370 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



A 



FEW days 

 ago the 

 e 1 sing 

 part of an old 

 h y ni 11 that I 

 think I heard 

 sung in my 

 childhood some 

 75 years ago, 

 came to mind. 

 It was like 

 this: 



"The heathen in 

 his blindness 

 Bows down to 

 wood and 

 stone.' 



OUR HOMES 



A. I. ROOT 



a 



Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel 

 to every creature. — Mark 16:15. 



Thou Shalt not kill. — Ex. 20:13. 



Shall not the .Judge of all the earth do right ? — 

 Gen. 18:25. 



During the years that have elapsed since 

 then, much has been done for the heathen, 

 especially in the line of our first text; and 

 these he"^athens we think of mostly as in 

 foreign lands. But, oh dear me! some 

 events of a recent date cause me to inquire 

 if there are not some heathens right here 

 in the United States that are afflicted with 

 a more awful "blindness" than even those 

 in the most remote parts of the face of the 

 globe. And sadder still, the heathenish 

 work that has been going on (so)ne of it 

 at least) has its origin away up near the 

 head of our government. What T have es- 

 pecially in mind just now is the decision of 

 Attorney-General Palmer when he declared 

 that "beer is a medicine." Is it possible 

 that he was ignorant of how this matter 

 has been thrashed out in years past, and de- 

 cisions reached by our physicians, and by 

 the Pharmacopeia of the United States, that 

 alcohol in its various forms is irorfic than 

 useless as a medicine. And then in the same 

 breath he suggests that real heer should be 

 made especially for sick people, so that 

 wlienever any "doctor in the United States 

 decides that his patient needs beer he 

 should give him a prescription. And then 

 followed the "blind" and "heathenish" 

 suggestion that to have it handy for "poor 

 suffering humanity," it might be sold in 

 our drugstores at the soft-drink stand. 



The question now comes up, Was Mr. 

 Palmer really {(jnorant of the work that 

 has been growing and spreading ever since 

 the Anti-Saloon League was started, and 

 even before that? Is it possible that it 

 was a surprise to him when a protest came 

 not only from the doctors but from the 

 drugstores'? And while I write, the whole 

 State of Ohio is made safe from this threat- 

 ened catastrophe by legislation that effectu- 

 ally cuts off any such work as selling real 

 strong bear to any individual who can per- 

 suade some doctor that beer — that is, the 

 old-fashioned beer— is the thing he needs 

 to make him well. 



I might add that Mr. Palmer furthermore 

 suggested that special breweries should go 

 to work and make beer for "sick folks"— 

 the very kind of beer that our whole nation 

 supposed was effectually ruled out. And, if 



.Tune, 1921 



I am right, while 

 I dictate these 

 words one or 

 more breweries 

 are viidcr iraji 

 to make beer 

 for sick people. 

 Did Mr. Palmer 

 really know no 

 better than to 

 make the above 

 ruling just be- 

 fore he stepped 

 out of office? 

 Or is it possible 

 that the great 

 breweries and 

 the liquor people, with millions of money, 

 had something to do in the way of biasing 

 his judgment? 



In these Home papers I have had some- 

 thing to say about the good farmers who 

 volunteered to give corn, free of charge, 

 that they grew last year by their hard 

 work. I think that at first I mentioned 

 they had contributed twenty millions of 

 bushels; but after the ball started rolling 

 the amount went up to thirty, forty, and 

 finally, fifty millions, and just now I do not 

 know how much more. Why did they do 

 it? My impression is that it came about 

 because there are a good many people in 

 this land of ours who begin to recognize 

 what the dear Savior said about laying up 

 treasures on earth where "thieves break 

 thru and steal. ' ') Well, it occurs to me 

 even in these latter times do still "break 

 thru and steal." Well, it occurs to me 

 that these farmers decided it woidd not be 

 a bad thing (when the price offered for 

 their corn did not pay the price of growing), 

 instead of holding it, to gice it to the mil- 

 lions of starving Chinese or to those starv- 

 ing in other lands. It was getting time to 

 prepare for another crop of corn. There is 

 no room for it in their corncribs. So, in- 

 stead of selling it at a ridiculous price, 

 they decided to invest it in treasures in 

 heaven where thieves do not break thru 

 and steal. And just when I began to worry 

 'about getting the corn over to the Chinese, 

 the railroads all came forward. Years ago 

 we used to hear it said that "corporations 

 have no souls." May the Lord be praised, 

 however, that we have corporations in these 

 latter times that do have souls; and I. think 

 that every railroad company in the United 

 States came forward and volunteered, in 

 consideration of the farmers giving their 

 corn, that they would carry it to the sea 

 coast free of charge. And the next thing 

 on the program was to get it across the 

 great water, where men, women, and chil- 

 dren are starving. Eight in this crisis our 

 good old Uncle Samuel concluded it was 

 about time for him to join in and also lay 

 up some treasures in heaven. By the way, 

 I wonder if the good farmers, railroad com- 

 panies, and others connected in this won- 



