If I Were Twenty-one, Why I Should Vote for Prohibition.

White Ribbon, Volume 30, Issue 365, 18 November 1925, Page 13

If I Were Twenty-one, Why I Should Vote for Prohibition.

SECOND PRIZE, roin earliest childhood, those of us who have been blessed with Ch'istian parents were taught in infancy that we were made in the imag* of Ood, and we are reminded of th* text Matthew 5:48 —“lie ye therefor perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." In infancy we were taught to keep ourselves clean and pure so that we illicit attain to that perfection of body and soul.

As soon as 1 was old enough, l was taken to the Band of Hope when* l ra> taught again that I must keep tn\ body clean and perfect, so that it mi ht be tit to present to my Maker. Now that l have grown older, and I am able to see and road for myself, 1 c.»n more fully understand and appreciate the wisdom of my parents, in training me early in the principles of Temperance. When young, and unable to reason for myself at the Hand of Hope, 1 was able to understand many of the practical object lessons and addresses given. At first, we just think of drink as something to be avoided, and we signed th* pledge because our leaders told us that it was not good for us to take strong drink.

Though there are a percentage who, in later life break their word given in childhood, there are a. gr* iter percentage, who, though perhaps rot taking any prominent pa it in Temperance w r ork. are kept sal** froi l the perils or drink for having once signed the pledge. If fot no other reason, 1 should out of gratitude to the training 1 had from my mother and the leaders of the Ha ui of Hope, take up the good work foi the cause and vote Prohibition. tut there are still other and gr« atcr reasons. In my opening remarks I said that we were made in th< image of God, and that we should ke p our bodie* perfect. This we cai not do if we are not prohibitionist . In this day, when there are le< urers a.nd doctors willing to insti ict us on the effects of alcohol on th human system, each one of us sh odd know r of the terrible effect of alcohol on any part of it. ,v;»en taken even moderately, it h a neither food or medicinal value but is simply a drug. The tests

made, prove it has no beneficial effects whatsoever, and that the moderate drinker is just as liable to suffer from complaints such as cirhossis of the liver, paralysis in the brain or body, and heart trouble, as the drunkard. Very often the moderate drinker s«*es no harm because he does drink moderately. Almost any one of us can claim a loved one or a friend amongst this class. Hence, as we w’ero told to he our brother’s k»*eper, again I must vote Prohibition.

The other class which to my mind is the saddest, the man with whom drink is a disease almost to be classed with cancer and consumption. The person who has been born with this hereditary taint in his or her blood, and bred in an environment almost hopeless for improvement, craves my greatest pity and sympathy. We feel whilst the open bar is at every corner, whilst drink can be brought for less than the price of a meal, and the trade are blazoning forth advice on drink being manly, etc., that these poor souls never having been taught otherwise, fall easy victims. Had there not been the open bar and the first glass, many of these poor souls would never have become derelicts to-day, and so again I must vote Prohibition.

Even I, at sixteen years of age cun cite two pitiful cases. Living opposite, a father cam** home drunk almost every night, so ill-treating his children that they had to take refuge with us. Another night my brother on his w r ay home saw' a mother with two ww children at the door of an hotel, pleading with her husband to come home. He, mad w'ith drink, struck her a blow' which knocked her and one baby to the ground. If these were the only two case*, again I must vote Prohibition.

To sum up, I must vote Prohibition, firstly, out of gratitude- gratitude to my parents and leaders who have carried on the fight for so long, and taught me the evil of strong drink. Secondly, I must vote Prohibition out of sympathy - sympathy for the men, women, and children, who suffer from the curse of alcohol. Thirdly, I must vote Prohibition from a sense of duty—duty to my fellow citizen who is too weak to help himself. Lastly, l must vote Prohibition in loving obedience to God’s command, that no one put a