"'I cannot consent, as your queen, to take revenue from the sale of liquor, which destroys the souls and bodies of my people.'
"The Hon. Carroll D. Wright, while United States commissioner of labor, tells, from observation, of the slavery of strong drink in his own country and in Europe. He says: 'I have looked into a thousand homes of the working people of Europe; I do not know how many in this country. In every case, so far as my observation goes, drunkenness was at the bottom of the misery, and not the industrial system or the industrial surroundings of the men and their families.'
"And so the testimony goes on. It is the same everywhere. There is no need of more proof that strong drink is the world's greatest curse. To every one of you boys, I am going to say that success in life cannot come to you in its fulness if you ever allow yourselves to get this deadly habit. Let it not break into the abode of your soul—and by this I mean your own bodies—and make you depraved captives for life. The first taste of strong drink, even though it may seem to be a very little thing, may mean that you will become banished from God forever. Remember, boys, that Satan is deceitful. He never tells you the truth. He is always trying to juggle you with his jug and to make you believe that black is white and wrong is right, and even that sorrow is joy and 'a good time.' It is against those who would tempt you that Jesus said, 'And fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him that is able to destroy both soul and body.' Such a destroyer is strong drink.
"As the years go by, you will find that you need all your energy, your brains, and your physical strength to enable you to meet the problems of life. You will find that your later years will be filled with battles; the defeats will be bitter; the victories sweet. One of the necessary victories is the successful earning of a living. Money is a splendid thing. It is the love of it and the wrong use of it that is 'the root of all evil.' In the later years, if you are a slave to strong drink, you may recall with bitterness the warning of the Psalmist who declares that 'the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.' But true prosperity comes most surely when the life is pure. I know you are resolved that yours shall be such lives, so we shall change the drawing to indicate something more acceptable to the life that well deserves a reward for right living. [Add lines to complete [Fig. 48].]
"Paul pictures to us the successful man when he uses these words, 'Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.'"
THE CIGARETTE FACE
—Temptation
—Evil Habits
A Unique Presentation of a Truth Important to Every Child and Youth.