The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, December 21, 1887, Image 3
I made for the purpose of avoiding the accumulation
of an eccessive revenue. Such expenditure,
beside the demoralization of all
just conceptions of public duty which it entails,
stimulates a habit of reckless improvidence
not in the least consistent with the
mission of our people or the high and benefi cent
puri>oses of our Government.
I have deemed it my duty to thus bring to
the knowledge of my countrymen, as well as
to the attention of their representatives
charged with the responsibility of legislative
relief, the gravity of our financial situation.
The failure of the Congress heretofore to pro
I vide against the dangers which it was quite
evident the very nature of the difficulty must
necessariiy produce, caused a condition of
ilnancial distress and apprehension since your
last adjournment, which taxed to the utmost
all the authority and expedients within Executive
control; and these appear now to be
exhausted. If disaster results from the continued
inaction of Congress, the responsibility
ivwt whara it hAlAnro
Iwuo. o?
Though the situation thus far considered
is fraught with danger which should be
fully realized, and though it presents features
of wrong to the people as well as peril to the
country, it is a result growing out of a perfectly
palpable and apparent cause, constantly
reproducing the same alarming circumstances?a
congested national treasury
and a depleted monetary condition in the
business of the country. It need hardly be
stated that while the present situation demands
a remedy, we can only be saved from
- tn? in fka hr tko ra.
I. 11K0 prcuii-auistib ui kuv iuv*.v ?
moral of its cause.
Our scheme of tax ation, by meanaof which
this needless surplus is taken from the people
and put into the public treasury, consists of
* tariff or duty levied upon importations
from abroad, and internal revenue taxes
levied upon the consumption of tobacco and
-spirituous and malt liquors. It must be conceded
that none of these things subjected to
internal revenue taxation are, strickly speak- !
ing, necessaries: there appears to be no just I
oomplaint of this taxation by the consumers
of those articles, and there seems to be noth- J
1 oKla f/-> h<wr Jmrrfnn without
hardship to any portion of the people.
But our present tariff laws, the vicious, in- |
equitable and illogical source of unnecessary
taxation, ought to be at once revised and
amended. These laws, as their primary and
plain effect, raise the price to consumers of all
articles imported and subject to duty, by precisely
the sum paid for such duties.' Thus the
amount of the duty measures the tax paid by
those who purchase for use these imported
articles. Many of these things, however, are
raited or manufactured in our own country,
and the duties now levied upon foreign goods
and products are called protection to these
.home manufactures, because they render it
.possible for those of our people who are manufacturers
to make these taxed articles and sell
them for a price equal to that demanded for
.imported goods that have paid custo us duty.
kannanc that, whilo mmnftPftti VftlV a fftw
W ? J j
use the imported articles, millions of our
people, who never use and never saw any of
the foreign products, purchase and use things
of the same kind made in this country, and
pay therefore nearly or quite the same enhanced
price which the duty adds to the imported
articles. Those who buy imports pay
the duty charged thereon in the public treasury,
but the great maiority of our citizens,
who buy domestic articles of the same class,
pay a sum at least approximately equal to
this duty to tho home manufacturer. This
reference to tbe operation or our tarin laws
is not made by way of instruction, but in
order that we may be constantly reminded of
the manner in which they impose a burden
upon those who consume domestic products as
well as those who consume imported articles,
and thus create a tax upon all our poople.
It is not proposed to entirely relieve the
country of this taxation. It must be exteniively
continued as the source of the Government's
income; and in a readjustment of our
tariff the interests of American labor engaged
in manufacture should be carefully considered,
as well as the preservation of our manu?* ?
.. I* Ka />o!IaH nrAtopfinn nr hv
IttCtrUt Cl O* iw wiaj wv w?uu? j/i vvwwtvM, w? wj
any other name, but relief from the hardships
and dangers of our present tariff laws should
be devised with especial precaution against imperiling
the existence of our manufacturing
mterests. But this existence should not mean
a condition which, without regard to the public
welfare or a national exigency, must always
insure the realization of immense profits instead
of moderately profitable returns. As
the volume and diversity of oar national
activities increase, new recruits are added to
those who desire a continuation of the advantages
which they conceive the present system
of tariff taxation directly affords them. So
af?KKnrnlv hnvn *11 efforts to reform the
present condition been resisted bj those of
onr fellow-citizens thus engaged, that they
* can-hardly complain of the suspicion, entertained
to a oertain extent, that there exists
an organized combination all along the line
to maintain their advantaga
We are in the midst of centennial celebrations,
and with becoming pride we rejoice in
American skill and ingenuity, in American energy
and enterprise, and in the wonderful natural
advantages and resources developed by a
csntury's national growth. Yet when an attempt
is made to justify a scheme which permits
a tax to be laid upon every consumer in
the land for the benefit of our manufacturers,
quite beyond a reasonable demand for go vernmAirtjil
remird. it suits the ouroosea of advo
cacy to call our manufactures infant industries,
still needing the highest and greatest
degree of favor and fostering care that can be
wrung from Federal legislation.
It is al o said that the increase in the price
of domestic manufactures resulting from the
present tariff is necessary in order that higher
wages may be paid to our workingmen employed
in manufactories than are paid for
what is called the pauper labor of Europo. All
will acknowledge the force of an argument
which involves the welfare and liberal compensation
of our laboring people. Our labor
is honorable in the eyes of every American
citizen; and as it lies at the foundation of our
* 1 a. 1 a
development auu prioress, m la cutiueu, n iniout
affectation or hypocrisy, to the utmost
-regard. The standard +< **"" mjororB' lif?
should not be measured by that of any other
country less favored, and they aro entitled to
their full share of all our advantages.
By the last census it is made to appear
that of the 17,892,099 of our population engaged
in all kinds of industries 1,670,403 ar?
employed in agriculture, 4,074,238 in professional
and personal service, ?.934,870 of
whom are domestic servants and laborers,)
while 1,810,250 are employed in trade and
transportation, and 3,837,112 aro classed as
employed in manufacturing and mining.
For present purposes, however, the last
number eiven should be considerably reduced.
Without attempting to enumerate
-alL it will be conceded that there should be
deducted from those which it includes 375,14-i
carpenters and joiners, 285,401 milliners,
-dressmakers, and seamstresses, 172,726 blacksmiths,
133,750 tailors and tailoressos, 102,473
masons, 70,341 bntchers, 41,301) bakers, 22,083
plasterers, and 4,81)1 engaged in manufacturing
agricultural implements, amounting in
the aggregate to 1,214.023, leaving 2,623,08J
persons employed in such manufacturing industries
as are claimed to be benefited by a
high tariff.
To these the appeal is made to save their
employment and maintain their wages by resisting
a change. There should be no disposition
to answer Buch suggestions by the
allegation that tbey are in a minority among
f kacofnt*a chnu 1H fi ?rt,rrn
IBWW WUV IO.UV/* , OUU viicivtvtv0i>v??. ?w. V?w
an advantage, in the interest of low prices
for the majority; their compensation, as it
may be affected by the operation of the tariff
laws, should at all times fee scrupulously kept
in view; and yet with slight reflection tuoy
will not overlook the fact that they are consumers
with the rest; that they, too, have
their own wants and thoas of their families
to supply from their earnings,, and that the
price of the necessaries of life, as well as the
amount of their wages, will regulate the measure
of their welfare and comfort.
