Signs of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 5. (2/10/1914)

Signs of the Times

Feb 10, 1914

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Feb 10, 1914

The Glad Freedom of the Year of Jubilee

By Stephen N. Haskell

The Ancient Law of Emancipation Kept the Land Distributed Among the People—Redemptive Powers and Rights of the "Near of Kin"—The One Great

Jubilee Is Just Ahead

By STEPHEN N. HASKELL

ELDER S. N. HASKELL, who writes this article, is one of the most careful and devoted Bible students. He has probably averaged reading the sacred Book through once a year for the last fifty years, carefully comparing text with text as he reads. It will be found a great help to the interest and profit of the article if the scriptures referred to are looked up in the Bible and read as you go along. Let it be hoped that every reader may be a participant in the great jubilee that is pointed to as the climax soon to be realized. EDITOR.

THE Jubilee was the climax of a series of sabbatical institutions. The weekly Sabbath was the first religious institution given to man. Gen. 2:2, 3. The seventh day of the week was hallowed and set apart to be kept as the rest day of Jehovah. Isa. 58:13, 14; Ex. 20:8-11.

EVERY SEVENTH YEAR THE LAND RESTED

After the children of Israel entered the promised land, God commanded that every seventh year should be "a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord." The people were not allowed to sow their fields nor prune their vineyards during the seventh year; neither could they gather into their storehouses that which grew of its own accord. The owner of the land could take all he wished for immediate use; but his servants and the strangers, and even the beasts, had equal rights with the owner in enjoying the fruits of his field during the sabbatic year. Lev. 25:1-7.

The seventh month of the sacred year, the month Tisri, was called by some writers the sabbatical month, as more of the annual sabbaths and feasts came in that month than in any other one in the year. The first day of this month was the feast of blowing of trumpets, the day of atonement came on the tenth day, and the feast of tabernacles began on the fifteenth day; and in every fiftieth year, the tenth day of Tisri ushered in the Jubilee. Lev. 25:8-11.

TOKENS OF OWNERSHIP

The keeping of the weekly Sabbath was a token that the people belonged to God; and in allowing their land to rest during the seventh-year sabbath, they acknowledged that not only they themselves, but their land, their time, and all they possessed, belonged to God. Eze. 20:12, 20.

The Lord took special delight in the seventh-year sabbath; and the disregard of His command to keep it, was offensive in His sight. The children of Israel were carried into Babylonian captivity because they had not allowed "the land to enjoy her sabbaths." 2 Chron. 36:18-21. In their greed, they had worked the land every year; and God took them away and let the land lie desolate, that it might keep the sabbath during the seventy years.

In the Antitypical Jubilee, the Redeemed of the Lord will be reinstated in the original home of man.

If God's command had always been obeyed and the land had had its rest every seventh year, the earth would not have "waxed old like a garment" (Isa. 51:6), but would have remained productive.

CAUSE OF THE CAPTIVITY

God's commands will all be honored; and as the land lay desolate seventy years, keeping the sabbath, during the Babylonian captivity, to atone for the disobedience of ancient Israel, so, after the second coming of Christ, the land will lie desolate one thousand years, keeping sabbath, to atone for the many sabbaths that have been disregarded. Rev. 20:1-4; Zeph. 1:1-3; Jer. 4:23, 27.

The weekly Sabbath was a stepping-stone leading up to the other sabbatic institutions; and besides being a memorial of creation, it pointed forward to the final rest of the Jubilee. When the people of God, for the sake of worldly interests, disregarded it, they placed themselves where they could not appreciate God's original design in giving them the Sabbath of rest. Jer. 17:21-27.

TO OCCUR AT LEAST ONCE IN A LIFETIME

The Jubilee was the fiftieth year following seven weeks of years, and would occur once at least in the lifetime of every individual who lived out his natural life. Lev. 25:10, 11.

The day of atonement was the most solemn of all the feasts, and the Jubilee the most joyful. At the close of the day of atonement, when the sins of Israel had all been forgiven and borne by the scapegoat into the wilderness, then the people who realized what God had done for them, were prepared to forgive the debts of their fellow men, to release them from servitude, and to restore all to their own land willingly, as they expected God to give them their eternal inheritance in the antitypical jubilee.

