[A paper read by Ada M. Learned before the Mutual Edification Club, of Mountain View, Cal.]
TOBACCO is productive of more evil in the world than is alcohol:
(1) It is the most potent factor in the degeneracy of the race morally.
(2) It is more ruinous to the youth of to-day than is alcohol.
(3) It is more deceptive in its operations.
(4) It is a greater curse to the national life.
I. Race Degeneracy.
Lucy Page Gaston, founder and promoter of the Anti-Cigaret League, says: "Weaklings and degenerates by thousands—the product largely of cigaret indulgence—to-day afflict the nation, crowding reformatories, prisons, asylums, and sanitariums."
From a comparative study of the symptoms of tobacco poisoning and the stigmata of degeneracy, Dr. L. Pierce Clark, well-known neurologist of the Manhattan State Hospital, is convinced that the degenerate is an outcome of the tobacco habit, either in the individual or in his ancestry. "Tobacco seems to be the determining cause of the existence of degenerates."
Mary Foote-Henderson, wife of the ex-speaker of the House of Representatives, says: "It has counted its victims by hundreds where alcohol has counted them by tens. It has become the chief source of the degeneracy of the race."
II. Effect upon Youth.
Tobacco has a stronger hold upon the youth of to-day, is working more havoc and ruin with the youth, than alcohol. The future prosperity of a nation is dependent upon its young men and women. Young men to-day are being ruined,—
a. Morally.
Mrs. E. G. White most truly says: "Among children and youth the use of tobacco is working untold harm. The unhealthful habits of past generations affect the children and youth of to-day. Mental inability, physical weakness, disordered nerves, and unnatural cravings, are transmitted as a legacy from parents to children. And the same habits continued by the children are increasing and perpetuating the evil results. Among the most injurious of these habits is the use of tobacco. To this cause, in no small degree, is owing the physical, mental, and moral deterioration which is becoming such a cause of alarm."
A Field of Tobacco, One of the World's Very Worst Curves.
Again, quoting from Lucy Page Gaston (speaking of tobacco): "The effect is a lowering of other moral standards, and cigaret-smokers are liable to live loose and irregular lives in other respects. Cigarets are at war with purity of thought and action in old and young."
The strongest possible evidence is given by Judge Stubbs, of the Indiana Juvenile Court, who said: "I have before me (in twenty months' experience on the bench) one thousand two hundred and eight boys and girls,—mostly boys,—all of whom have been charged with offense against the law. These offenses have covered the entire list of offenses known to the law of Indiana, from the most trivial misdemeanor to the greatest crimes. . . . In inquiring into the causes that have brought about such a great increase in the number of offenses against the law in the last few years by boys, I have reached the conclusion that aside from the frailties that afflict our common humanity, and which are apt to blossom and develop into crime, especially where there is a lack of parental control, or where the parents themselves belong to the vicious classes, by far the most potent factor is the cigaret habit."
James B. Duke, Head of the Tobacco Trust.
John Wanamaker says: "The cigaret is the starting-point of the downfall of thousands who fall into its clutches, and eventually drift away from all sense of morality."
The president of the Armour Institute at Chicago, says: "I do not believe there is any agency more destructive of soul, mind, and body, or more subversive of good morals, than the cigaret. The fight against the cigaret is a fight for civilization. This is my judgment as an educator."
H. H. Cully, Principal Glenville High School, Cleveland, Ohio, says: "In all my twenty-six years' experience as a teacher, I have never known an exception to the rule that a boy, in taking on the tobacco habit in any form, immediately begins to deteriorate mentally. If he takes cigarets, he will degenerate morally very rapidly. I am firmly convinced that tobacco in any form causes degeneration morally as it relates to growing boys."
b. Mentally.
An English writer says: "There is overwhelming evidence to show that juvenile smoking is an evil of the first magnitude—an evil which is sapping our boyhood's strength and so undermining our national manhood."
Prof. Richard M. Sherry, President of the Baltimore Academy of Medicine, says: "The effect of tobacco on schoolboys is so marked as not to be open for discussion."
An English educator says: "A boy smoker is certainly a worse student than the ordinary boy. . . . He is usually dull, dense, and generally stupid and indolent."
It is unnecessary to enumerate proof after proof that could be presented relative to the stand being taken against the tobacco habit on the ground that it is demoralizing to the intellect of the youth of this age. And it must not be forgotten that the very reason for so much harm and evil is wrought because tobacco can be so readily secured by minors. This is not true of alcohol. Alcohol is debarred to minors, but the crusade against tobacco is only barely getting in a swing.