But the reduction of taxation demanded
should ba ro measured as not to necessitate or
justify either the loss of employment by tha
working man nor the lessening of his wages;
and the profits still remaining to the manufacturer,
after a necessary readjustment,
should furnish no excuse for the sacrifice of
the interests of his employes either in their
opportunity to work or in the diminution
of their compensation. Nor
can the worker in manufactures fail
to understand that while a high
tariff is claimed to be necessary to allow ih>
payment of remun -rative wages, it certainly
results in a very large increase in the price of
nearly all sorts of manufactures, which, in
almost countless forms, he needs for the use
of h mself and his family, lie receive* at
me a ess 01 ms employer ui? nofiro, a-uva
haps before be reaches his home is obliged,
in a purchase for family use of an art it le
which embraces his own labor, to return in
the payment of the increase in price which
the tariff permits, the hard-earnod compensation
of many days of toil.
The farmer and the agriculturist, who
manufacture nothing, but who pay the increased
price which the tariff im[x>ses upon
every agricultural implement, upon all he
wears and upon all he uses and owns, except the
increase of his flocks and herds and such
things as his husbandry produces from the
soil, is invited to aid in maintaining the
present situation; and he is told that a
high duty on imported wool Is necessary for
the benefit of those who have sheep to snear, I
in order that the price of their wool may
be increased. They, of course, are not !
reminded that the farmer who has no sheep j
is by this scheme obliged, in his purchase of !
, clothing and woolen goods, to pay a tribute j
| to his lellow farmer as well as to the manu- j
facturer and merchant; nor is any mention j
made of the fact that the sheep-owners them- j
selves and their households, must wear cloth- ;
I ing and use other articles manufactured from j
1 the wool they sell at tariff prices, and thus as j
consumers must return their share of this in- j
creased price to the tradesman
1 think it may be fairly assumed that a
largo proportion of the sheep owned by the
farmers throughout the country are found !
I in small flocks numbering from twenty-nve
to fifty. The duty on the grade of imported
j wool which these sheep yield is 10 cents
| each pound if of the value of 30 cents or less.
and 12 cents if of the value of more than 30
j cents. If the liberal estimate of six j
I pounds be allowed for each fleece the J
| duty thereon would be 60 or 72 cents, |
l and this may be taken as the utmost j
j enhancement of its price to the farmer by |
? Tvrmlrl !
reason 01 [>uia uukjr. uguiu?i uVi>u.o ...... ,
thus represent the increased price of the wool j
from twenty-five sheep and thirty-six dollars
that from the wool of fifty sheep, and at
I present values this addition would amount to
about one-third of its price. If upon its sale
the farmer receives this or a less tariff profit,
the wool leaves his hands charged with precisely
that sum, which in all its changes will
adhere to it, until it reaches the consumer.
When manufactured into cloth and other
goods and material for us?, its cost is not
only increased to the extent of the farmer's
tariff profit, but a further sum has been
added for the benefit of the manufacturer
under the operation of other tariff laws.
In the meantime the day arrives when
the farmer finds it necessary to purchase
woolen goods and material to clothe himself
and family for the winter. When he
I faces the tradesman ror mat purpose ne
discovers that he is obliged not only to
return in the way of increased price bis tariff
I profit on the wool he sold, and which then
perhaps lies before him in manufactured form,
but tnat he must add a considerable sum
thereto to meet a further increase in cost
caused by a tariff duty on the manufacture.
I Thus in the end he is aroused to the fact that
he has paid upon a moderate purchase, as a
result of the tariff scheme, which, when he
sold his wool seemed so profitable, an increase
in price more than sufficient to sweep away
all the tariff profit he received upon the wool
he produced and scld.
When the numbers of farmers engaged in
wool raising is compared with all the farmers
in the country, and the small proportion they
bear to our population is considered: when it
is made apparent that in the case of a large
part of those who own sheep the benefit of the
present tariff on wool Is illusory,and above all,
when it must be conceded that the increase of
the cost of living caused by such tariff becomes
a burden upon those with moderate means
and the poor, the employed and unemployed,
the sick and well, ana the young and old, and
that it constitutes a tax which with relentless
grasp fastens upon the clothing of every
man, woman, and child in the land, reasons
are suggested why the removal or reduction
of this duty should be included in a revision
of our tariff laws.
In speaking of the increased cost to the consumer
of our home manufactures, resulting
from a duty laid upon imported articles of the
same description, the fact is not overlooked
that competition among our domestic producers
sometimes has the effect of keeping the
price of their products below the highest limit
allowed by such duty. But it is notorious that
this competition is too often strangled by
combinations quite prevalent at this time,
and frequently called trusts, which have for
their object the regulation of the supply and
price of commodities made and sold by members
of the combination. The people can
hardly hope for anv consideration in the
operation of these selfish schemes.
If, however, in the absence of such combination,
a healthy and free competition reduces
the price of any particular dutiable
article of home production below the limit
which it might otherwise reach under our
tariff laws, and if, with such reduced price,
its manufacture continues to thrive, it is entirely
evident that one thing has been discovered
which should be carefully scrutinized in
an ?ffort to rodnoe taxation.
"**6 necessity of combination to maintain
the price of any commodity to the tariff
point, furnishes proof that some one is willing
to accept lower prices for such commodity,
and that such prices are remunerative; ana
lower prices produced by competition prove
the same thing. Thus where either of these
conditions exist) a case would seem to be presented
for an easy reduction of taxation.
The considerations which have been presented
touching our tariff laws are intended
only to enforce an earnest recommendation
that the surplus revenues of the oovernment
be prevented by the reduction of our customs
duties, and, at the same time, to emphasize a
suggestion that in accomplishing this purpo e.
we may discharge a double duty to our people
tV?A*? a maoauro r\t roliof fniTTI
UJ ?1 OUI/IU^ W lUDUi ? uivwstuv v. V?w? ?>
tariff taxation in quarters where it is most
needed and from sources where it can be
most fairly and justly accorded.
Nor can the presentation made of such considerations
be, with any degree of fairness,
regarded as evidence of unfriendliness
toward our manufacturing interests, or of any
lack of appreciation of their value and importance.
These interests constitute a leading and
I rrtrtcf onKofanh'fll alamonfc nf nnr national
greatness and furnish the proud proof of our
country's progress. But if in the emergency
that presses upon us oar manufacturers are
asked to surrender something for the public
good and to avert disaster, their pat riot ism, as
well as a grateful recognition of advantages
already afiorded, should lead them to willing
co operation. No demand is made that they
| shall forego all the benefits of governmental |
regard; but they cannot fail to be admonished j
I -? j..?? _ii ? calf. I
UL HJCiX* UUIJ f oa noutu tuun cuu^uwvuvu.Tvii- i
interest and safety, when they are reminded of 1
the fact that finuucial panic and collapse, to
which the present condition tends, a fiord 110
greater shelter or protection to our manufactures
than to our other important enterprises.