At the close of the day of atonement, on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the sabbatical year which closed the last of the seven weeks of years—forty-nine years—the trumpets were blown throughout the land, announcing the Jubilee.

EACH WITH A TRUMPET—ALL SHACKLES THROWN OFF

Jewish tradition states that every Israelite was supplied with a trumpet of some kind at this time, and when the hour arrived which closed the day of atonement, every one blew nine blasts with his trumpet. God had said the trumpets were to sound throughout all the land. Lev. 25:9.

How like the final trumpet of the Lord (1 Cor. 15:51-53) was the blast of the Jubilee trumpets in ancient Israel! The toiling slave arose and threw off his shackles. To the avaricious and covetous man, who had oppressed the hireling and the widow to gain his possessions, it came as a death knell to all his hopes. Isa. 2:20, 21. Every person in bondage was freed, and all returned to their own land. Lev. 25:12, 13.

There is no account of any religious services, or offerings, being required during the Jubilee, different from the ordinary services of other years. It was a time when all, rich and poor, high and low, shared alike of that which grew of itself in the fields and vineyards.

The Jubilee followed the seventh-year sabbath, thus bringing two sabbath years in succession. But God made ample provision for His people by commanding His blessing upon the forty-eighth year, when the earth yielded enough to keep the people for three years. Isa. 37:30; Lev. 25:11, 12.

ALL OTHERS OBSERVED—WHY NOT THE JUBILEE?

There is no mention in the Bible of the Jubilee's ever being observed, and for this reason some writers think it may not have been kept; but all the other Mosaic festivals were observed, and it would be strange if one that is so organically connected with the other feasts, and is really the climax of all other festivals, should have been omitted.

The Jubilee must have been observed, for the law of the inalienability of landed property, which was based upon the Jubilee, existed among the Jews. Num. 36:4, 6, 7; Ruth 4:1-4. Josephus speaks of it as being permanently observed.

Instances are recorded where the work of the Jubilee year was performed by the Israelites. Nehemiah, in his great reformatory work, required the Jews to give freedom to their servants, and to restore the lands and the vineyards to the original owners. Nehemiah 5.

On the eve of the Babylonian captivity, Zedekiah proclaimed liberty to every one. He evidently designed to celebrate the Jubilee. If he had done so, it would have given him liberty; but he was too vacillating to carry out the requirements. The Lord sent a message, saying that he had done right in proclaiming liberty, "every man to his neighbor," but that in failing to grant it, he had polluted the name of the Lord. Jer. 34:8-17.

THE LESSON OF ALL THEIR COMMERCIAL INTERESTS

All the commercial interests of the ancient Israelite taught the gospel. While he was allowed to dwell in the promised land and enjoy its privileges, yet he was only the steward, not the owner. The divine decree was, "The land shall not be sold forever: for the land is Mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me." Lev. 25:23. Notwithstanding the fact that the Lord owns the world, yet He counts Himself a stranger and sojourner with His people upon the earth, until the antitypical jubilee, when Satan, the present prince of this world, will meet his doom.

If a man became involved and was obliged to sell his home, it was sold with the understanding that it should return to its original owner when the Jubilee trumpets were blown in the land. If the unfortunate man had one near of kin able to redeem his land, the purchaser could not hold it, even until the Jubilee. Lev. 25:25-28.

A poor widow has misfortune after misfortune, until her wealthy neighbor, who has long coveted her land, has gained possession, and she in sorrow is obliged to leave the home of her childhood and labor for a mere pittance, that fails to supply the needs of her household. The wealthy neighbor continues to advance money, until finally she herself is sold to him as a servant. Her case seems hopeless.

A NEAR KINSMAN MAY REDEEM

But in a far country she has an elder brother. He hears of her misfortune and comes to the rescue. Her brother reckons with the man who has purchased the woman, and pays the redemption money, and she is free. Then the brother begins to reckon what is due on the land; but the man objects, for the same spirit rules him that disputed with Michael, the Archangel, when He came from a far country to redeem the body of Moses from the prison-house of the grave (Jude 9), and he says: "No, I will not release the land. It joins my farm. I will not part with it. What right have you to interfere?" Then the brother produces evidence of his kinship, that he is "one that hath right to redeem." Ruth 2:20, margin. He offers the redemption money, and the home is redeemed to the rightful owner. A stranger might have wished to help the poor widow, but his money could never have released her. The price must be paid by "one that hath right to redeem"—one near of kin.