“Come unto Me”
By Mary Rowles Farvis
O soul, aweary of life's loss and pain,
By feverish aims and aching griefs possessed,
The voice of Jesus pleads yet once again—
“Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.”
Are sins like midnight heavy on your thought?
The future dark, by judgment fears oppressed?
His invitation comfort brings unsought—
“Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.”
When inward conflicts rend the soul apart,
And peace forsakes the spirit, storm-possessed,
No words like these can soothe the fainting heart—
“Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.”
What tho' with toil the weary hands hang down,
And growing years have lost their strength and zest?
Still for the heavy-laden light is sown—
“Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.”
—Mary Rowles Farvis.
III. Deceptive in Operation.
Tobacco is productive of more evil because of its deceptive, subtle, underhanded mode of operation. Listen to the strong evidence on this point:
Remember, TOBACCO IS THE FIRST STEP IN INTEMPERANCE.
Jerry McAuley claimed that no drunkard ever reformed permanently unless he abandoned the use of tobacco.
Tobacco is used, and used freely, and by great numbers, because it is a deadener of sensibilities. It helps to take the raw edge off life and feelings. Tobacco is comforting and soothing, benumbing nerve and brain and rendering them somewhat less conscious.
Tobacco is murdering many a lad. "Where they do not fairly kill, cigarettes are the devil's kindling-wood. They start a craving for stimulants that liquor is the quickest to meet."
Mrs. E. G. White says: "Tobacco is a slow, insidious, but most malignant poison. In whatever form it is used, it tells upon the constitution. It is all the more dangerous because its effects are slow, and at first hardly perceptible."
Mary Foote-Henderson has said: "Undoubtedly tobacco should take the lead as the greatest of human destroyers, for its influence is the most destructive. It is less brutal, less violent, less noisy, less stupefying, less maudlin, less besotted, than alcohol. It does not madden or murder. . . . Compared with opium, tobacco is less annihilating and less torturing. It does not stretch its victim on the rack. Its effect is soothing. It apparently helps to think, to act, to live. It is social and genial. It is convenient. . . . A man knows when he is drunk with alcohol or opium, but he does not know his nicotin until the accumulating effects have made themselves permanent; until he finds the entire being of his fabric undermined."
Thousands of boys are killed every year by cigarettes. They are deceived. They do not commit suicide deliberately.
We quote from Dr. David Paulson: "Of all the traps the devil has set for our young people, nothing pulls them down so quickly and surely as the cigaret.Alcohol does not begin to equal it."
IV. On National Life
Tobacco is productive of more evil in the world than alcohol on the ground that it is a greater curse to national life. "The conscience of America is keener, more alert, and better educated than that of nations in which people of all ages and both sexes indulge in cigaret-smoking. This is among the blessings vouchsafed to us from our glorious past."
"All that is undesirable in character seems to follow in the train of this vice [tobacco], which is believed to have had no small part in bringing Spain down from the commanding position she once occupied among the nations of the world. . . . The people of our climate, with our high-strung temperament, can not withstand the ravages of this pernicious and unnatural indulgence."
Tobacco, like cocain or morphin, blunts the moral perceptions and demoralizes the entire being. To ascertain the real injury to the race from such a habit, we must necessarily go to the third and fourth generations. We have reached that time, and the results of the tobacco habit are now fully manifest. As Sir Benjamin Brodie says, "No evils are so manifestly visited upon the third and fourth generations as the evils which spring from the use of tobacco."
John Ruskin has said: "It is not easy to estimate the demoralizing effect on the youth of Europe of the cigar."
The late Canon Stowell said: "It is frightful to think what a canker is eating into the vitals of the nation, blighting its young men, squandering its resources, undermining its health, and depraving its morals."
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New Songs: Footsteps That Never Come and Homeward
Two new and beautiful songs have come to our people, entitled, "Footsteps That Never Come" and "Homeward." They have sweet melody, and the words aside from their musical association are elevating, refining, and inspiring. These songs may be obtained in folder form for 25 cents by addressing Chas. P. Whitford, Orlando, Fla.
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Bibles
Bibles.—Remember that we are headquarters for anything in the Bible line. We shall be pleased to send you our catalog of Bible selections on application. Pacific Press Publishing Co., Mountain View, Cal.