Opportun ty lor safe, careful and deliberate
reform is now offered; and none of us should
be unmindful of a time when an abused and
irritated people, heedless of those who havo
resisted timely and reasonable relief, may insist
upon a radical and sweeping rectification j
of their wrongs.
The difficulty attending a wise and fair re- I
vision of our tariff laws is not undoresti- I
j mated, it will require od rtie pare 011110 1
I Congress great labor and care, ana especially
I a broad and national contemplation of the j
| subject, and a patriotic disregard of such !
local and selfish claims as are unreasonable !
nnd reckless of the welfare of the entire j
country.
Under our pre^nt laws more than 4,0"0 nr- 1
tides are subject to duty. Many of these do j
not in any way compete with our own manu- |
factures, and many are hardly worth atten- j
tion as subjects of revenue. A considerable 1
reduction can be made in the aggregate, by |
adding them to the free list. The taxation |
of luxurirs presents no features of hardship; j
but the necessities of life used and consumed j
uy an tne people. me uuiy upon wnica uuiis j
to the co t of living iu every nome, should be i
greatly cheapened.
The radical reduction of the duties imposed !
upon raw material used in manufactures, or >
its free importation, is of course an important j
factor in any effort to reduce the price of these j
necessaries; it would not only relieve them :
from the increased co;t caused by the tariff on !
such material, but the manufactured product j
being thus cheapened, that part of the tariff !
now laid uijon such product, as a compensation
to our manufactures for the present price
of raw material .could boaccordingly modified.
Such reduction, or free importation, would
serve beside to largely reduce the revenue. It !
ia nnt annarent how such a chaniro can have
rr ~ - w- - I
any injurious effect upon our manufacturers, j
On the contrary, it would appear to givo
them a better chance in foreign markets with
the manufacturers of other countries, who
chcapea their wares by free material. Thus
our people might have the opportunity of extending
their sales beyond the limits of home
I consumptiou?saving them from the deI
pression, interruption in business, and loss
' caused by a glutted domestic market, and afI
fording their employes more certain and
! ctoadv labor, with its resulting auiot and con
| tentment.
The question thus imperatively presented
i for solution should be approache1 in a spirit
i higher than partisanship an.l considered in
: the light of that regard for patriotic duty
| which should characterize the action of those
I intrusted w^h the weal of a confiding people. |
| But the obi., ation to declared party policy
j and principle <s not wanting to urge prompt I
* and effective avtion. Both of the great political
I narties now reDresented in tlie Goven ment
1 Iiavo, by repeated and authoritative declarations,
condemned the condition of our laws .
which permit the collection from the people j
! of unnecessary revenue, and have in the
I most solemn manner promised its correction;
j and neither as citizens nor partisans are our
countrymen in a mood to condone the delibI
erato violation of these pledgos.
! Our progress toward a wise conclusion will
4
[ not be improved by dwelling upon the theories
of protection and free trade. This savors
J too much of bandying epithets. It is a con!
dition which confronts us?not a theory.
Relief from this condition may involve
a slight reduction of the advantages
which we award our home productions,
but the entire withdrawal of such
advantages should not be contemplated. The
question of free trade is absolutely irrelevant;
and the persistent claim made in certain quarters
that all efforts to relieve the people from
unjust and unnecessary taxation are schemes
of so-called free traders, is mischievous and
far removed from any consideration for the
public good.
i ne simple ana plain auiy wmcn we owe me
people is to reduce taxation to the necessary
expenses of an economical operation of the
Government, and to restore to the business of
the country the money which we hold in the
treasury through the perversion of governmental
powers. These things can and should
be done with safety to all our industries, without
danger to the opportunity for remunerative
labor which our workingmen need, and
with benefit to them and all our people, by
cheapening their means of subsistence and
increasing the measure of their comforts.
The Constitution provides that the President
"shall, from time to time, give to the
Congress information of the state of the
Union." It has been the custom of the Executive,
In compliance with this provision, to
annually exhibit to the Congress, at the
opening V1 llO OWOJUU, vuv VVU- I
dition of the country, and to detail, with |
some particularity, the operations of the
different executive departments. It would
be especially agreeable to follow this course
at the present time, and to call attention
to the valuable accomplishments of
thesd departments during the last fiscal
year But I am so much impressed
with the paramount importance of the
subject to which this communication
has thus far been devoted, that I shall
forego the addition of any other topic, and
only urge upon your immediate consideration
the "state of the Union" as shown in the
present condition of our treasury and our
general fiscal situation, upon which every
element of our safety and prosperity de
pends.
The reports of the heads of departments,
which will be submitted, contain? full and explicit
information touching the transaction of
the business entrusted to them, and such
recommendations relating to legislation in the
public interest as they deem advisable. I ask
for these reports and recommendations the deliberate
examination and action of the legislative
branch of the Government.
There are other subjects not embraced in
the departmental reports demanding legislative
consideration and which I should be glad
to submit. Some of them, however, have
been earnestly presented in previous messages,
ana as to them, I beg leave to repeat prior
recommendations.
As the law makes no provision for any reEort
from the Department of State, a brief
istory of tho transactions of that important
department, together with other matters
which it may hereafter be deemed essential
to commend to the attention of the Congress,
may furnish the occasion for a future communication.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
Washington, Dec, 6, 1887.
'LHlTlabor wurld.
Tobacco growing it being extensively
vived in Florida
Ninety-five cigar factories have shut
down in Havana.
The cocoons produced in France in 1848
were raised by over 140,000 families.
A large consignment of stoves has been
shipped to Germany from Reading, Pennsylvania.
A woolen mill in Utica, New York, employing
1,100 hands, has a monthly pay roll
Of
A blanket factory has been established at
Cape Town, Africa. Tae hands are mostly
Kaffir girls.
m.... -..VLil 1 4.J 41.* A MA?:.
xiii*. uigutu annum meeting ui tuo nuiwr
can Society of Mechanical Engineers was
held recently in Philadelphia.
Louisiana has twenty - one industrial
schools, in which over 3,000 boys are instructed
in mechanical branches. "
The salt manufacturers of Iosco county,
Michigan, have agreed to close their works
from December 1st until Maich or April
next.
On a recent day Kalamazoo, Michigan,
? rowers shipped 240,000 bunches of celery,
t is said to have been the biggest day's business
they ever did.
A new rubber shoe factory, to employ
1,000 hands, is to be built at Naueatuek by
New York capitalists. It is expected to be
in running order by next spring.
Ix Great Britain 64,098 factories and 69,990
workshops are registered! The inspectors of
shops and factories last year made 114,274
visits to see that the laws were in force.
Thore are 56 inspectors in alL
xna pacKing nouses of South Omaha have
been employing 1,000 .men, with an average
pay roll of $2",0 000; but with the opening of
the Swift and Armour houses, soon, the force
will be increased to Si,000 and the pay roll
doubled.
The granite-cutters of New York and vicinity
are raising subscriptions of from ten
cents to $1 for a monument in honor of the
late Congressman Thompson H. Murch, who
was secretary of the Granite Cutters' International
Union prior to bis election to Congress
in lb78.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
have prepared a bill for presentation to Congress
which provides for licensing railway
conductors and engineers, and prohibits all
railroads from emnlovintr any person to serve
as conductor or engineer unless he is licensed
as required in the act. The examiners are to
inquire into the character and qualiflcationa
of applicants before licensing them.
