Dr. —, and he made it appear that we both believed alike. He told me that on the fundamental truths of the Bible we stood together, but he said there were things in the Bible that scientists had proved to be not true. I asked him if there was not a possibility of scientists’ being wrong, but he seemed to prefer the authority of the scientists rather than that of the Bible. He used other illustrations to show that the Bible was not all true. The teachings mean a great deal to me, for my father is not a Christian, and he uses the very things taught here to prove that the Bible is not true. I have heard these things all my life, and if I stay and hold these teachings, how can I pray for my father and hope to have him change? I am not pleading for myself alone, but for the girls who will come after me. If we had said nothing about these teachings, nothing very likely would have been done. A great many girls come here with very little Bible study, and many of them have already lost faith; and then many ask why we leave if it does not hurt us, since we are seniors and not in Miss —’s class. Why do men in the church fight the saloon if it does not hurt them?—To help their weaker brothers; and that is what we are trying to do for the sake of other girls. We are asked to stay to save the honor of the school and of the faculty, but nothing has been said about saving the honor of God, and this is why I left the school.”
Another student says:—
“Miss — told me that she did not believe that the Bible is a true record of God’s dealings with his people, but that it is a record of man’s experience with God, therefore a human record containing many mistakes; for instance, the story of creation as described in the Bible is not true; that, instead of there being a devil, there is an evil influence that causes people to sin, and that the temptation of Christ is a story written to describe this evil influence that had come to him.”
Another testimony:—
“There is no fall of man; man has gone from lower to higher. There was no flood, this also is a story. There is no hell; hell is a punishment of sin on this earth. There is no Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament. We cannot study the Bible for the facts; but for the truth that is in it.”
Another:—
“I came to the training school to learn all that I could about the Bible, and in the study that I have had so far I understand that the Bible has more mistakes than truth in it, and that the Old Testament contains mostly stories and legends taken from other literature. I have come to the place by hearing this teaching where I am losing faith in God and his Word. I am very unhappy here, and feel that I cannot stay.”
Think of a professed Christian school teaching that Christ was only a man, that the record in Genesis is only a supposition, that other books of the Bible are only stories, that science proves the Bible to be untrue, that the Word of God contains many mistakes, that there was no fall of man, that there never was a flood, that there is no future punishment, nor any prophecy in the Old Testament concerning the coming of the Messiah. No wonder the students are perplexed and lose their faith in the Word of God. Such a situation is deplorable, and shows the prevailing infidelity of the times.
It is with great sadness of heart that we call attention to these statements. We do it only to show the tendency of the present time to drift away from God’s Word. These students are not in an infidel school, but in a professedly Christian school of a great evangelical denomination, where missionaries are being trained to work for sinners. But the infidel tendencies of higher criticism are so pronounced that the faith of the students in the Word of God, which is the very foundation of the Christian religion, is wrecked. This is truly deplorable.
This is a time when we should cling to the Book of God. Our salvation depends upon it. The strength of our whole work depends upon the immutability of God’s holy Word. The strength of our own denominational schools depends on their exalting the Scriptures to their proper place, and inculcating in the hearts of the students a love for God’s Word and a confidence in its truthfulness. Truly we should “preach the Word.”
G. B. T.

Liquor Drinking and Business Efficiency

By F. M. W.

