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The Commoner
OCTOBER, 1921
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World-wide Prohibition
(By William Jennings Bryan, before the
Council of the Alliance of the' Reformed
Churches, Pittsburgh, Pa,, September 21, 1921.)
Mr. Moderator, Members of the Council, Ladies
and Gentlemen: - ;
I esteem it a rare privilege to be permitted to
present a great cause to this religious body,
representing so many branches of the Christian
Church from all parts of the world. World pro
hibition is a question in -which the Church must
naturally take the leadership; every question
that affects human "welfare must ultimately
come under the consideration of the Ghurch.
The Church is the hope of the world. In the
closing verses of the last chapter of Matthew
Christ four times used the word "all" the till
inclusive word of our language. And this was
after his crucifixion; it was after His resurrec
tion; it was His final word. Ho told His follow
ers that all power had been given into His hands
not SOME power, but ALL power in heaven
and in earth. He sent them out to make disciples
of all nations; not of some nations, but of ALL
nations. Ho instructed, them to teach ALL the
things that He had commanded. And he con
cluded with that wonderful promise, "Lo, I am
with you ALWAYS, even unto the end of the
world."
No other organization has ever had such a
commissionback of it. Here is a gospel intended
for every 'human being; here is a code of morals
that is to'endure for all time; hero is a philos
ophy of life that fits into ever human need;
and back of these is ALL POWER IN HEAVEN
AND IN EARTH. God has given into the keep
ing of HiB Church not only A solution, but THE
ONLY solution of every problem that can vex a
human heart or perplex a world. - Every prob
lem that is an important one, that affects human
welfare, human society, and human progress,
must receive the attention of the Christian
Church. Intoxicating liquor presents one of "the
great problems.
The Church's position on his subject . rests
upon facts that cannot be disputed. Let me lay
before you a few of the facts that no one can
attack- Eirst, God never made a human being
who, in a normal state, needed alcohol. Alcohol
is not a necessity for the human race. God pro
vided the necessary things; alcohol is not a na
tural product, it is man's product.
Second, God never made a man strong enough
tp begin the use of alcohol, as a beverage, with
certainty that he would not become its victim.
Every drunkard who has gone down to a dis
graced grave has passed through a period of con
fidence when he boasted that -he could drink
When he wanted to and leave it alone when he
wanted to; but he overestimated his strength
and fell.
Third, God -never fixed in a human life a point
or age, AFTER which one could drink alcohol
without danger All through the world and all
through history we find illustrations of the al
coholic 'appetite taking hold of people aH the
way from youth to tlue most advanced age. The
Bible tells us that, when Noah came out of the
ark, he planted a vineyard, and drank of the
wine and was drunken. His sons took a gar
ment and, walking backward that they might
not see their father's nakedness, spread the gar
ment over him as he lay drunk in his tent. I
remind you, friends, that it was not what they
call strong drink that made Noah drunk, it was
WINE, and wine from his own vineyard as well.
There are people today who tell us that there is
no harm in wine, and some add beer to wine.
Let them not deqeive you; wine became a
mocker, not when' prohibition began to bo
agitated, but back when Solomon gave utter
ance to his wisdom, and 'beer is as bad as wine.
There is; nothing intoxicating that is not danger
ous to the human being.
Here, my friends, are three propositions. I
have stated them without limitation, without
mental reservation. They apply to every human
being now living; they have applied to every
human being who ever Jived, and they will apply
to all iflxo may be born hereafter. We sometimes
find statements that have to be confined to
groups or to sections, but here are three state
ments upon which the advocates of prohibition
build their cause, that have neither latitude nor
longitude, and they have no historical limitation.
I repeat them before t proceed to the next:
First, that God never inade a human being wbp,
"when normal, needed Alcohol. Second, that He
never made a human being strong enough to
commence its use and be certain that he would
hot bo one if its victims And third, that there ,1s
no age in a human life after which It Is safe
to begin. And to these three that apply to ALL
time and to ALL peoplo everywhere, I add three
that apply to all Christians now and always.