For Sale
For Sale.—New six-room house, mission style, large porch, modern improvements, toilet, bath, etc., nicely furnished with high-grade furniture, located in San Fernando opposite Fernando Academy, beautiful location. Lot is half acre, set out in fruit and vegetables. Price, $2,100. Address, J. H. Hidley, Box 93, San Fernando, Cal.
Seeds, Bulbs, Plants, Etc
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Evolution and the Sabbath
Christianity is not a form; it is not a system of ethics; it is not a school of theology; it is not a mere religion. Christianity is a life, sent down from God unto a needy and dying world. Do you know it as a life? If not you do not know the religion of Christ.
In a Paris paper, in the same column, are two advertisements illustrating the extremes of modern-day civilization. The first is this: 'TOY, pure white, French silk poodles, the real small kind, three months old; parents' weight, four pounds; long, silky, fluffy hair, large black eyes; pedigreed and eligible for registration. Male $15.00; female $15.00.' The second: 'Baby girl, three months old, will be given away to any one who calls.' A dog is worth from $15.00 to $16.00; a child is considered worthless.
Evolution and the Sabbath.
—A new tract just out, by George McCrady Price, bears the above title. It is a review of Biblical evidence for the Sabbath, considers briefly the assumptions on which modern evolution is based, and closes in a study of Creation and Redemption. It is an excellent little tract and should receive a wide circulation. Price, post-paid, single copies, two cents. In larger quantities, one cent each. Address, Pacific Press, Mountain View, Cal.; or its branch offices, or any tract society.
Our Bible Band.
—We are grateful for all the good words which come to us from those who are getting help from the Bible-Band readings. Here is an extract from a lady of culture, education, and long Christian experience: 'No words can express the pleasure and profit I am deriving from the readings. I thought I knew all that Old Testament history well. But now new light, impressive, even startling light, is thrown upon chapter after chapter of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. What a thrilling object-lesson for all time was that deliverance from Egypt, that long, busy remarkable stay at Mt. Sinai, and then the methodical start toward the promised land! I do the reading chiefly at evening, because then I am quite sure to be alone, and can think, think, down into the wonderful history, the astonishing movement of the mighty host. Never before did the great spectacle take hold of me as now. I hesitated long before sending you my name. I am now most thankful that I did so.'
A French military engineer, George Cascarine, from Japan, where he has been in the employ of the Japanese Government in directing the work of placing big modern guns on fortifications, just recently passed thru San Francisco. In the most casual manner he spoke of the military defenses of Japan, and the readiness of that government to defend its territory. He declares that 'nothing that electricity can do in the way of making the big, high-power guns effective has been neglected by the Japanese. They have, in fact, more modern ideas as to the application of electricity than most people possess, and are losing no chance to utilize the tremendous power in every way. The result is such perfection in mechanism and operation that no country can boast of a state of coast defense better than that of the Mikado.' He declares that immense sums of money are spent in the mounting of scores of the most costly guns. The arsenals are well stocked, and the country is put on what is considered a good war basis. Money formerly used for public improvements is turned to war preparations. He says that you will find Japan ready for war whenever it comes and from whatever direction. He had heard, however, no talk of war with America.
Conduct and Character.
—A New Brunswick correspondent feels that we are reflecting upon Great Britain because we speak of her in the same category as ancient Greece and Babylon, because they worshiped idols, while of the British
'a great majority of them worship the true God.' 'The British constitution is founded upon the principle that all power (both civil and religious) comes from God. Such was not the doctrine held by the heathen. . . . You appear to think Christians should not favor war. But the nations not Christian may fight as much as they please for all you care. This is very far from a proper Christian feeling. You seem to regard Roosevelt's sending his 'Armada' to the Pacific as a 'great peace measure.' When I learn of your government taking the name of God off your coinage I think your nation is going to the devil at railway speed. May God prevent such a consummation.'
Replying to our frank correspondent we would say that we regret greatly that he has so misunderstood us, or that we have not made ourselves clear. Let us say again:
1. There are no Christian nations in the world in the Bible sense of what is Christian. Christianity does not consist in mere profession, but in life, in conduct, in character. Great Britain's constitution, or America's (the grandest in the world according to Gladstone), will not save them. At the same time we believe that God has used Britain, and that all things considered she has been the best and most just government the world has known. That does not say that she is Christian. It has not been Christian to force opium upon the Chinese, or to tax the East Indians oppressively. While it might be Christian to send out ships with tons of Bibles, it is not Christian to send on the same ships brandy and beer and idols for the heathen. The sad thing about both United States and Great Britain is that they are Christian only in name.