How forcefully was the power of Christ, thus taught in the every-day commercial life of the Israelite!

HE QUALIFIED FOR A REDEEMER

An angel could not redeem mankind, nor the world. His life would have been powerless, for he was not "nigh of kin" to humanity. Lev. 25:47-49. Christ left the heavenly courts, partook of the flesh and blood, "that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham." Heb. 2:14-16. He became the "first-born among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29), the one nigh of kin, that He might have right to redeem every son and daughter of Adam; and down through the ages comes the cheering assurance that "He is not ashamed to call them brethren." Heb. 2:11.

"Thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for naught; and ye shall be redeemed without money" (Isa. 52:3), even "with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 1 Peter 1:18, 19.

RELIEF FROM THE CHAINS OF TEMPTATION

Have you yielded to temptation until you are bound in abject slavery to Satan? Remember, you have an Elder Brother who is able and willing to redeem you from the slavery of sin, and make you a free man in Christ Jesus. In order to be free, you must acknowledge Him as "one nigh of kin" to you. If the poor widow had disowned her brother when he came to redeem her from servitude, he would have been powerless to help her.

Satan may bind the soul until he thinks it is his forever; but when the soul cries out for help, and claims Christ as the "one near of kin," "one who has power to redeem," and Christ presents the redemption price, "His precious blood," Satan is powerless to hold the soul.

A NEW BEAUTY TO THE WORD "REDEEMER"

The study of the Levitical laws in regard to land and servants gives new beauty to the name "Redeemer." Job knew the power of the "one who had right to redeem." Hear him in confidence saying, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." His faith grasped a power that not only redeemed from sin, but will bring forth the patriarch's body even after the worms have consumed it. Job 19:23-27.

While at any time one could receive freedom and be reinstated in his former home by "one nigh of kin" who had right to redeem, yet the Jubilee was looked forward to as the great day of release for all Israel. It was then that every wrong was righted, and every Israelite reinstated in his own possession. Lev. 25:28, 33, 40, 41.

If one sold a dwelling-house in a walled city, during the first year after the sale it might be redeemed; but if not redeemed the first year, it remained in the hand of the purchaser. It did not revert to its original owner in the Jubilee, for houses were the work of man, and had no part in the Jubilee, which released only the land and persons. Lev. 25:29, 30.

The cities of the Levites were under different regulations. They were the only walled cities that had a part in the Jubilee. If a man purchased a house of a Levite, "the house that was sold, and the city of his possession," went out free in the year of Jubilee. Lev. 25:32, 33.

TO RECEIVE THE PROMISED CITY

The priests were a type of Christ. Our great antitypical Priest has prepared a walled city for His people (Heb. 11:10, 16); and in the antitypical Jubilee, they will receive the city. The regulations in regard to the (Concluded on page 7)

Glad Freedom of the Year of Jubilee

(Continued from page 2)

cities of the Levites were a constant reminder of the New Jerusalem to be given to God's people in the great final jubilee.

God designed that His people should remember Him in all their business transactions, in every detail of life. The value of property depended upon the length of time intervening between the date of purchase and the Jubilee. Lev. 25:15, 16.

In the type, the Jubilee was ushered in at the close of the day of atonement. In like manner we understand that the antitypical jubilee will follow the antitypical day of atonement.

WILL POSSESS THE EARTH IN THE GREAT JUBILEE

"The Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard." Isa. 30:30. Then the pious slave will rise and shake off the chains that bind him. The trumpet of the Lord's jubilee will resound through the length and breadth of the land. Saints sleeping in Satan's prison-house, the grave, will hear the glad sound, and he "that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners"—"did not let his prisoners loose homeward" (Isa. 14:17, margin)—will be powerless to hold his prey; for our Redeemer has said, "The prey of the terrible shall be delivered,"—yea, delivered forever from the power of sin and Satan. Isa. 49:25.