The annual report of the Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners states that in 1881,
the Brotherhood had 12 unions and 2,042
members, and now it has 30J local unions,
with a membership of 41,700. The 20 > local
bodies are scattered over the United States
and Canada. The receipts during the year
have been $:>0,025.44, and the expenditures,
including benefits paid, $20,691.
The library, furniture, etc., of tho late
King: Ludwig, of Bavaria, at Lindenhof,
which cost $100,000, have just been sold for
$4,000. His carriages and sleighs have beon
sold to a circus manager, and his deer are in
a menagerie.
trur m i nrriv
j uij iii aibuu t oi
NEW YORK. 40
Beef, good to prime 5% 7}-?
Calves, common to prime.... 8 ($ 11
Sheep 0 @ 7%Lambs
Hogs?Live ^x/i
Dressed 7 &
Flour?Ex. St, good to fancy .'J 70 @ 5 25
West, good to choice 4 0J (<5 5 25
Wheat-No. 2 Red 90%
Rye-State 56 @ 5S
Barley?State 82 @ 85
Corn?Ungradod Mixed.... (>4 @ 61^
Oats?White State 373^0 S'JJ-j
Mivivl Ufaifapn 80 40
Hay?Mei to prime 75 @ 90
Straw?No. 1. Rye 70 @ 75
Lard?City Steam 7 50 @7 85
Butter?State Creamery.... 2t> @ 28
Daiiy 16 (a) 27
West. I in. Creamery 18 C'i 25'
Factory 14 (<% 23
Cheese?State Factory 10 @ 11%
Skims 4 (t$ 8J^
Western Q%((6 llji
PtriVB CSfatA am) Pftnn f/b
*
BUFFALO.
Sbeers?Western 3 2.5 @ !! 75
Sheen?Good to Choice 4 00 @ 4 40
Lainlts?Western 5 00 (eg 5 50
Hogs?Good to Choice Yorks 5 U0 @5 30
; Flour?Family 4 75 @5 15
Wheat?No. 1 !H)
Corn?No. a, Mixed 57%$ f>s
Oats?No. 'J, Mixed ? C4> '?
Barley?State 71 @ 85
BOSTON.
Beef?Good to choice ~M(fo H
Hogs?Live 5 (t? 0
Northeru Dressed.... <>%(<<
I'ork?Ex. i'rimo. per bbl. ..17 00 (/(17 50
Flour?Soring Wheat pat's.. 4 70 (ah 4 IJ5
Corn?High Mixed ? @ 5!i;y
Oats?Extra White :?r> (<? 3<}}?
Kye?state ou (<g ou
WATEKTOWN (MASS.) CATTLE MA11KET.
Beef-Dressed weight i?>4@ &li!
Sheep?Live weight 4
| Lambs 5 (ft 5*<f
| Hogs?Northern t> ('$
PHILADELPHIA.
Flour?Penn.extra family... 2 75 ($ ;> 87^'
Wheat-No. 2, Red SD & 39^
Corn?State Yellow ? & 58
Oats Mixed 87 (?j 38
Hye?Stato 52)??^ 58
Butter Creamery Extra... UU (<| .81 I
Cheese?N. Y. Full Cream.. 12^?
REV. DR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY
SERMON.
Subjcct: "The Salutation From the
Chariot."
Text: "It thine heart right t "?II. Kings
r., 15.
With mettled horses at full speed, for he
was mlnhratpd for fast driving. Jebu. the
warrior and king, returns from "battle. But
seeing Jehonadau, an acquaintance, by the
wayside, ha shoute "Whoa! whoa!" to the
lathered span. Then, leaning over to Jehonadab,
Jehu salautes him in the words of the
text?words not more appropriate for that
hour and that place than for this hour and
place.
Is thine heart right? I should like to hear
of your physical health. Well mysslf, I like
to have everybody else well; and so might
ask: Is your eyesight right, your hearing
right, your nerves right, your lungs right,
your entire body right? But I am busy today
taking diagnosis of the more important
spiritual conditions.
I should like to hear of your financial welfare.
I want everybody to have plenty of
mnno-o amnio nnnnml lartrft storehouse, and
comfortable residence, a And I might ask: Is
your business right, your income right, your
worldly surroundings right? But what are
these financial questions compared with the
inquiry as to whether you have been able to
pay your debts to God; as to whether you
are ruining yourself by the long credit system
of the soul? I have known men to have
no more than one loaf of bread at a time, and
yet to own a government bond of heaven
worth more than the whole material universe.
The question I ask you to-day is not in regard
to your habits. I make no inquiry
? am vaiih r?V? oot.it.v OP
auuuu juui vi jvim vuwvtvj | v.
your sobriety. I do not mean to stand on
the outside of the gate and ring the bell; but
coming up the steps I open the door and
come to tne private apartment of the soul;
and with the earnestness of a man that must
give an account for this day's work, I cry
out: "0 man, 0 woman immortal, is thine
heart right/"
I will not insult you by an argument to
prove that we are by nature all wrong. If
there be a factory explosion and the smokestack
be upset, and the wheels be broken in
two, and the engine unjointed, and tbe ponderous
bars be twisted, and a man should
look in and say that nothing was the matter,
yon would pronounce him a fooL Well, it
needs no acumen to discover that our nature
is all atwist and askew and unjointed. The
thing doeen't work r.ght. The biggest trouble
we have in the world is with our souls.
Men sometimes say that though tneir lives
may not be just right, their heart is all right,
lmpossi ble 1 A farmer never puts the poorest
apples on top of his barrel; nor does the merchant
place the meanest goods in his show
orir.rl/M? Thn ViAof. nnrt. nf lis id Olir outward
life, i do not stop to discuss whether we all
fell in Adam, for we have been our own
Adam, and have all eaten of the forbidden
fruit, and have bjen turned ont of the paradise
of holiness and peace; and though the
flaming sword that stood at the gate to keep
us out has changed position and comes behind
to drive us in, we will not go.
The Bible account of us is not exaggerated
wnen it says that we are poor and wretched
and miserable and blind and naked. Poor:
the wretch that stands shivering on our doorstep
on a cold day is not so much in need of
bread as we are of spiritual help. Blind:
why, the man whose eyes uerished in the
powder blast, and who for these ten years
has gone feeling his way from street to street,
is not in such utter darkness as we. Naked:
why, there is not one ra? of holiness left to
hide the shame of our sin. Sick: why, the
leprosy has eaten into the head and the heart
and the hands and the feet, and the marasmus
of an everlasting wasting away has already
seized on some of us.
First we need a repenting heart. If for the
last ten, twenty or forty years of life we have
been going on in the wrong way it is time
that we turned around and started in the
opposite direction. If we offend our friends
we are glad to apologize. God is our best
friend, and yet how many of us have never
apologized for the wrongs we have done Him!