2. We do not believe in war, either by Britain, United States, Germany, or China. But nations will continue to go to war till Christ comes; for so declares God's word; and each has equal choice. We have, however, accepted the word of those who ought to know, that the sending of the American fleet to the Pacific was not a war measure nor designed to provoke war. But it is, doubtless, with the idea of better preparation for the future. No one would deny this, nor should there be so much excitement over it.
3. Let our correspondent rest easy if only the motto goes, 'In God We Trust.' It never was on all coins; it never was the action of the people; and if it had been it speaks falsehood instead of truth. Do not worry over these things. There are far worse things. Character and conduct, not profession, tell in God's sight.
---
Such an Easy Way.
—Here is how one man gets around a scripture he can not understand, or easily bend to his theory. He writes: 'I forgot to mention in my last letter that the word 'husband' in Matt. 1:16 is a mistake, and should read 'father.'' But there is not an intimation of such an error in the original. And then this would make Joseph Mary's father, yet verse 18 reads, 'Mary had been betrothed to Joseph.' Verse 19 reads, 'Joseph her husband.' Verse 24: 'And Joseph . . . took unto him his wife.' Luke 2:4, 5: 'And Joseph . . . with Mary, who was betrothed to him.' That 'mistake' helps wonderfully to settle a false theory of the genealogy, but it makes a dozen others more difficult. The lesson is, if you can not see light on a scripture to-day, and there seems to be no reasonable, harmonious explanation, wait. It is better to wait than by one inexcusable blunder make a dozen others.
Replace the Idol.
—One brother writes that when he came to the matter of accepting Christ, his tobacco habit faced him. He says: 'I could leave this idol and the blood of Christ would cleanse and keep me from chewing, or I could keep the idol and Christ would leave me. I quit from that time, and now I have no desire for tobacco. O brother, there is power in the blood of Jesus, and I know it.' Yes, there is power in Jesus Christ to save from all sin if we desire it, and to save to the uttermost. Give up the evil habit, whatever it is, and invite the presence of Jesus Christ to come in and take its place. Do not hope for His presence and blessing while retaining a rival in the heart.
The author of the article on page 12, entitled the 'Song of Moses and the Lamb,' is one of our old veteran workers and hymn-writers. He is known thru the South where he labors as the 'singing evangelist.' He is the author of a collection of hymns entitled, 'Songs for Service in Church and Home,' and has also written a number of songs that have been prepared in sheet music form. Among the songs may be mentioned 'Memorial of His Power,' 'Sing the Songs of Zion,' 'Mercy's Final Call,' and 'Joyful News.' These four songs may be had for twenty-five cents by addressing the author, and his song-book is thirty-five cents a copy, or $3.50 a dozen. His address is Charles P. Whitford, Orlando, Fla.
A copy of the 'Florence Crittenton Magazine' has come to our table. It is published by the mission of that name at 21-23 Bleeker Street, New York. It is probably known to most of our readers that Mr. Crittenton started his work for fallen girls as his monument to the memory of a lovely daughter who died. He has been the leading worker in this great needy field, and homes similar to the parent one have been established in different cities. Mr. Crittenton has been instrumental in God's hands in saving many of the poor, lost souls. Yet he constantly urges that the time to save children is when they are young. The earnest little magazine is $1.00 a year.
The first church in America is said to have been built in Salem, Mass., in 1634, and that Roger Williams was its first pastor. It was therefore dedicated to religious liberty, as this country ought to be. The building is still preserved in the rear of the Essex Institute. Are its principles, or rather the principles of its first pastor, still preserved?
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Our authority is the Bible, the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. When the Common ("King James" or "Authorized") Version, or the American Stand-ard Revised Version is used, quotations will not be desig-nated in reference. Any Bible quotation in this paper, therefore, differing from the Common Version, unless other-wise indicated, will be almost invariably from the American Standard edition of the Revised Bible, copyright 1901, by Thomas Nelson & Sons.
Contained in This Issue.
By Editor
With Our Inquirers
Questions Nos. 2422 to 2432 - - - - 2
General
Christ the Teacher and Healer - - - 3
The Seal of God - - - - 4
"And upon the Top of the Pillars Was Lily Work" - - - 5
Which Day Is the Sabbath? Is It a Matter for Legislation? - - - 5
Home Bible Studies
The End of Sin - - - - 6
Our Bible Band - - - - 7
Editorial
Studies in the Book of Daniel (A Prophecy of the Nations) - - - 7