God's original plan was, that man should possess the earth. "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath He given to the children of men." Ps. 115:16.

REINSTATED

To Adam was given dominion over the earth and everything upon it. Gen. 1:26. But God's plans were thwarted, and Satan became prince of this world. In the antitypical jubilee, the redeemed of the Lord will be reinstated in the original home of man. The earth restored to its primeval beauty will be given to the children of men for their eternal home. Matt. 5:5; Ps. 37:11, 34. The seventh-day weekly Sabbaths, which the Lord sanctified and gave to mankind before the curse of sin rested upon the earth, will then be kept according to God's original design; and throughout eternity, "from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship" before the Lord. Isa. 66:22, 23.

"The Lord shall comfort Zion: He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." Isa. 51:3.

The Great Commission and Inspiring Promises

By Mrs. E. G. White

All the Power of the Universe to Attend the Christian — The Prophets Had Minutely Foretold Each Step in Jesus' Work — Pardon Offered First to His Cruel Murderers — No Repentant Sinner Rejected

By MRS. E. G. WHITE

THE heroism, the power, the pathos, and the soul-comfort of Christianity flash out in this article in a most helpful as well as an intensely interesting way. Christ's meeting with His disciples just before His ascension, is told in a manner that is far more vivid than fiction. Gems of truth are given that fill the soul with courage, and word pictures are formed that present the joys and the aspirations of the Christian life in all the charm of the most beautiful colors.

STANDING but a step from His heavenly throne, Christ gave the commission to His disciples. "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth," He said. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations." "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Again and again the words were repeated, that the disciples might grasp their significance. Upon all the inhabitants of the earth, high and low, rich and poor, was the light of heaven to shine in clear, strong rays. The disciples were to be colaborers with their Redeemer in the work of saving the world.

THE APPOINTMENT MADE BEFORE HIS DEATH

The commission had been given to the twelve when Christ met with them in the upper chamber, but it was now to be given to a large number. At the meeting on a mountain in Galilee, all the believers who could be called together were assembled. Of this meeting, Christ Himself, before His death, had designated the time and place. The angel at the tomb reminded the disciples of His promise to meet them in Galilee. The promise was repeated to the believers who were gathered at Jerusalem during Passover week, and through them it reached many lonely ones who were mourning the death of their Lord. With intense interest all looked forward to the interview. They made their way to the place of meeting by circuitous routes, coming in from every direction, to avoid exciting the suspicion of the jealous Jews. With wondering hearts they came, talking earnestly together of the news that had reached them concerning Christ.

SUDDENLY HE STOOD AMONG THEM

At the appointed time, about five hundred believers were collected in little knots on the mountainside, eager to learn all that could be learned from those who had seen Jesus since His resurrection. From group to group the disciples passed, telling all they had seen and heard of Jesus, and reasoning from the Scriptures as He had done with them. Thomas recounted the story of his unbelief, and told them how his doubts had been swept away. Suddenly Jesus stood among them. No one could tell whence or how He came. Many who were present had never before seen Him; but in His hands and feet they beheld the marks of the crucifixion, His countenance was as the face of God, and when they saw Him, they worshiped Him.

This was the only interview that Jesus had with many of the believers after His resurrection. He came and spoke to them, saying, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." The disciples had worshiped Him before He spoke; but His words, falling from lips that had been closed in death, thrilled them with peculiar power. He was now the risen Saviour. Many of them had seen Him exercise His power in healing the sick and controlling satanic agencies. They believed that He possessed power to set up His kingdom at Jerusalem, power to quell all opposition, power over the elements of nature. He had stilled the angry waters; He had walked upon the white-crested billows; He had raised the dead to life. Now He declared that "all power" was given unto Him. His words carried the minds of His hearers above earthly and temporal things to the heavenly and eternal. They were lifted to the highest conception of His dignity and glory.

