72 THE LURE OF THE LAND 



were impossible for them to secure the means where- 

 with this craving could be satisfied, this beastly ra- 

 pacity sated, it would not be long before the normal 

 state of existence would be restored. The craving for 

 alcoholic drinks of this kind is a habit, which, like 

 every other habit, may be broken, although it may 

 seem that life itself is hanging in the balance when an 

 attempt is made to overcome one so strong, 



PBOHIBITION TO BE EFFECTIVE MUST BE NATION WIDE. 



In order, however, to secure immunity from this 

 curse, prohibition must be wider than the county or 

 the state. It must be nation wide, it must be world 

 wide. I have been long coming to this opinion. In 

 my earlier days I consoled myself with the thought that 

 I was not my brother's keeper. Further, I thought 

 that when a man had reached man's estate it was none 

 of my business what he ate or drank, what kind of 

 clothes he wore, what church he belonged to, what party 

 yoke he wore, or what business he engaged in. Not 

 being a teetotaler, I naturally resented any action which 

 would dictate to me what I should serve at a dinner 

 given my friends, or what I should eat or drink at a 

 dinner given me by my friends. Never having been a 

 user of intoxicating liquors of any kind between meals, 

 I thought that the table, like a man's house, was his 

 castle. I did not forget, however, the attitude of St. 

 Paul in regard to the eating of meat, when he said: 

 " If meat make my brother to offend I will eat no flesh 

 while the world standeth." And so slowly I have been 

 driven, like Mead at Gettysburg, to Cemetery Hill, 

 where I have taken my stand against the enemy. 



To me it seems only a small sacrifice to make to give 

 up my wines at dinners for the sake of the benefit which 



