Nov. 15 1911 



T®m^i 



THE BREWERS INDUSTRY OFFICIALLY REC- 

 OGNIZED; SEE PAGE 544, SEPT. 1, AND 

 PAGE 610, OCT. 1. 



In spite of the tremendous protests from 

 all parts of our land. Secretary Wilson 

 pushed ahead and delivered his address. 

 As we go to press the papers are full of it, 

 and we have room for only the following ex- 

 tracts from quite a lengthy article in the 

 Farmer and Stockman, of Des Moines, la. 



Notwithstanding the protests of thousands upon 

 thousands of Christian men and women. Secretary 

 James Wilson, of the Department of Agriculture, 

 has accepted tlie honorary presidency of the Brew- 

 ers" National Association, has delivered an address 

 at the international convention in session in Chi- 

 cago, and is hobnobbing with men (to quote the 

 resolution of protest adopted by the Ministerial As- 

 sociation of Des Moines, Iowa): ■■\\'hose business 

 debases morals, corrupts men and women, and robs 

 children of the parental protection .which is their 

 due." Secretary Wilson has persisted in taking 

 this action against the advice of personal friends 

 and leading church-workers throughout the entire 

 country, regardless of denominationalism. Nor 

 did they contine their attention solely to the emi- 

 nent Secretary of A griciUtuie, for there is a general 

 belief that the real culprit is President Taft. and 

 that the real reason of Secretary Wilson's actions 

 is. as one Chicago pastor explained to his congrega- 

 tion in the course of his sermon. " a play on the 

 part of the administration for the support of the 

 brewers." 



.Secretary Wilson is thus left stranded high and 

 dry without even the tentative noncommittal de- 

 fense which he has attempted to foist upon the pub- 

 lic in explanation of an action which he. as a prod- 

 uct of a good old Scotch Covenanter family, and 

 himself a prominent member of the Presbyterian 

 Church, must in his heart of hearts have realized 

 from the very beginning was not only an official 

 recognition of a pernicious business which traffics 

 in human souls, but an aflfront to decency and a 

 setback to good government. 



May God be praised for the clean and 

 high moral tone of the agricultural press of 

 our land. 



TEMPERANCE, RELIGION, ETC. 



I like Gleanings first rate. It is a good bee- 

 journal, and helps me in some ways. I can see the 

 difTerent ideas bee-keepers have: but I don't think 

 there is much sense iu Our Homes and the temper- 

 ance page. It will only make more fools in this 

 this world. Your journal should be free from poli- 

 tics, religion, and temperance, so everybody could 

 read it. "wet" or "dry," Jew, Christian, or Turk. 

 Kxcuse me, I am an old German, without an Eng- 

 lish education, and have probably other ideas than 

 yours. .Still, it won't hurt you to know what folks 

 from a not free country think of vour free cnuntry. 



Conneaut, • >., Sept. 18. C. KL.\BrHN. 



Thank you, my good German friend, for 

 your outspoken and honest criticism. My 

 impression is that you have not been in our 

 country long enough to get acquainted with 

 our good i)eople — esjiecially our Christian 

 people. We may differ in our idea of reli- 

 gion; but, friend K., I think all humanity 

 and all nations love honesty and truth. If 

 what you have seen of religion has not 

 meant an honest and square deal, I am 

 afraid you have not seen the genuine thing. 

 And in regard to temperance, if you will 

 visit our saloons, especially those in the 

 great cities, where gambling and crime and 

 the ruin of our boys and girls are going on, 

 T think you will agree with the good people 



707 



who are united just now to put a stop to 

 these evils. It certainly is a grand thing 

 to live in a free country; but the kind of 

 freedom that you would permit, and allow 

 our just and righteous laws to be trampled 

 under foot, is certainly not the kind you 

 would indorse; and I am sure, my good 

 friend, that you yourself would not want to 

 live in a country where there is no law, or 

 where the laws are not enforced. 



If you and I were next-door neighbors, we 

 should be excellent friends, even though we 

 might disagree in some things. With the 

 chickens and gardening and bees we could 

 find a common ground where we would 

 think alike. 



To illustrate how differently people look 

 at things I will give you a glimpse of anoth- 

 er letter that was put into my hands togeth- 

 er with yours. I confess it seems a little 

 extravagant, and I should not have used it 

 for print had it not been to show the con- 

 trast. 



Mr. Root: — Your journal has been both helpful 

 and interesting, and I can hardly wait till it comes. 

 I like to read Our Homes, Temperance, and Travels. 

 Your views are as nearly correct as they could be 

 for a human being. Write more on the above sub- 

 jects. You will not tire good people, and it doesn't 

 make any diflference if sorry people do get tired of 

 them. Just keep the good work going, and may 

 God give you ample reward. I wish there were 

 10,000 men like you in our country. Long live A. I. 

 Root. 



New Light, La., Oct. 11. Carl Lewi.s. 



May I say just a word to our dear friends 

 who will be likely, as I know by experience, 

 to write to our friend who wrote the first let- 

 ter"? Whatever you say to him, tiear broth- 

 ers and sisters, please keep in mind he is a 

 comparative stranger in our land. He is a 

 guest of ours, and should be treated with 

 courtesy and respect, no matter if he differs 

 widely from some of us. Remember what 

 I said a little while back about entertaining 

 angels unaware. 



A TEMPERANCE TALK AMD SOME WISE SUGGESTIONS 



BY THE EDITOR OF THE AMERICAN 



BEE JOURNAL. 



Dear Bro. Root: — I have read with a great deal 

 of interest your last "sermon," on pages -110 and 411. 

 July 1. I notice that .vou have put it in pamphlet 

 form, and will send copies for distribution. You 

 might send me 25 copies, and I will try to place 

 them where they will do some good. 



For a long time I have been thinking that the 

 temperance women of our countr.v might do a great 

 deal more toward the overthrow of the liquor-traf- 

 fic if they would clip out from the newspapers all 

 items that give the results of drink. There are a 

 great many accounts of such results, and many 

 cases where husbands abuse their wives and fam- 

 ilies, etc. Now, my idea would be to have the 

 women cut out these items and mail them to the 

 wives of the saloon-keepers and brewers, calling 

 their attention to the results of the business their 

 husbands are in, and asking them to try to per- 

 suade them to get out of such a dainnable business. 

 Of course, these letters should be written in a sis- 

 terlay way, and not be in the least oflensive. They 

 must not be too strong, so as to anger. I am per- 

 suaded that, by the time Mrs. "Brewer" Busch be- 

 gins to get about 500 such letters her " crown of dia- 

 monds " would rest rather uneasy on her head. I 

 believe that wives of the saloon-keepers and brew- 

 ers would soon have no rest themselves, and cer- 