GO YE, AND I AM WITH YOU

Christ's words on the mountainside were the announcement that His sacrifice in behalf of man was full and complete. The conditions of the atonement had been fulfilled; the work for which He came to this world had been accomplished. He was on His way to the throne of God, to be honored by angels, principalities, and powers. He had entered upon His mediatorial work. Clothed with boundless authority, He gave His commission to the disciples: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

Before leaving His disciples, Christ plainly stated the nature of His kingdom. He called to their minds what He had previously told them concerning it. He declared that it was not His purpose to establish in this world a temporal, but a spiritual kingdom. He was not to reign as an earthly king on David's throne. Again He opened to them the Scriptures, showing that all He had passed through had been ordained in heaven, in the councils between the Father and Himself. All had been foretold by men inspired by the Holy Spirit. He said: You see that all I have revealed to you concerning My rejection as the Messiah has come to pass. All I have said in regard to the humiliation I should endure and the death I should die, has been verified. On the third day, I rose again. Search the Scriptures more diligently, and you will see that in all these things the specifications of prophecy concerning Me have been fulfilled.

PARDON OFFERED TO HIS MURDERERS

Christ commissioned His disciples to do the work He had left in their hands, beginning at Jerusalem. Jerusalem had been the scene of His amazing condescension for the human race. There He had suffered, been rejected and condemned. The land of Judea was His birthplace. There, clad in the garb of humanity, He had walked with men, and few had discerned how near heaven came to earth when Jesus was among them. At Jerusalem the work of the disciples must begin.

In view of all that Christ had suffered there, and the unappreciated labor He had put forth, the disciples might have pleaded for a more promising field, but they made no such plea. The very ground where He had scattered the seed of truth was to be cultivated by the disciples, and the seed would spring up and yield an abundant harvest. In their work, the disciples would have to meet persecution through the jealousy and hatred of the Jews; but this had been endured by their Master, and they were not to flee from it. The first offers of mercy must be made to the murderers of the Saviour.

But the work was not to stop here. It was to be extended to the earth's remotest bounds. To His disciples Christ said: You have been witnesses of My life of self-sacrifice in behalf of the world. You have witnessed My labors for Israel. Although they would not come unto Me that they might have life, although priests and rulers have done unto Me as they listed, although they have rejected Me as the Scriptures foretold, they shall have still another opportunity of accepting the Son of God. You have seen that all who come to Me, confessing their sins, I freely receive. Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. All who will, may be reconciled to God, and receive everlasting life. To you, My disciples, I commit this message of mercy. It is given to Jews and Gentiles. All who believe are to be gathered into one church.

HIMSELF RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SUCCESS

Thus Christ gave His disciples their commission. He made full provision for the prosecution of the work, and took upon Himself the responsibility for its success. So long as they obeyed His word, and worked in connection with Him, they could not fail. Go to all nations, He bade them. Go to the farthest part of the habitable globe, but know that My presence will be there. Labor in faith and confidence, for the time will never come when I will forsake you.

The Saviour's commission to the disciples included all the believers. It includes all believers in Christ to the end of time. It is a fatal mistake to suppose that the work of saving souls depends alone on the ordained minister. All to whom the heavenly inspiration has come, are put in trust with the gospel. All who received the life of Christ are ordained to work for the salvation of their fellow men. For this work the church was established; and all who take upon themselves its sacred vows, are thereby pledged to be coworkers with Christ.

THE INVITATION TO ALL

"The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come." Every one who hears is to repeat the invitation. Whatever one's calling in life, his first interest should be to win souls for Christ. He may not be able to speak to congregations, but he can work for individuals. To them he can communicate the instruction received from his Lord. Ministry does not consist alone in preaching. Those minister who relieve the sick and suffering, helping the needy, speaking words of comfort to the despondent and those of little faith. Nigh and afar off are souls weighed down by a sense of guilt. It is not hardship, toil, or poverty that degrades humanity. It is guilt, wrong-doing. This brings unrest and dissatisfaction. Christ would have His servants minister to sin-sick souls.

In the commission to His disciples, Christ not only outlined their work, but gave them their message. Teach the people, He said, "to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." The disciples were to teach what Christ had taught. That which He had spoken, not only in person, but through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament, is here included. Human teaching is shut out. There is no place for tradition, for man's theories and conclusions, or for church legislation. No laws ordained by ecclesiastical authority are included in the commission. None of these are Christ's servants to teach. "The law and the prophets," with the record of His own words and deeds, are the treasure committed to the disciples to be given to the world. Christ's name is their watchword, their badge of distinction, their bond of union, the authority for their course of action, and the source of their success. Nothing that does not bear His superscription is to be recognized in His kingdom.