First, a Christian is a Christian because ho
has given his life in pledge ot service to God
and to Christ. What right has such a ono to
take into his body that which ho knows will Im
pair his capacity for service and may destroy
even his desire to serve? ' '
In the second place, what money has any
Christian that he can afford to spend fbr intoxi
cating liquor? We go down on our knocs at
morning and pray to the Heavenly Father. "Thy
kingdom come;" what right have we to riso from
our knees and spend for intoxicating liquor
money that wo can spare to hasten the coining
o.f God's kingdom on earth? What monoy has
a Christian to spare for intoxicating liquor,
when there are so many noble causes that de
mand every dollar that a Christian has'to jparo?
And third what right has a Christian' ' to
throw the influence of "his example on the' side
of a habit that haa' brought millions to destruc
tion? Christians,' we will have enough to-'an-"swer
for whon we stand before the judgment 'bar
of God Without having a lost soul arise and
testify that it Was a Christian's example that led
him into a habit that caused his ruin. If we
havo no other reason for hot drinking, this, is
enough;1" that no young man shall ever be led
astray by our use of intoxicants. Paul eays,
"If meat maketh my brother to offend, I shall
eat no. meat while the world standeth."' What
Christfan can 'be more1 interested in the satisfy
ing of 'an appetite for drink than in helping his
brother? If a Christian only drinks a little, it
will be a very little sacrifice to quit drinking
entirely, that his example may be on the-Tight
side- If any Christian drinks so much that it
will be a real sacrifice to stop, then he ought
to stop for 'his own sake and for the1 welfare
of his family.
Now, my friends, I havo stilted thesla things
as the basis fdr' dur plea for total 'abstinence.
They axe the foundation of our propaganda, for
unless wpr believe that ' alcohol to unnecessary
and haTniful4 wo can make no progress with our
cause. 1 have shown you that It is unnecessary
and I have shown you that it is harmful;' be
cause it is unnecessary and harmful, We must
teach and preach total abstinence.
I might add that we in thiB country should
be quite charitable toward those in other Coun
tries who have not yet reached the same ad
vanced position on the drink question' that 'we
have. We recollect that it took bur churches
'some time to get In line on this subject. The
first temperance society, for Instance, organized
in this country was not built upon a total absti
nence pledge. Thp members only agredd not' to
get drunk more than once a week, a very mod
erate limitation. And you may be interested to
know that our churches when they began were
not violently radical.. I learned from a Congre
gationalism for Instance, that something over a
hundred years ago there was a Congregational
meeting a meeting of ministers, in Connecticut.
They met in the morning, 'and, when they ad
journed for lunch, so many of them drank to ox-
cess that they could not reassemble in the after
noon, i Lyman Beecher, the father- of . Henry
Ward Beecher was so improssed and distressed
that he ! prepared-and delivered six great ad
dresses on the subject. When I read them three
years ago, J found in them practicably every
argument that has been made since in favor .of
total abstinence and prohibition. Those Ad
dresses were the beginning of an awakpninff'in
$Jew England. They resulted in the organization
of a national temperance society. Since that
time the Cpngregational. Church, with. Increas
ing emphasis, has .been making a fight against
alcohol; That is one of our great churches, and
its activity began only a little over one hundred
years ago. But I would not single out one
church; I have other Jllustratiqns. I certainly
would not leave the impression hat just one
church Tiad been plow to start. T-he fact is, they
have all been slqw.
Take the Methodist Church. I suppose ;the
Methodist Church, north and south, has fur
nished more active workers for prohibition than
any other church organization, and yet they only
started a little over ono hundred years ago, and
their first resolution was not startling. It was
that no Methodist preacher should be pecuniar
ily interested in the liquor traffic. And they
couid not pass that at that conference either. I
suppose, some of those Methodist preachers
thought It interfered with their "Personal lib
erty," I think it was at the second conference
that It passed.
