928 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15, 



through their well-written articles, there are 

 hordes of practical women patiently working 

 away in silence who are in our ranks, and mak- 

 ing a success of bee-keeping. 



These aie but a few thoughts, briefly touch- 

 ed upon, and we now leave it with the wiser 

 ones to suggest further why we should or should 

 not enter into this field of labor to possess it. 



THE LIftTJOR-TRAFFIC. 



SHALL THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PUSH 



THE LIQUOR-TKADE INTO HEATHEN LANDS 



AS IT WOULD ANY PRAISEWORTHY AND 



LAUDABLE INDUSTRY ? 



Prove all things; liold fast to that which is good. 



Very few of my " sermons," as my friends are 

 pleased to call them, have called forth more 

 comment than the one with the above text: and 

 the fact that every letter received thus far, 

 whether on one side of the question or the other, 

 has been characterized by such perfect fairness 

 and kind Christian courtesy, that I am compell- 

 ed to say from the bottom of my heart, " May 

 the Lord be praised that we have so many good 

 and pure men in our land so ready to hold the 

 fort against the stream of iniquity that seems 

 destined to keep rushing in against us." We 

 have space for only two of these letters; and 

 after these two, I think it will be best if the 

 other good friends will excuse us for dropping 

 the matter for the present. 



Friend Root:— I have just read "Ourselves 

 and Our Neighbors" for November, and am 

 much interested. Doubtless you will receive 

 numerous comments thereon, and T am minded 

 to have my say among the rest. I know it is 

 hard for all to see things alike, and I often say, 

 let a man have what views he will on religion, 

 politics, or what not, so long as he is honest and 

 seeks to be intelligent in his advocacy. I must 

 respect them, howsoever contrary they may be 

 to my own. 



They are few whose opinions command so 

 great respect from me as your own, all because 

 of their simple, charitable, yet, withal, earnest 

 advocacy ; and it is this, above all else, that 

 makes me wish that you. and all like you, with 

 your mighty powers for good, might be active 

 politicians in the true and best sense of the 

 word. 



You confess your ignorance of political and 

 governmental aflairs, and express a wish to be- 

 come better informed, in all of which you again 

 command my highest esteem. They only can 

 be saved who feel their need of salvation. 

 Nevertheless. " I have somewhat to say unto 

 you." 



You hint at Christian duties regarding citi- 

 zenship; yon express your patriotisnL and you 

 declare your faith in God for the righting of 

 governmental wrongs; yet, after the mostcai'e- 

 ful reading, I fail to learn from your sermon 

 (I use this word because of its adaptability) 

 whether, in your opinion, I ought, on next 

 Tuesday, to vote the Republican, the Democrat- 

 ic, the People's party, or the Prohibition ticket, 

 in order to advance Christ's kingdom in tiiis 

 glorious land of ours. We take pride in the 

 fact that we are a self-governing people; yet, 

 if I am not mistaken, there is only one little 

 moment in the whole year that you and I exer- 

 cise our kingly prerogative. We castour ballots, 



and thereby exercise our divinely imposed duty 

 of self-government. For another whole year 

 we are utterly shorn of personal authority ; yet 

 we are responsible to both God and man for 

 all the consequences of our deJeyotoZ power. I 

 feel that, in casting my ballot, I have a grave 

 responsibility resting on me. I earnestly desire 

 to cast it on God's side, effectively if lean, but, 

 if not, then as my earnest protest against the 

 Devil's side. 



We claim our land as the Christian's land. 

 Can there, then, be any better way of preaching 

 Christ Jesus than in stirring up God's people to 

 a proper sense of their duty to hold our land for 

 Christ, and to oust the Devil and all his hellish 

 crew? Are Christians who pray "Thy kingdom 

 come " in the line of duty and consistency when 

 they delegate their kingly powerof governing to 

 parties and politicians who have been and are 

 turning over our land to Satan by legalizing 

 and licensing a traffic that is one of the chief, if 

 not the greatest of obstacles to Christian prog- 

 ress? I believe God never does any thing for us 

 that we can and ought to do for ourselves. 

 With all reverence for Almighty Power. I am 

 free to declare he can do nothing for an indif- 

 ferent, lazy people, no matter how many nice 

 prayers they may say. 



I believe the evils of intemperance will be 

 promptly banished from our land when God's 

 people set about doing that for which they 

 pray. But people can not be forced into the 

 right way. Such as you, with your charitable 

 zeal, are called of God to persuade men to come 

 up, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. 



Now. friend Root, as I said before. I am en- 

 tirely ignorant as to your political affiliations. 

 For aught I know you may be as earnest a 

 Prohibitionist as myself; but if so I heartily 

 wish and pray that you may be led to make it a 

 practical part of your Christian doctrine and 

 teaching. J. M. Brown. 



Wheelersburg, O., Nov. 3. 



Mr. A. I. Root: — After reading, on page 800, 

 what you say when you " felt desperate," I 

 would suggest that you re-read in a back num- 

 ber your own sermon on the text: "Not by 

 migVit nor by power, but by my Spirit." In 

 Russia it is possible that the Czar, by the exer- 

 cise of absolute power, might inaugurate and 

 carry forward a reform that was not approved 

 by a majority of the people; but in this country 

 the government is merely the agent or the ser- 

 vant of the people, and is utterly powerless to 

 enforce reforms not approved by a majority of 

 the people. The " moonshiner " who murders a 

 revenue ot'ticer is held for trial where the crime 

 is committed, and is usually tried and acquitted 

 by a jury of his friends. The enforcement of 

 law in any community depends largely upon 

 the people in the community. Before the ad- 

 vent of "local option" a saloon could not live 

 in Oberlin, while in other towns the saloon 

 thrives in open defiance of law. 



Educate, elevate, reform the people, and the 

 government will be reformed. It is to be re- 

 gretted that so many reformers are so careless in 

 handling the truth. This statement, that the 

 government "runs every distillery just as much 

 as it runs the postoffice," may fairly be char- 

 acterized as a falsehood. It is just as fair and 

 just as truthful to say that the State govern- 

 ment runs your factoi'y and market garden. At 

 certain times an officer calls on you to list your 

 property for taxation; and as a part of the ma- 

 chinery required to secure the tax n)i irhisky, a 

 government officer is in constant attendance 

 at the distillery. A " government distillery " is 

 a distillery that pays, according to law, the 

 taxes levied by the government. God is cer- 

 tainly notion the side of the distillery and sa- 