There is nothing that we so much need to
ret rid of as sin. it is a horrible black mon
ster. It polluted Eden. It killed Christ. It
has blasted the world. Men keep dogs in
kennels, and rabbitd in a warren, and cattle
in a pen. What a man that would be who
wou>d shut them up in his parlor. But this
foul dog of sin, and these herds of transgression,
we have entertained for many a long
year in our heart, which should be the cleanest,
brightest room in all our nature. Out
with the vile herd! Beyone, ye befoulers of
an immortal nature! Turn out the beasts
and let Christ come in!
A heathen came to an early Chrisfiun who
had the reputation of curing diseases. The
Christian said: "You must have all your idols
destroyed." The heathen gave to the Christian
the key to his house, that he might go in
and dest;oy the idols. He battered to pieces
all he saw, but still the man did not get well,
The Christian said to him: "There must be
some idol in your house not yet destroyed."
The heathen confessed that there was one idol
of beaten gold that he could not bear to give
up. After a while when that; was destroyed,
in answer to the prayer of the Christian the
sick man got well.
Many a man has awakened in his dying
hour to find his sins all about him. l'hey
clambered up on the right side of the bed.
on the left side, and over the headboard, and
over the footboard, and horibly devoured
the soul.
Bepent! the voice celestial cries,
Nor longer dare d?l*y:
The wretch that scorns the mandate dies,
And meets a fiery day.
Again, we need a believing heart. A good
many years ago a weary one went up one of
the hills of Asia Minor, and with two logs on
his back cried out to all the world, offering
to carry their sins and sorrows. They pursued
him. They slapped him in the face.
They mocked him. When he groaned they
groaned. They shook their fists at him.
They spit on him. They hounded him as
though he were a wild beast His healing of
the sick, his sight giving to the blind, his
mercy to the outcast silenced not the revengo
of th3 world. His prayers and benedictions
were lost in that whirlwind of execration,
Away with him! Away with himl
Ahl it was not merely the two pieces of
wood that he carried; it was the ti ans^ressioa.s
ot the race, the anguish of the ages, the
wrath of God, the sorrows of hell, the stu pendous
interests of an unending eternity.
No wonder his back bent No wonder the
blood started from every pore. No wonder
that he crouched under a torture tnat maae
the sun faint, and the everlasting hills tremble,
and the dead rush up in their winding
sheets as he cried, "If it be possible, let this
cup pass from me." But tne cup did not
pass. None to comfort.
There he hanzs! What has that hand done
that it should be thus crushed in the
palm? It has been healing the lame and
wiping away tears. What has that foot been
doing chat it should be so lacerated? It has
been going about doing good. Of what has
the victim been guilty? Guilty of saving a
world. Tell mo, ye heavens and earth, was
there ever such another criminal? Was there
ever such a crimc? On that hill of carnage,
fhat sunless dav. amid those howling riotera.
may aofc your sins and mine have perished'
I believe it.
Oh, the ransom has been paid. Those
arms of Jesus were stretched out so wide
that when He brought them together
again they might embrace the world.
Ob, that I might, out of the blossoms
of the spring, or the flaming foliage
of the autumn, make one wreath for
my Lord I Oh. that all the triumphal arches
of the world could be swung in one gateway,
where the King of Glory might como in!
Oh, that all the harps and trumpets and or"
???'npVi in nno tinHiflm
gans 01 e&ruu> muaiv ... ,
speak his praise!
But what were earthly flowers to him who
walketh amid the snow of the white lilies of
Heaven! What were arches of earthly masonry
to him who hath about his throne a
rainbow wun out of everlasting sunshiner
What were all earthly music to him when
the hundred and forty and four thousand on
one side, and the cherubim, and seraphim,
and archangels stand on tho other side, and
all tho space between ia filled with tho doxologies
of eternal jubilee!?the hosanna of
a redeemed earth, the hallelujah of unfallen
angels, song after song rising about the
throne of God and of the Lamb. In that
pu e, high place, let him hear us. Stop!
harps of heaven, that our poor cry may be
heard.
Again, in order to have a right heart it
must be a forgiving heart. An old writer
says: "To render good tor evu is uou hko;
good for good is man like; evil for good devil
like." Which of theso natures have wo!
Christ will have notiiing to do witii us as
long as we keep any old grudge. Wo hive
all been cheated ana lied about. Thore at e
people who dislike us so' much that if we
should come down to poverty and dfograce.
they would say: "Good for him< Didn't I
tell you sor They never have understood
us, and never wilL They do not understand
ih. Unsanctifled human nature says: "Wait
till yon get a good crack at him, and wbsn at
last you tind him in a tight place, give it to
him Flay him alive. No quarter. Leave
not a rag of reputation. Jnmp on him with
both feet. Pay him in his own coin?sarcasm
for sarcasm, scoru for scorn, abu9efora mse."
But, my friends, that is not th? ripht kind of
heart. No man ever did so mean a thing
toward us as we have done toward God.
And if we cannot forgive others, how can we
expect God to forgive us? Thousands or men
have been kept out of heaven by an unforgiving
heart.
Here is some one who savs: "I win forgive
! that man the wrong he did me about that
house and lot: I will forgive that man who
overreached me in a bargain; I will forgive
that man who sold me a shoddy overcoat; I
forgive them all?all but one. That man leannot
forgive. The villain?I can hardly keep
my hands off of him. If my goinj to rfeaven
depends on my forgiving him, thea I will
stay out." Wrong feeling! If a man lie to
me once, I am not called to trust him again.
If a man betray me once, I am not called to
put confidence in him again. But I would
have no rest if I could not offer a sincere
prayer for tha temporal and everlasting wet
a# oil man vrhatavar mPflnnAQM
and outrage they have inflicted upoa
me. If you want to get your heart
right, strike a match and burn up all your
old grudges and blow the ashes away. "II
you forgive not men their trespasses, neithei
will your heavenly Father forgive you your
trespasses." An old Christian black woman
was going a'oag the streets of New York
with a basket of apples that she had for sale.
A rough sailor ran against her and upset the
basket, and stood back expecting to hsar her
scold frightfully; but she stooped down and
picked up the apples and said: "God forgive
you, my son, as I do." Tha sailor saw the
meanness of what he bad done and felt in
his pocket for his money, and insisted that
she should take it alL Though she was black
ne caiiea ner motner ana saia: rorKivo
me, mother; I will never do anything so
mean again." Ah! there is a power in a forgiving
spirit to overcome all hardness.
There is no way of conquering men like that
of bestowing upon them your pardon,
whether thoy will accept it or not.
Again, a right heart is an expectant heart.
It is a poor business to be building castles in
the air. Enjoy what you have now. Don't
spoil your comfort in the small house because
you expect a larger one. Don't fret
about your income when it is S3 or $4 per day
because you expect to have after awhile
$10 per dav.or $10,030 a year, because you expect
it to be $^0,000 a year. But about heavenly
things, the more we think the better.
i doso casties are noc id me air, um uu me
hills, and we have a deed of them in our possession.
I like to see a man all full of heaven.
He talks heaven. He sings heaven. He
prays heaven. He dreams heaven. Some of
us in our sleep have had the good place open
to us. We saw the pinnacles In the sky. We
heard the click of the hoofs of the white
horses on which victors rode, and the clapping
of the cymbals of eternal triumph. And
while in our sleep we were glad that all our
soriows were over, and burdens done
with, the throne of God grew whiter, whiter
and whiter, till we opened our eyes and saw
that it was only the sun of the earthly morning
shining on our pillow. To have a right
heart you need to be filled with this expectancy.