In Christ is the tenderness of the shepherd, the affection of the parent, and the matchless grace of the compassionate Saviour. His blessings He presents in the most alluring terms. He is not content merely to announce these blessings; He presents them in the most attractive way, to excite a desire to possess them. So His servants are to present the riches of the glory of the unspeakable Gift. The wonderful love of Christ will melt and subdue hearts, when the mere reiteration of doctrines would accomplish nothing.

CHRIST SITTING FOR HIS PORTRAIT

"Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God. . . . He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom." Tell the people of Him who is the "chiefest among ten thousand," and the One "altogether lovely." Words alone can not tell it. Let it be reflected in the character, and manifested in the life. Christ is sitting for His portrait in every disciple. Every one God has predestinated to be "conformed to the image of His Son." In every one Christ's long-suffering love, His holiness, meekness, mercy, and truth, are to be manifested to the world.

The Saviour longs to manifest His grace, and stamp His character on the whole world. It is His purchased possession, and He desires to make men free, and pure, and holy. Though Satan works to hinder this purpose, yet through the blood shed for the world there are triumphs to be achieved that will bring glory to God and to the Lamb. Christ will not be satisfied till the victory is complete, and "He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied." All the nations of the earth shall hear the gospel of His grace. Not all will receive His grace; but "a seed shall serve Him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation." "The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High," and "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."

National Prohibition as Proposed in Congress

By S. B. HORTON

The Liquor Traffic a National Menace—Responsible for Most of the Crime, Pauperism, and Degeneracy of the Race—Alcohol Kills Two Thousand Every Day—The Splendid Conditions in Prohibition Kansas

By S. B. HORTON

"We have the proposition before us of whether we are going to give the American people a chance to save life, their own lives; to save homes, the foundation of the state; to save their children, the hope of the future; are going to give them a chance to perpetuate our government and perpetuate our civilization, or not," said Representative R. P. Hobson, in the House, December 11, in presenting the petition of national organizations, religious, civil, and social, praying Congress to pass legislation submitting an amendment to the Constitution providing for national prohibition.

Mr. Hobson dealt with the scientific, moral, and civic phases of a question with which the American people, yea, the world, is becoming better acquainted, and the solution of which the nation will erelong have to face. Space will allow but brief references to the speech, the full text of which may be found in the Congressional Record, December 11, pages 640-648. Mr. Hobson said:

"Humanity has unquestionably by its own hands brought into its life a great destroying principle such as does not exist in any living organism. Science has definitely established that destructive principle as alcohol. In hearings that will be conducted in systematic form before the committee having H. J. Res. 168 under consideration, evidence will be introduced showing beyond any peradventure of doubt that science has established simple, elemental facts about alcohol as completely as it

established the law of gravity,—facts vital to the survival of humanity, facts which unfortunately even men of the highest education do not know, and facts that are cut off substantially from the popular means of education, but facts that are true. . . . so that alcohol stands out on the start as a protoplasmic toxic poison. The form of life that produces this is the yeast germ, the lowest form of life with which we are acquainted, so that all forms of life with which we are familiar are higher. This is the reason why you can put any organic matter into alcohol and nothing living can get into it. We can then say that alcohol is a poison to everything that has protoplasmic principle of life. . . .

"Let me ask you in passing to note how the question of criminality is thus absolutely bound up in this matter of alcoholic degeneracy. You can take a white man in the highest forefront of evolution and apply these processes to him and it will be absolutely scientific in the results. You can watch it, you can measure it. If you keep up the process, he will revert to the qualities of the semicivilized and go down to the semisavage. He will, indeed, descend below the brute. . . .

"The American people are now consuming alcoholic beverages at the rate of twenty-five gallons per capita every year. As a consequence, Americans are dying at the rate of 1,000 to every 61,000 of the population every year. Records show that where total abstainers are involved the mortality is only at the rate of 560 per 61,000. I recognize the limitations of the statistics thus far as bearing chiefly on adult males, but further investigation shows that the shortening of life of the adult male entails stupendous mortality in the offspring, far greater than the shortening of life in the male, so that these figures are under instead of over, meaning that forty-four per cent of the deaths in America are premature, cut short by alcohol. It means that alcohol kills between 600,000 and 700,000 citizens every year, about 2,000 every day that the sun rises. There is no question that deals as vitally as this with the preservation of human life."