Now; that Vraa tho Methodist Church, See
how much It has improved alnco then! But 1
think I- ought to toll you that tho Presbyterians
did not start any too soori, and they did not
start with a rush. I am informed that the first
resolution on this subjoct over introduced in the
Presbyterian General Assembly was tho very
mild statement that Presbyterian preachers
should not got drunk in public. Now sco how
far wo havo travollod since then. Tho Prcaby
torian Church has been ono of the bulwarks of
prohibition in the 0ght that has recently culmin
ated in this country. ; u
Well, as 1 wont along I gathered rtofr illus
trations; when I reached Hattlesbur& WfttatsjHnfilf
'and told of tho Congregationalisms, the MpjLhp
d'sts and thq Presbyterians, a Bnmfst camo ,up
and expressed some disappointment that 1 h'tul
not montioued tho Baptist Church. I aaftt,
"Give mo an illustration of your' churcji's
change, and I will mention It." "Vfetf," he saluY
"wo havo an old country church, not far from
Hattie8burg; they wore celebrating an anniver
sary not long ago, and road tho minutes of some
of the earlier meetings. They found, n nieetfng
held before tho war, the minutos (f which jslfpv
a resolution like thiN passed: 'Resolved, that
tho members of thd1 church shQulcfno); Roll In
toxicating liquor on the ground duiihg'sdryice!;"
' Hero ' are four gr'eat churches, ."whch , liayo
been very active in cooperating against; trjo
saloorf in these later years, whoso' activity began
only about onohundrod years ago. ,''r " !
I come' next to legislative action. Legisla
tive action depends upon tho arguments In'fyj.
vor of total abstinence; prohibition, lawacan
not live, except as they have back of4 them a
sentiment in favor of total abstinence;. It. it
cannot be shown thOjt the uso of alcoholic "bev
erages is both unnecessary and ha'rmful, and,
therefore, unwise, Wo cannot defend legislative
provisions intendod to, restrain or restrict jtho
sate of 'such beverages. It it could bp. shown
that' alcoholic beverages are necessary, we vo.uld
no more legislate against them, than , against
moat and vegetables; and even H it could be
shown'" that thoy ate unnecessary .but '.arejnot
harmful, we would not want to prevent heir
salp. We first lay 'the foundation in 'the argu
ments that support btal abstinence, and ,thon
proceed' to matters of ( legislation. .
, Why is it that legislation has come to support
total abstinence Let mo explain. It is be
cause representative . government has extended
its reign throughout the .world. If we did not
haVe representative government the pepple
would not u feel responsible for what is dono.
But today, ""throughout the civilized world, wo
have licenses; np liquor can bo sold in any im
portant nation except under license, and licenses
.are granted by law. Therefore, those who make
the law are responsible for the licenses. The
reason Why the license system has been abol
ished in this country is that the conscience .of
me;n would npt allow, them to share responsibil
ity for the existence of the salqon. and ,for that
which the saloon was known to do. Men (have
become conscious of tho' fact that when ', they
vote for license they are just as" much partners
in the saloon as if they furnished the" Hqjicvr
sold, or fctood behlnq the bar. The man who
votes for a license, and by his "vote enables tfte
saloon to exist, is just as much a partner jn .the
business as the man who puts ' his 'name above
the -door and furnishes tho capital Jhat runs' the
saloon; just as much a partner in th6 business ha
the distillery or brewery that makea the; stuff
and makes money sellin'g the stuff, arid h'e has
less excuse. He can not even plead the' poor Ex
cuse that he did'it for monoy. Because Chris
tians refused to be1 partners with't)ie saloon the
cause of prohibition grew In this country. '
The satee cause that operated bere wilt oper
ate everywhere. ' You may resilaBurp4Jhat"no
sound principle that is established anywhere 1;qan
be confined to the place where it is estaoiiaJed.
God has4 put back o!f every truth ibe'samq Ir
resistible f orco that ' He puts behind the grow
ing crops.' We know that if we put a grain, of
wheat into thq ground and surround it with a
favorable environment, the germ of life will' as
sert itself; that tho Httlo roots will reach' dqwii
into the ground, and that tho slender bladq' .will
force its way rip Into tho air. Wo can' tell to a
day when thd ripened wheat can bp .taken 'from
the stalk. Why? "Because we! understand the
laws that are back of these things in tho ma
terial world, We know that the God yrho
planted men on His footstool provided for all
the wants of man, with lawr irresistible- and
constantly at work. Wo could not worship that
God as 'we do. if He had only proyided for'our
bodies and had failed -to provide for the tTiuhtph
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