It would make your privations and
annoyances more bearable.
Some talk of heaven as though it were a
handsome church, where a few favored spirits
would coma in and sit down on finely
cuqhioued seats all bv themselves and sing
psalms to all eternity. No, no. "I saw a
I great multitude that no man could uuraber
I standing before the throne. He that talked
j with me had a golden reed to measure the
] city and it was 12.000 furlongs"?that is, 1,500
j miles in circumference. Ah! heaven is not &
little colony at one corner of God's doI
minion where a man's entrance depends upon
' what kind of clothes he has on his back and
| how much money he has in his purse, but a
i vast empire. God grant that the light of
I that blessed world may shine upon us in our
last moment.
The roughest time we had in crossing the
ocean was at the mouth of Liverpool harbor.
We arrived at nightfall and were obliged to
lie there till the morning waiting for the
rising of the tide before we could go up to
the city. How the vessel pitched and
writhed in the water! So sometimes the last
illness of the Christian is a struggle. He is
almost through the voyage. The waves of
temptation toss the soul, nut he waita for the
morning. At last the light dawns and the
tides of joy arise in his soul and ho sails up
and casts anchor within the veil.
! Is thy heart right? What question can
! compare with this in importance?
It is a business question. Do you not realize
I that von will soon have to go out of that
store; that you will soon have to resign that
partnership; that soon among all the millions
of dollars' n-orth of goods that are sold in
New York you will not hare the handling of
a yard of cloth,or a pound of sugar, or a pennyworth
of anything; that soon if a conflagration
should start at Central Park and
sweep everything to the Battery, it would
not disturb you; that soon if every cashier
should abscond, and every insurance company
should fail, it would not affect you?
What are the questions that stop this side the
1 grave compared with the questions that
! reach beyond it? Are you making losses that
I are to be everlasting? Are you making par
chases for eternity? Are you lODDing ior
j time whenyou might be wholesaling for
eternity? What question of the store is so
! broad at the base and so altitudinous and so
; overwhelming a? the question: "Is thy heart
! right?"
Or is it a domestic question? Is it some1
thing about father, or mother, or companion,
or son, or daughter, that you think is comparable
with this question in importance? Do
you not realize that by universal and inexorable
law all these relations will be broken up?
Your father will be gone, your mother will
be gone, your companion will be gone, your
child will be cone, vou will be gone; and then
this supernal question will begin to harvest
its chief gains, or deplore its worst losses, roll
up into its mightiest magnitude, or sweep its
vast circles. What differenre now does it
make to Napoleon III whether he triumphed
or surrendered at Sedan? whether he lived at
the Tuileries or at Chisel hurst? whether he
was Emperor or exile? They laid him out in
his coffin in the dress of a fl?ld marshal. Did
that give him any better chance for the next
world than if he had been laid out in
a plain shroud? And soon to us
I what will be the difference whether
| in this world wo rode or walked,
j were bowed to or maltreated, were
I applauded or InVei at, were welcomed in or
mcKea out, wnne laying noia 01 uverjr mumeut
of the great future and burning in all
the splendor of grief and overarching and
undergoing all time and all eternity is the
plain, simple, practical, thrilling, agonizing,
overwhelming question: "Is thy heart right?''
Have you within you a repentant heart, an
expectant heart? If not 1 must write upon
your soul what George Whitefiold wrote
upon the window pane with his diamond
ring. He tarried in an elegant house over
night, but found that there was no God
recognized in that house. Before he left his
room in the morning witb his ring ne wrote i
upon the window pone: "One thing thou
lackest" After the guest was gone the
housewife came up and looked at the window
and saw the inscription and calicd her
husband and her chil Iren, and God, through
that ministry of the window glass, brought
them all to Jesus. Though you may to-aay
be surrounded by comforts and luxuries, and
feel that you have need of nothing, if
you are not the children of God, with
the siguet ring of Christ's love, let me inscribe
upon your bouIs: "One thing thou
lackest. ' I pray you that, whatever else you
may miss, you may not miss heaven. It is
too bright a home to lose. Your soul has
been bought at tor) dear a price. I preach to
you of the blood that cloanseth from all sin.
j Casting all your sins behind you, I beg of
? mAtminflp frti* flio Irintr/lrvm
j you VU Mill l biun iuuj UIII^ iva vuv atM^uv...|
"Yes," you say, "I will start, but not now."
William III made proclamation, when there
was a revolution in the north of Scotland,
I that all who came and took the oath of allej
gianco by the 31st of December should be
I pardoned. Maclan, a ehieftan of a proniij
nent clan, resolved to return with the rest of
j the rebels, but had some pride in being the
j very last one that should tike the onth. He
i postponed starting for this purpose until two
j days before the expiration of the term. A
! snowstorm impeded bis way, and before he
pot up to tuko the oath and receive a pardon
j from the throne the time was ujj and past.
>\ Hi 10 trie Oinera wuro seu HOD, luaumu was |
, miserably put to death. He started too late |
! and arrived too lato. In like manner some j
| of you are in prospect of losing forever the j
j amnesty of the Gospel. Many of you are
' going to be forever too late. Remember the
irreuarable mistake of Maclanl
Mrs. A. M. Lock, Vice-President of the |
World's W. C. T. U., for Turkey, writes that i
sho is having prepared in Bulgarian, a number
of leaflets showing the pernicious effects I
of alcohol, and with these she hopes to storm i
the enemy's stronghold?ignorance?ami caus% [
him to capitulate,
TEMPERANCE.
New Year's Hospitality?Lines to f
Lady of Quality.
Wei/ Krayed in his best
He wOl i)ow at thy shrine.
Will you gfrft to yonr gallant gnest
The cup of sparkling wineT
And will thrt be the test
Of friendship or Jove, lady mioef
There's a serpent wit hi d
The red poisonous bowl.
Do yon not know it is a 9fo
lo bting tbe immortal sonlr
Not with wineca* you win
A heart only love can control!
If he's tipsy to-day,
If he's stone-drunk; by night,
What will his waiting mother say,
With lips trembling and whit?,
Of tbe custom that may
Break her heart, put her reason to flight?
What will his sister think
Of hospitality
That offers ihe accursed drink
To ber Brother, and he
xno origin, vie goiaen natr
And the pride of the family!
Will yon begin the year
Pressing wine to the lips
Of the guest who brings you good cheer,
Whose heart to the finger tips
Beat* with hopei Do you 1 ear
Not the fate of the wine-cup's eclipse?
Take from the taMe the wine;
Thy presence is sweeter far
Than the tempting viands that shine,
CliinA ltlrn iKa halafnl cfor
For the light is divine
That beams where home and its angels are.
?Qto.W. Bunaa." ?'? Twerance Advocate.
Fourteenth Annual convention or
the Na'ional W.C.T. U., Nashville,
Tenn., Nor. 16-21.