Senator Morris Sheppard, of Texas, delivered an appropriate address in introducing his measure on the subject of national prohibition (S. J. Res. 88) into the Senate, the full text of which will be found in the Congressional Record, December 10, pages 560-562. Among other things, the senator declared:

"One of the fundamental duties of the American people is the extermination of the traffic in intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes. Experience has demonstrated that the only safe way to handle this traffic is to destroy it. In the United States it has reached such proportions that the nation must join in the struggle against it. It is a menace to the integrity and the progress of this republic. The fact that alcohol undermines the brain and paralyzes the will of man, planting in him and his posterity the seeds of physical and moral degeneracy, the seeds of disease, the seeds of poverty, the seeds of crime, makes it a peril to the very existence of free government. . . .

"It is gratifying beyond estimation to note the fact that the world is waking as never before to an acute sense of the danger of alcohol. In every country the same terrible indictment stands against it. From every land ascend the cries of the multitudes it has damned. Among almost every people it is the chief source of the murders, the suicides, the thefts, the debaucheries of body and mind. Before the popular judgment of almost every country the dealers in this frightful drug must answer the following arraignment: Your traffic crushes every moment some home, some heart. The poison you distribute is an ever-spreading pestilence. It impedes the physical and mental growth of children, distorting the moral sense, promoting disobedience of parents and disregard for law. It curses the future generations of its victims—the crazed, the maimed, the palsied, and the blind—into whose blood the fatal taint is inevitably transmitted. It wrecks domestic happiness, and betrays the most sacred vows. It contains no nourishment, it gives no strength. It impairs the vital processes, the vital tissues of the human organism. It destroys moderation and self-control, releasing every low and savage impulse. Instead of satisfying thirst, it leaves a greater thirst, suggesting the agonies of hell. It is the cause of practically half the accidents in industrial occupations. It lowers the efficiency of labor and weakens the foundations of industrial progress. It increases the liability to disease, particularly to infectious maladies like tuberculosis. It diverts the earnings of mankind into channels of economic waste, causing a loss that far exceeds the revenue it provides for governmental use. It is an obstacle to human advancement that should be no longer tolerated."

In seconding the measure proposed by Mr. Sheppard, Senator Thompson, of Kansas, called attention to the favorable conditions existing in his state by reason of prohibitory legislation, saying:

"The closing of the saloons and 'joints' in the state has had a most excellent effect upon the morals as well as the material interests of the people of the state, so much so that no one with the best interests of the people and the state at heart desires to go back to the old order of things under the saloon. Among the most beneficial results of the operation of the law are better homes, happier and wealthier families, higher standards of education and intelligence, and a large reduction in crime. These are natural and inevitable results of prohibition wherever effectively enforced. But the best result of all is in the fact that of the half million boys and girls in Kansas only a very small proportion have ever seen an open saloon. Children are growing to manhood and womanhood without the temptation or evil influence of the saloon.

"During the thirty-three years of prohibition the illiteracy of our people has been reduced from forty-nine per cent to two per cent, and this trifling amount is almost entirely among the foreign element in the mining section of the southeast. With 105 counties in the state, 87 of them have no insane, 54 have no feeble-minded, 96 have no inebriates, and what few there are come from the cities which defied the law until recent years. There is only one pauper to every 3,000 population, and there are 38 county poor farms which have no inmates. In July, 1911, 53 county jails were empty and 65 counties had no prisoners serving sentence. Since the establishment of prohibition the population of Kansas has increased more than any of the surrounding states, and her wealth has increased until it has become the richest state in the Union per capita. Although we suffered one of the worst droughts in the history of the state last summer, recent statements from the banks show that in the 930 state banks there is on deposit belonging to the people of Kansas about $120,000,000, and on deposit in the 213 national banks about $90,000,000, making a total of $210,000,000, or about $123 for every man, woman, and child in the state."

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