THERE was a time some years ago when the question of liquor drinking was considered wholly on an ethical basis. Of late, however, serious study has been given to the question in its relation to practical efficiency as applied to the problems of the world's work. A number of the large business concerns throughout the country have given special study to the subject as related to the question of dollars and cents, and have taken a very definite stand, requiring that their employees shall not indulge in strong drink.
Mr. C. W. Baines, according to the Sunday School Times, has made an investigation among the great steel and iron concerns of Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Illinois, to ascertain their attitude toward alcohol. Of the 140 corporations written to, answers were received from 113. The report, Mr. Baines says, is not meant for a Sunday school document, but rather it is—
“a cold-blooded business and economical deliverance intended to determine industry's hostility toward alcoholic drink and drinkers, which has been very indefinitely discussed in the public press; to throw an illuminating ray of light on its attitude toward the movement for abstinence and prohibition in commercial life.”
He classifies as follows the returns which he received:—
“1. Of the one hundred and thirteen answers, only six permit the use of alcoholic drink in their shops or plants.
“2. One hundred and seven firms, the world's greatest steel and iron producers, absolutely prohibit the use of strong drink in their works. Almost without exception, they testify that the abstainer is more efficient, more reliable, and that teetotalers alone are considered when promotions are made.
“3. One hundred companies prohibiting drinking during working hours report that they are also doing ‘everything possible to prevent drinking by employees out of working hours.’ One corporation discharges any man who enters a saloon going to or from work; another suspends such an employee one week for the first offense, and for the second he is usually discharged.
“4. Eighty-three of the one hundred and thirteen concerns, when employing or promoting men, discriminate against those who use alcoholic liquors, even though they use liquor outside of working hours only; absolutely refuse to promote men who drink; there the most moderate use of rum is fatal to a man's chance of promotion.”
“5. Sixty-three corporations have undertaken constructive abstinence work, to determine the deleterious influences of the moderate use of alcohol upon a workman's efficiency, producing power, and reliability.
“6. Ten concerns not only prohibit drinking during working hours, but absolutely prohibit employees drinking at all times.”
Statements made by these large business corporations are indicative of their liberal attitude toward the liquor traffic. We append the following typical statements:—
“We do not allow any liquor on the premises, discharge immediately any man under the influence, preach abstinence through foremen and bulletin board literature, and we are succeeding famously. Most important is the fact that our men also see the good of it.”—Interstate Steel and Iron Co., East Chicago.
“The efficiency of a man is reduced in exact proportion to the amount of alcohol he drinks. The total abstainer ranks above the moderate drinker in reliability and efficiency in all classes of work nearly as much as the moderate drinker does above the heavy, regular drinker.”—The Follansbee Furnace Company, Follansbee, W. Va.
“The moderate use of liquor tends to impair efficiency and reliability, and we do not knowingly employ men who drink, nor advance them to positions of authority if they are employed.”—The Crane Company, Chicago.
The attitude of these large business corporations toward the use of liquor on the part of their employees has attracted considerable attention from the liquor interests. One of the liquor trade papers denominates it “the steady and increasing tendency of big corporations to encroach upon the personal liberties of workers,” and the Brewers' Journal is quoted as saying:—
“There are even companies and individual employers who threaten to discharge employees for drinking alcohol at any time. They do not care if that is social and economic slavery. Their main object is to protect their pocketbooks.”
It is not strange that the liquor interests make the claim that personal liberty is being destroyed because these large corporations have decided that they cannot operate their establishments with those who indulge in alcoholic liquors. Naturally their viewpoint is a personal and selfish one. They fear for the future of their business.
When these great manufacturing firms have demonstrated, as they claim, and as every unbiased man must admit, that the highest efficiency can be attained only through strict adherence to temperance principles, then the matter of securing the cooperation of their employees should not be one necessarily of compulsion, but of cooperation, as we believe it is coming to be in the large majority of cases. It is not social nor economic slavery for any firm to say to its employees, “We cannot offer you work unless you bring to our business steady nerves and clear minds. This you cannot do while using alcoholic drinks. We cannot employ those who use liquor.” The wise laboring man will see in this only an effort to help him and his fellow workmen.
Nor is it an abridgment of personal liberty to say to the operator of the saloon or grogshop, “You shall not sell that which destroys the health and lives of your fellows, debases their manhood, blasts their characters, destroys their homes, and makes of them public charges to the State and to the community.” The principle which abolishes the liquor traffic is the principle of self-preservation, the same principle which leads to the destruction of poisonous reptiles and savage beasts of prey.
F. M. W.

The Word of the Lord Endures

“ALL flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” I Peter 1: 24, 25.
Continue reading: Developments of the Work in the East