The hospitable homes and churches of this
Southern city were opened with a wide welcome
to the National Woman's Christian
Temperance Union Convention. Three hundred
and forty-one officers and delegates, representing
thirty-eight States and Territories,
met in counsel together over matters of home
interest, each with independent thought, but
united plan, is the finest illustration ever seen
of Victor Hugo's prophetic utterance, '"The
Nineteenth Century is Woman's Century."
Here ministers, doctors, lawyers, journalists,
teachei-s, experienced home-keepers, philanthropists
and cultivated young ladies, each
bring their special guts and graces, and in the
exchange of thought each bears to the individual
work a' home something of the general
knowledge and inspiration. Not only is the
North and South, the ITast and West here represented,
but different nationalities, knowing
no dividing line. Pundita Ramabai, the
high caste Hindu widow, pleads for her sisters
in India; Mrs. Turns tall, of Indian Territory,
voices the cry or her Cherokee mates, that
whisky may be bound, and the Indian wigwam
be free; and the colored unions of Tennessee
and Alabama, organized into State
Societies, have graduates of the Fisk University
to represent them.
Nor is the National Union more different:
ated from other organizst ons in the many
lines of work?forty or more distinct departments,
embraced under the general heads o'
evangelistic, educational, social, preventive
and legal, each with a skilled leader at its
head, and duplicated in State and local Unions
?than in its National President, Miss Frances
E. Willard, who holds a most intimate
relation to all these depari ments, and has a
heart knowledge of all the needs of humanity.
Wat kins Hall had been secured for the
meeting of the Convention, but when the
delegates were seated there was small room
for visitors. When the need for a larger
space reached the authorities of the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church?the largest in the
city, holding about 1,200?they hastened to
offer its use. which was gladly accepted, and
banners and bannerettes, flowers and women
were speedily transferred.
Miss Willard's annual address, the morning
of the 16th, was remarkable for breadth of
vision and depth of human sympathy. "The
bugle of your advance strikes the key-note of
the Church universal, and the drum-beat of
your hearts, now throbbing round the world,
predicts the day when the nations shall form
one universal brotherhood. Your white ribbon
nronhesies. the white flaz of peace that
yet shafi wave at the mast'head' of every
ship, and from th& dome of every capitol
upon the globe. For nothing less has God
set in motion the home hosts of all nations
with the prayer of faith, and the badge of
snow, and the song of victory singing."
Would that we could picture the Convention
at this opening hour. Miss Williard's
power of riveting all eyes, and holding all
senses as she brought fact and declaration
and prophetic utterance in clear resounding
woras; her compatriots gathered about her?
the silver-haired Id other Thompson, leader of
the crusade in Hillsboro, Ohio, in 1873; Hannah
Whitall Smith, th6 Quaker evangelist;
Mother Wallace.the Deborah of the franchise
movement, and Ramabai, in nativo costume,
and before them the tables crowded with re-?
-? -KT- Atkcr
porters ior me press ui ink-uvmo nuu vhi^
cities, and the audience that crowded pew
and aisle and outer hall, so still that a pinfall
might have been heard.
Prominent among the features of the Convention
were the Biole readings each morning,
by Hannah Whitall Smith. The key
note of them all is sonnded in this one sentence
"Love fulfills all other laws, but it
most be the kind which is spelled 1 o-v-e, not
s-e-l-fi-s-h-n-o-s-s." The welcomes to the
Convention, and the re ponses thereto, were
given the owning of the Kith, in the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church. Gov. Taylor, on
behalf of the State, and Mra Lide Meriwether,
on behalf of W. C. T. U., cordially
bid them welcome, and Mrs. J. K Barney as
cordially accepted.
That the broadest liberty is accorded members
of the W. C. T. U. is proved by the following
by-law passed on Tuesday morning:
"No State Union shall be bound by any
principle espoused or plan devised by the
National W. C. T. U., except that all State
auxiliaries must subscribe to the total abstinencepledge,
and to the Constitution of the
.[National."
Memorrial services were held Thursday,
afternoon for Mrs. Shields, President, of
Colorado, and Mrs. Tobev, Secretary of the
department of Scientific Temperance Instruction.
Tender mention was made of Rhoderick
Dhu Gambrell by Mrs. Snel), of Mississippi,
ana of John B.' Finch, by Miss Willard.
Early in the year the National W. C. T. U.
had promised a banner to States in each section
of the country for the greatest per cent,
of increase in membership, and the presentation
was a delightful occasion. It transpired
the evening of the 17th. Massachusetts,
Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Tennessee and New York
were the favored States. This called out
sixteen impromtu speeches from women in
as many States, which won the approval of
the audience, and this commendation from
the American: "At least in impromtu speaking,
these women excel any set of men that it
has been our fortune to hear on any like occasion."
The morning of the 18th was election day,
and fluttering white ballots again called Miss
Willard to the leadership of the white-ribbon
army. Of tt.'O votes she received 313. The
other general officers were re-elected.
The Temperance Temple was imazed in a
niar>ni lipifore the conven
Jmgo f??
tion, and Mrs. Carse, of Chicago, the originator
of the plan, presented the subject to the
members. A building of massive proportions,
a square in length and breadth, twelve
stories high, central in location in the central
city of the United States, to be erected at a
cost of SST.O.OOO. (Jreat enthusiasm prevailed,
and gifts and stock were pledged from different
States to the amount of ? 10,000.
Each evening several meetings were held
in Masonic Temple and churches always with
crowded houses. Music of the finest sort has j
been provided. Mr. and Mrs. Bent led the
hymns with white-ribboned golden cornets,
and the Herbert Quartette from Monmouth,
III., san~ stirrirg prohibition songs.
The resolutions of any body mark their
progress from year to year. The x>ationaj
takes no backward steps. The Internal Revenue
was declared against; the Blair bill endorsed;
a protest uttered against personalities
in politics; for enforcement of Sunday laws;
for equal suffrage; scientific temperance instruction;
endorsing the Prohibition party,
and Society of Peace, which sent Mr. Wm,
Jones, of "London, to present its kindly message.
T?1?11 *'?? '" lmrchps on Sunday were oc
1^ Will J J Uli W..W ?
cupied morning, afternoon, and evening, by
\V. c. T. 'women, "a revelation to the
people ot' Nashville," and one heartily enjoyed.
Rev. Anna Shaw, of Boston, preached
the convention sermon in the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church; Miss Willard and Dr.
Bushiu*!!, of Chicago, talked of social purity
in the McKendree Church in the afternoon,
to an audicnce of women and girls, and ac
night Mrs. Governor Wallace, of Indiana,
spoke on the franchise for woman in the Masonic
Temple, while a mass meeting was held
for the Kiuehta. oL Lab?>r> aiidre?sii2y ^62
Willard, Mrs. Meriwether, Mr*. Hnnt,. fifl
others. A memorable meeting, where cultured
womanhood met the sturdy sons of toUf
and found many kindred resolves.
This convention was the beet ever held, by
its largest active representation, by Its d*p?!
monious counsels, and the world-wide sweep of
its plans. Mas. Esther T. Housh,
National Supt. Pres.
"""" The New Rallying Cry.
Henceforth let the cry be:
"On to Washington!.
