ivilized
countries the sale of liquor is now so restricted that it cannot be
lawfully offered for sale without a license. As the license is necessary
to the existence of the saloon--as necessary as the liquor sold over the
bar--the Christian who voted for a license became as much a partner in
the business as the man who dispensed it, and he had even less excuse.
The manufacturer and the bartender could plead in extenuation that they
made money out of the business and money has led multitudes into sin.
For money many have been willing to steal; for money some have been
willing to murder; for money a few have been willing to sell their
country; for money one man was willing to betray the Saviour. The
Christian who voted for licenses had not even the poor excuse of those
who engaged in the business for mercenary reasons. As the consciences
became awakened, therefore, Christians, in increasing numbers, refused
to share responsibility for the saloon and what it did.

Science contributed largely to the final victory. People used to say
that drinking did not hurt if one did not drink too much. But no one
could define how much "too much" was. The invisible line between "just
enough" and "too much" is like the line of the horizon--it recedes as
you approach until it is lost in the darkness of the night.

Science proved that it is not immoderate drinking only, but
_any_ drinking that is harmful, and, therefore, that the real line is
that between not drinking and drinking.

Science has also demonstrated, as I have shown in another lecture, that
drinking decreases one's expectancy, according to insurance tables; a
young man at twenty-one must deliberately decide to shorten his life by
more than ten per cent. if he becomes an habitual drinker.

But, what is worse, science has shown that alcohol is a poison that runs
in the blood, so that the drinking of the father or mother may curse a
child unborn and close the door of hope upon it before its eyes have
opened to the light of day.

Business aided us also, as large corporations increasingly discriminated
against those who drank.

Patriotism furnished the last impulse; war threw a ghastly light upon
the evils of intemperance and upon the sordid greed of those engaged in
the liquor business.

The reform will not turn back. Enforcement will become more strict in
this country as its benefits are more clearly shown and prohibition will
spread until the saloon will be abolished thr