Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 53, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 March 1913 — Shumaker’s Address. [ARTICLE]

Shumaker’s Address.

Rev. E. S. Shumaker, of Indianapolis, head of the Indiana AntiSaloon League, spoke at the Methodist church Sunday morning, on “A Militant Church." His address in part follows: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword.”—Matt. 11:14. By this declaration Jesus declared eternal truth that his mission was here to found a church which should be militant in its character. His church should array itself in an attitude of opposition against wrong. It should ever be aggressive in its warfare to destroy the works of the devil. The saloon, as an institution, is Satan’s most effective recruiting station. It robs childhood of its future, debauches manhood, debases womanhood, ruins homes, destroys civilization, deprives Heaven of its jewels and peoples hell with its victims. The destruction of the beverage liquor traffic will signalize the greatest triumph which has ever come to the Kingdom of God on earth. We note with great satisfaction that the church universal has for the last 25 years been more militant than ever before in its opposition to the liquor traffic. Every minister is now expected to preach against this great evil at least once a year. Every Sunday school every three months devotes the entire lesson hour to a serious consideration of this problem. Every young peoples’ society in like manner is devoting an equal amount of time in enlist ing their membership in a battle against the saloon. In the very nature of the case this creation of sentiment against the saloon as an institution, on the part of all our churches and auxiliary societies, would create a, demand for the utilization of this sentiment for the saloon’s overthrow. Sentiment must not only be created against the beverage liquor traffic in intoxicants, but that sentiment must be crystallized into organic law for the overthrow of this traffic. Every brewery, distillery, bar room, wholesale Jiquor house, every gambling den, redlight district and other institutions of vice have become headquarters for the unification and rallying of this vicious element of society who are determined to fasten the saloon upon your state and nation forever. To meet this organization, every church, Sunday School, young peoples’ societies, men’s brotherhoods, Y. M. C. A., and all moral forces must become headquarters for the relying and unification of the militant temperance forces of the state and nation to banish the liquor curse forever. The Anti-Saloon League is a federation of all these forces into one great militant movement listing in, a perpetual warfare against rum on whose warlike banner is inscribed the motto: ‘The saloon must go!” In this state nearly twenty-five religious bodies, with a membership of over 600,000 have, in this war against wrong, become more or less affiliated with the Anti-Saloon League. In the nation millions of Christian people count it a privilege to be a part of this movement and they give it their sympathy, co-operation and support. The movement in Indiana has made great strides in the past twenty years.; In 1895, when the Nicholson law was passed, this state did not have a single dry city, and now there are 27 in Indiana without a saloon; then there were only 2 dry counties, now there are 29; then out of 360 incorporated towns less than 100 were dry, now over 300 of them are without barrooms; then less than half a million of our people were living in saloonless territory, now there are over one million six hundred thousand. Of over 2,000 saloons closed through the Moore and county option laws, 1800 are closed yet and never will reopen.

The liquor interests of Indiana and the United States are now thoroughly alarmed and united to protect and perpetuate their traffic. They have almost fabulous sums of money which they are using without stint to stave off legislation and elections inimicable to their interests. Report has it that in 1909 the two brewing companies of Ft. Wayne contributed $75,000 to secure the repeal of the county option law two years later and that every other brewery in the state set aside one dollar for every barrel of beer they sold to go into a war budget to be used in securing the repeal of this law.

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