The Constitution of the United States must
be amended as follows:
"Section 1. The manufacture, importation,
exportation, transportation and sale of all
Iwwvuvuv<iuu"ioaa it DUail UO. tUlU
hereby is, forever prohibited in the United '$
States and in every place subject to their ;;.%s
jurisdiction. No compensation shall be
granted for loeaes through the enforcement
of this law.
"Sec. 2. Congress shall enforce this article
by all needful legislation."
The liquor men will discover that a Dred
Scott decision on the cases now before the U. -ja
S. Supreme Court will but hasten their destruction.
No chicanery or snap judgment
| will help them. Should the decision Be un!
favorable, there will Le no dismay in temper
ance ranKs. uur determination will be bat " :
the deeper rooted and our teeth set only the
firmer. No power on earth or in the infernal
regions can fctay tbe progress of this reform.
The saloon must go!?The Voice. - '
Prohibition in Anstria.
Austria seems disposed to follow the exam?
pie of Belgium in passing enactments for tha
stern suppression of drunkennea. The Austrian
Government is proposing to extend the
act aimed at excessive drinking, which is
already in nivntlmi In ?nARnkninn*
to the whole of the empire. The main provisions
of the enactment are the restriction
of the number of licenses and the increase of - t #3
the penalty for drunkenness to a fine of ?&
and imprisonment for two months. Any person
who is unlucky enough to be convicted
of drunkenness three times in a year is to be
forbiddeu by the police to frequent publio
houses in and around the town in which he
resides, and any disregard of this prohibition
will be visited by heavy penalties.
Temperance Newa and Note*.
Nebraska is fast becoming the asylum of
aloonists from Iowa and Kansas. "
The Michigan University at Arifj.e 'Arbor
has a prohibition club of two hundred mem*
bers.
The Kentucky Court of Appeals has
ffirmed that drunkenness is no'e'xcose for
crime.
Leadville, CoL, hasn't funds enough to
keep its public schools open, but supports
1,000 saloons.
The Cumberland Presbyterian, of Nash- <
ille, Tenn., says: "Tennessee spends fifteen
times as much money for bad whisky as for
good schools."
The Labor Commissioner of Maine says:
"We have exact official figures which show
that the prison population is less, according
to the population, than that of any other 9 *,
State in the Union."
RELIGIOUS BEADING.
Bear through sorrow, wjjpng and ruth,
In thy breast the dew ofyouth,
On thy lips the smile of {ruth I
?{Longfellow.
Gems of Thought.
Our pleasures are in^ exact proportion to
our auues.?(.norman jxiuciouu.
Prosperity is a blessing to the good, bat *
cnrae to the eviL?[Proverb.
Jesus is the purest among the mighty, th?
mightiest among the pure.?[Rich ter.
You can tell how a Christian is sanctified
as you do about a disease, by his tongue.
Nothing is so stupid as to vanquish; tho
real glory is to convince.?[Victor Hugo.
When Christ abides in a human heart, H?
is in it as an immortal hope. ?[Pres. Culross.
Venture not to the utmost bounds or even
lawful pleasures;.the limits of good and evil
join.
Fruitless is sorrow for having done ami as;
if it issue not in resolution to do bo no more.
?[Bishop Home. ' f
In the worst of times there is more cans*.
to complain of an evil heart than of an evil
world.?[Fleming.
An Infidel's Query.?Do you actually believe
in the Bible f Ana?That is the only
way I believe in it.
Most people would succeed in small thing*
if thev were not troubled with great ambl
tioas.-^-? Longfellow. --*^331
Lots of Christians have motion but no .v/m
progress, like a horse in a treadmill or a
child on a rocking horse.
Ole Bull, the famous musician, once said of
a preacher: "lie seemsto mean all he says,
but he doesn't say much."
Life is a reckoning we cannot make twica
over. You cannot mend a wrong subtrao .
tion by doing your addition right
Four elements of Christian life and experience:
1st, admit: 2d, submit; 3rd, commit:
4tn, transmit.?[u&uuu u uuouuiw. .
We are haunted by an ideal life, and it la
because we have within us the beginning and
the possibility of it ?[Phillips firooka.
Sin is to be overcome, not so much by
maintaining a direct opposition to it, as by
cultivating opposite principles.?[Fuller.
You bring up your girls as if they were
meant for sideboard ornaments, ana then
complain of their frivolity.?[J. Ruskin.
A holy life has a voice. It speaks when
the tongue is silent, and is either a constant
attraction or a continual reproof.?[Hinton.
If a man is faithful^ to truth, truth will be
j faithful to him. He need nave no rears.
! His success is a question of time.?[Prof.
Phelps.
It is wonderful what strength and boldness
of purpose and energy of will come
from the feeling that we are in the way of
duty.?[J. Foster.
There are men in the world who wear a
girdle of fret, as trying as any friar's, to
annoy themselves. They fancy that in such
experience is to be found the highest fulfill*.
ment of religious duty, and the truest exnf
tliio world's nrobation.?fRev.
Stephen H. Tyng.*
"Well, madam," said John Newton to on?
who was complaining of the imperfections of
others, "if there were a perfect church on
earth, it would cease to be so the minute you
and I entered it." And that remark still
has a pertinent application for those who, w?
fear, won't apply it.
There is nothing we have more reason to
be grateful for than for those things we
shrink from, ana winco unaer, ana muuru
over. Hindrances in our way are often helps
in God's way. Our Saviour sees to it that
nothing which ha permits his disciples to
encounter shall harm his disciples, so long
as they trust and submit to him in love and
confidence.
Happiness Is not what we are to look for.
Our place is to be true to the best which we
know, to seek that and do that: and if. br
"virtue of its own reward," be meant that
the good man cares only to continue good, desiring
nothing more, it is a true and noble
saying. But if virtue be valued because it is
politic, because in its pursuit will be found
most enjoyment and fewest sufferings, it is
not nob e "any more, and it is turning the
truth of God into a lie.?irrouae.
In praying for the salvation of a singrla
soul, we pray for more than the whole world
and its glories, more than the empire of the
world, more than all possible inanimate
creations. For we pray for one on whom
the good pleasure of the Holy Trinity rests;
for one whom the Father wills to be saved,
for whom the Son was incarnate, with whom
the Holy Ghost has pleaded and will plead.
Oh, for heart of fire, for tlery zeal for souls,
that if we can do no more, we may yet plead
with God with burning thoughts, burning
longings, burning desires, for God's glory in
oolt.oiinn rvF crailllt TV PllSOV.
Tho way of salvation has not changed. It
Li true that men must be born again. Their
must repent, niuJ believe, and be convertei
Christ declares, "Except ye repent, ye shall
all likewise perish." He that b.-lieveth not
shall bo damned." "Except ye bo converted,
and become as little children, yo cannot
enter into tho kingdom of heaven."
Surely these declarations are piam enouzn.
Thero is no necessity for misunderstanding
them. And thoy are as true as they~^a^ ^ .
plain. Any one who attempts to rS^F
heaven in any other way will bo diatf
pointed. Without repentaico toward Goo;
and faith in our Lord J of s Chi*ist, there i? /
no salvation. Have yea repented! Have /
you taken Christ as your .wmour* .