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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



iiGl 



Our Homes 



By A. I. Root 



Whatsoever a man soweth. that shall he also reap. 

 —Gal. 6 : 7. 



From a recent number of the Sunday 

 School Times I clip the following: 



WHAT WE SEKD CHINA. 



The Great Northern Steamship Minnesota at Se- 

 attle. June 2. on the sailins-day. carried to ,Iapan 

 and China twenty millions of cigarettes and a little 

 group of returning missionaries. One of the awful 

 demoralizing influences to-day in China is forced 

 (ui them by the makers of the many brands of cigar- 

 ettes, who come from Christian lands, each vying 

 with the other in a ruinous trade. 



Twenty million cigarettes! and on the 

 same ship with them a " little group " of re- 

 turning missionaries; and our United States 

 is permitting this thing to go on. What 

 does it mean? AVe are making great prog- 

 ress — yes, wonderful strides — in science 

 and art, and recently along the lines of pro- 

 tecting the health and well-being of our 

 people. The Food Commission is doing a 

 wonderful work in demanding that all kinds 

 of eatables to be found in our groceries shall 

 not only be honest in weight and measure 

 but free from adulterants — especially adul- 

 terants that are harmful to the purchaser. 

 Our babies are having better milk than they 

 ever had before, and thousands of little 

 lives are being saved, and their little aches 

 and pains are being banished. May God be 

 praised for what has been done along this 

 line. Yes, the honey that is now being pro- 

 duced and sold, not only every day in the 

 year, but sold in almost every corner gro- 

 cery, is pure honey — no more adulterations 

 with glucose. Tliank (Jod for thcd. Our 

 butter and cheese (and canned meats) are 

 more healthful and wholesome than ever 

 before. There is some grumbling, it is true, 

 because they cost more money on account of 

 the strict laws passed by several States and 

 by the general government of the United 

 States; iSut where //»»?an life is being im- 

 periled we can well afford to p«^ a little 

 more money. As a result of the teachings 

 of Terry, Fletcher, and others, we are pre- 

 venting sickness, pain, and death, and do- 

 ing it. too, without the use of drugs and 

 powerful medicines. Once more may God 

 be praised that we seem to be getting out of 

 the darkness of ignorance and superstition 

 andJnto the glorious light of true science 

 and a better understanding of (Jod's laws. 



Now, notwithstanding all these great re- 

 forms, our government is pushing (or is 

 permiding the pushing of) the hellish ci- 

 garette traffic into " heathen " Cliina and 

 Japan. Hold on a bit! It will hardly do to 

 put .Japan side by side witli China; and, by 

 the way, why does not Japan, with the won- 

 derful progress she is making, and the exam- 

 ple she sets other nations in sanitary mat- 

 ters, bar out American cigarettes? God 

 knows how I dislike the very thought of 



-war; but if nothing but war will stop this 

 awful traffic, I should like to see Japan wage 

 war on the I'nited States. More than that, 

 I should rejoice to see her come out victorious. 

 Yes, I would go still further. I would see 

 her trample the stars and stripes under foot, 

 until our people will bestir themselves and 

 hoist a "stainless flag."* Let us look at it 

 again. Twenty million cigarettes on the 

 same boat that carried missionaries to China 

 and Japan. By the way, the Sunday School 

 Times took the clipping I have quoted from 

 the Christian Hercdd. At first I "thought 

 it might be a mistake. About a year ago I 

 gave you an extract from a letter written by 

 a good woman who was a missionary in 

 China. She told us how the missionaries, 

 when they converted Chinese, tried to stop 

 the sale of cigarettes, especially their sale to 

 little children in a certain town in China. 

 But the American Tobacco Co. succeeded 

 in stopping the missionaries on the plea 

 that they were "interfering with trade and 

 commerce in China. ' ' They even compelled 

 the Chinese officials of tliat town to take 

 down printed notices that had been put up, 

 cautioning those poor ignorant people of 

 the dangers of the American cigarette. 



I once before asked the question, "How 

 many of the legal voters here in our own 

 country are in favor of the cigarette busi- 

 ness?" I said not one in ten; but after my 

 estimate I received several letters to the ef- 

 fect that there might be a great deal larger 

 proportion in favor of the cigarette traffic; 

 but if it were made a matter of local option, 

 I feel sure the small towns and country pre- 

 cincts would vote out the traffic by a tre- 

 mendous majority. How is it, then, that 

 we fail year after year — that is, so many 

 of the States fail? Thank (iod, there are a 

 few States that enforce a severe penalty 

 against the sale or use of cigarettes. It is 

 because the rich manufacturers make and 

 enforce our laws in spite of the protests of 

 the people. May (Sod hasten the day when 

 the mothers of our land can have a chance 

 to vote on tobacco and whisky, if nothing 

 more. 



Once more, let me ask why it is that, with 

 all the rigid investigation into every thing 

 that concerns the health of our people, ci- 

 garettes, toVjacco, and whisky are passed by 

 and overlooked? I do not exactly know 

 who is responsible for it; but there seems to 

 be a general consent among our officials 

 who stand away up in the affairs of govern- 

 ment, that the'liquor business or any thing 

 connected with it must not be touched, on 

 the ground that it would "interfere with 

 trade and commerce." It lias been suggest- 

 ed that even the President of the United 

 States is not permitted by those round about 

 him to say a word in his" annual message in 

 regard to the traffic in the baleful thing that 

 amounts to more in a year than our schools, 



* In olden time God permitted his chosen people 

 to be taken captive to Habylon because his holy 

 laws were set aside by that nation. In the same 

 way our nation will surely lose its standing and 

 power unless these terrible sins and crimes are put 

 down. 



