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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1916)
1 The Commoner MAY, 1916 19 The Trail of the Serpent From tho Galveston, Tex., News. Would you judge of the lawful ness or the unlawfulness of pleasure, tako this rule: Whatever weakens your reason, Impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things; whatever in creases tho authority of your body over your mind that thing, to you, is sin. Excerpt from a letter to John Wesley by his mother. When one decides to travel the primrose path of material diversion in the search of happiness, he is fol lowing the trail of the serpent. He is believing a lie, the lie that was told at the beginning in the Garden of Eden "Thou shalt not surely die." Indeed, that lie is itself the serpent, for it says, "Follow me and I will get you something for nothing. I will show you how to live without labor; to prosper at the expense of the honest and industrious; to dress in fine linen and fare sumptuously every day without taking the trouble to deserve what you get, or to find out whether others will suffer be cause of your infamous conduct. I will teach you how to wallow in brutish indulgences at the expense of virtue and purity; to persuade tho good and the true to yield to the se ductive blandishments of hyprocrlt ical profession and sink into the abyss of shame and woe. The ten com mandments you can ignore. The ser mon on the mount will become a myth, and the prayer of the Gallilean Carpenter will seem to be the mur murings of a religious fanatic." It is thus that the serpent of sin weakens reasons impairs the tender ness of one's conscience, obscures his sense of God and takes off the relish of spiritual things, and increases the authority of the body over the mind, as alluded to by that great and good woman, Mrs. Wesley. The world's grandest hero, as many think him, St. Paul, realized to the full the folly and fatuousness of following the trail of the serpent, and he also real ized how difficult it was to shun it as one would fire and flood, for he says "I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I" see an other law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, . and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." This is the law alluded to m the above quotation as increasing the authority of body over mind; and the grand old hero then makes plain the influ ence' of fleshly things over spiritual, or evil over good, of body over mind, when he says, "So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." He realized that "the inward man" was not'a partner in the thoughts and deeds of the fleshly man. He knew, as all know who think deeply of the matter, that the "inward man," list ening to "the still small voice" of truth and righteousness, never con sents to the insidious and subtle pro posals of the serpent of sin; but that it is always the man of flesh who yields, and suffers the penalties of wrongdoing. It is he who, following the trail of the serpent, finds himself struggling in the quagmires of flesh ly filth, in the quicksands of tempta tion, in the wilderness of woe, in the clutches of disease and despair, in the dark sea of trouble, battling with the billows of sin with a mind and will weakened by his long indulgence in those things against which he has been warned from the days of his earliest childhood. The serpent makes his victi a dig the very pit in which he is to fall, set the net in 'which he- is himself to be caught, at last "deadheading'' his way to final destruction. Th battle between good and evil, between spirit and flesh, never ceases. It begins at the cradle and ends with the grave. Some one has expressed it beautifully in these words: No marshaling troop, no bivouac song, No banner to gleam and wave; And oh, these battles, they last so long From babyhood to the grave. The battles are not to bo avoided, but won. They are inevitable, and their result depends on the training, preparation and spiritual desire of the soldier who is to fight them. They are never won by him who enters the fight wavering as to which side he shall take. Such a one is whipped already, and should be. But they are won by those who battle under the white banner of love and right eousness, for such struggle valiantly and know no such thing as retreat or surrender. They realize that "the battle Is the Lord's;" all they have to do is to do their duty, and the vic tory is won. "It is," as John Fiske says, "not always by avoiding evil; it is rather by grappling with it and conquering it that character is strengthened and life enriched." It would seem that of all the weak soldiers in the army of wrong, liars and libertines should bo classed first, and the libertine weakest of all, for his infamy necessarily includes lying. He wallows in tho serpent's slime; he soothes with flattery, de ceives with hypocrisy, and murders with the poisonous venom of the "snake In the grass." He is lowest d6wn in the scale of human beings because he believes in tho truth of the serpent's most seductive lies that there is happiness - to be found in the most unspeakably dark and infamous sins; in other words, the more despicable the sin, tho greater its delights. He not only acts wrong; but thinks wrong, which accounts for his actions. All he sees is im pure and corrupt, being so himself. As the Apostle says, "To the pure all tilings are pure; but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and con science is defiled." Such a one has surrendered; he is In the camp of the enemy. Let him who is debating as to whether he shall .follow the trail of the serpent or tho straight and narrow road which leadeth unto life, ponder these words from Pro verbs. : "A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. - "He winketh with his eye, he speaketh with his feet, ho teacheth with his fingers; "Frowardness In his heart; he devJseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly, suddenly shall he be broken without remedy." "Blesfcd are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." THE BREWERS ASSAIL BIMiY SUNDAY Kansas City Star, May 2, 1916. Literature attacking Billy Sunday, inclosed in wrappers found to have been printed on the addressograph belonging to the Commercial club, was acknowledged yesterday after noon to have emanated from the Liberal Association. The acknowledgement came in the form of a statement issued by the directors of the Commercial club af ter a meeting to investigate charges that a clud director was responsible for the folders. Attached to the state- WhatWod dWeDoWrfhoufSixiar?! iflHHflVK&KllfifJHiMKVfHBMfrMsflflM t ;m iSTHBBiMtaMMBTHTMIKBBK3fiMfWMffllPlBBjI fifcMB wm: '' ijMM'mfm We arc so used to sugar that we aro likely to for get to givo It Its proporly Important place. Right now If somebody asked you what sugar was good for you'd probably say Ohl to put In coffee and tea and for making can dles and desserts." That's it wo all think of sugar as & sweetener and over look Its value as a food. The chemists classify sugar aa a hydrocarbon that name may or may not be Interest ing to us, but what is Interesting is their statement that it has, as a hydrocarbon, equal food value with the starchy foods and by digestion largely adds to the fatty tissues of tho body. Why do we cat sugar anyway? Tour first answer might be: "Because it Is sweet and tastes good." Of itself the answer would be correct, but tho moro Important fact Is that tho body craves sugar because it needs It. And when the body craves something it gives us an ap petite for it So primarily that's why wo like sugar and things made with sugar and not just because they are sweet. In view of the fact that sugar has gone up so tremendously of late theso facts f&tt&t try ArtcAn ijtjpa. T'KF&CZZG CCZ&FZ7Y CXZZZZ 22ZZ2Z. ZZOW FCnZflfZ CS2212T GTZjOWS' are interesting because we find that in stead of tho luxury sugar having gone up It is the FOOD sugar that has raised Its prico. Yet even though the price is up wo have to have our sweet food Just tho same. Certainly the makers of that delicious bovcrago Coca-Cola must have dis covered that sugar is up, because one of tho principal ingredients in making Coca Cola syrup is fine cane sugar. Think of itl they use an average of 80 tons of sugar a day about 4 carloads. But un like many manufacturers that company has itself borne the raise and bo you and 1 pay Just tho same today for our bottle or glass of Coca-Cola that we've always paid. Incidentally, this phase of tho sit uation is a good reminder of the benefits one gets from drinking a bever age as pure and good as Coca-Cola. Not only do wo please our palates and derive wholesomo refreshment from tho drink but we also givo our systems that bit of sugar sweetness that they crave and which la necessary to health and tissues. Is it any won der then that Coca-Coin, is so popular and so universally drunk that it has been called "the drink the nation drinks" IIP ment was an affirmation signed by three brewery agents, Albert P. Snaar. Oscar P. Doerr and George Schneider, In which they said, they supplied tho wrappers. Discussed Placing the Blame The statement declared that Spaar, branch manager of the Val Blatz Brewing company, and Doerr, manager for the Anheuser-Busch Brewing association, were members of the Commercial club and had the privilege of using the addressograph. Schneider is manager of the Schlitz Brewing Company's branch. They signed tho affirmation as a "Committee for the Liberal Associa tion," which has enlisted as members practically all saloon proprietors, as well as brewers in the city. There are also on the membership rolls other' business men who are against prohibition. It was authoritatively said yester day that the session of the club di rectors was not exactly harmonious, but no club official would be quoted on the subject. There was a discus sion as to where the blame should be placed. That question is said to have precipitated a row. The wrangle resulting from allow ing members to use the addresso graph caused the directors to enact a rule forbidding its use by members unless a copy .of the mailing matter first be placed on file with the gen eral secretary, subject to the direct ors' discretion in granting or deny ing the request. Liquor Men Dodgo Explanation Members of the committee repre senting the liquor interests were re luctant to talk of the case. Spaar referred a reporter to F. V. Kander, an attorney, for information regard- ing the association's officers. Mr. Kander said he had no connection with tho association. Conrad H. Mann, secretary and treasurer of the Kansas City Brew- eries Company, refused to give Mr. Kander's official capacity or name the officers of the association. TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE ONE RIGHT The killing of non-combatants at sea by submarines Is an inexcusable crime. But so also would be a war over the matter. When unreasoning war passion shall have subsided, the memory of helpless innocents slaugh tered on the sea will shame the Ger man people, in spite of the specious pleas now urged in defense. No war on the part of the United States is needed to accomplish that result, while it would remove whatever re-r straining influence neutrality may confer. President Wilson took the proper course when, after the Lusir tania slaughter, he said that there Is such a thing as being "too proud to fight." His greatest blunder was' abandonments that position. Th Public. m i ' .Ai cry