Reports of the Boards

REPORT

Standing Committee on Temperance.

ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, JUNE 1st, 1885.

The Committee to which was referred the Fourth Annual Report of the Assembly's Permanent Committee on Temperance, would respectfully represent that they have examined with great care this very able document, and would congratulate the church that so much valuable information has been put in a permanent form for the use of the church, and that so much effective work has been done for the cause of temperance reform. This report contains:

I. A terse statement of the present status of the temperance cause.

2. A copy of Paper No. 11, published by the Committee, which endeavors to "voice the deliverances of the Assembly on temperance, and give some practical hints to the Presbyterial Committees ' as to their duties.

3. A statement as to the documents published by the Committee (of which about 60,000 copies have been issued), and a copy of Paper No. 6, which is a summary of the deliverances of the General Assembly on the subject of temperance from 1812 to 1884. It should have a wide circulation through the church. The documents issued during the year mostly pertain to the organization of the work, and bringing it under proper ecclesiastical supervision and control." Much more might have been done had the Committee possessed the means. Paper No. 10 contains the deliverance of the last General Assembly, and 3,500 have been distributed. The Committee have also secured the publication of this document in many newspapers, both secular and religious; and thus secured the wide circulation of this admirable paper throughout the whole country.

4. Under the heading of "Save the Boys and Girls," we find the statement that "the Assembly has indicated two distinct lines of effort, namely: Scientific instruction in schools, supported by the State, on physiology and hygiene, with special reference to the influence of intoxicating drink upon the human system; and secondly, temperance instruction in the Sabbath-school.

Under this head the report contains copies of Papers Nos. 12, 13, 16 and 17. Three of these papers are to secure the systematic instruction on temperance in the Sabbath-school, while No. 16 is a very able paper on "The Session and Temperance,' by one of our Ruling Elders, showing how the session should lead and guide the temperance work in the church.

5. The Permanent Committee show how they have endeavored to carry out the instructions of the last Assembly as to the " holding of temperance conventions and institutes." Specimen programmes of institutes are given with " suggestions" and 'topics" gathered from programmes of institutes and conventions held at various places. These papers show not only that much work has been done, but how much more remains to be accomplished.

6. The Permanent Committee call attention to the power of the press in this great reform movement, and point out how it may be utilized. According to the census of 1880, there were in the United States 11,314 periodicals. The power of this agency is simply prodigious," and it is cause for gratitude that, with few exceptions, the press can be easily enlisted in the cause of reform.

7. The Permanent Committee have been mindful of the fact that one of the duties assigned to it by the Assembly is to " gather and report such statistics as may be of value and interest to the church." In this work the Committee have felt the "embarrassment of riches." In the abundance of statistics, which may easily be arranged on this awful subject, the Committee have felt it difficult to decide what would be of most "value and interest to the church." But earnest study has evidently

been given to the subject, and much valuable information has been gathered, mostly from official sources. This condensation of facts shows that the number of liquor dealers in this country has decreased during the last year; that as compared with the whole country, the States under prohibitory laws pay but a small fraction of the liquor tax, which is collected by the United States Government; that though the number of persons who use intoxicants has decreased, the actual consumption of liquors has increased. This information, with much more of the same kind, which has been carefully arranged in a set of tables in the Appendix to the Report, renders it a document of unusual interest and permanent value. These statistics would not be complete without some notice of the wasteful extravagance, the pauperism and crime, and the horrors of idiocy and insanity, which are partly charged against this gigantic evil. 8. The Permanent Committee notice, with approval, the work of the "Reform Clubs," the "White Ribbon Army" (which originated in the Bethany Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia), and the W. C. S. U's. of the several States. Nearly every narrative sent to the Permanent Committee, mentions as worthy of all praise, "the vigilance, activity and zeal" of those noble women who, in various ways, are attempting to defend the home and the family from their worst enemy.

9. The Permanent Committee give careful suggestions to the Presbyterial Committees respecting the manner of making out the Temperance Narrative," and, in this connection, they reprint copies of two papers, Nos. 14 and 15, which were sent out for the purpose of testing the spirit of the church, to learn what had been actually accomplished, and to indicate lines of action for the future.

In general, the Committee report that the narratives received "show decided progress in Christian activity and spiritual power in this department of church work,” and that total abstinence is the overwhelming sentiment of our church.

10. The Permanent Committee also calls attention to the fact that the different churches and Temperance Societies have agreed to mark this year with appropriate services as the "Centennial of the Temperance Reformation," and the week commencing September 20th will be very generally observed as a "Centennial Temperance

week."

We notice with very just pride that this " Centennial," which all the friends of the cause will unite to celebrate, is a solemn and grateful recognition of the worth and influence of one very closely related to our church in its early history. Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia, was an alumnus of Princeton, and afterwards the successful Commissioner of his Alma Mater to the church of Scotland to secure the services of Dr. Witherspoon, as President. Later still, he was the leading spirit in founding Dickinson College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and in bringing its first President, Dr. Nisbett, from his native land to the New World.

The great temperance reform of this country has lately been traced back to Dr. Rush's celebrated essay on "The effects of ardent spirits on the human mind and body,"

which was first published in 1785.

This distinguished man, whose zeal for the cause of Christ, and Catholic Spirit towards all who love our Lord, made him the active promoter of every good work, and he visited the General Assembly of our Church in 1811, presented that venerable body with 1,000 copies of his essay, and made a personal address, appealing to the highest judicatory of our church to undertake the work of temperance reformation. His unquestioned authority as a man of science, who stood at the head of his own profession, joined to the fervor of his appeals, roused the church of that day, and a Committee was appointed to visit other religious bodies and present the subject. Pursuant to this appeal, the work was taken up in New England, and the Massachusetts Society for the suppression of Intemperance was organized in the City of Boston, in the year 1813. In his autobiography, Rev. Dr. Lyman Beecher says, that he had read Dr. Rush's essay very early, and that it made a deep impression upon him, which was confirmed by the culpable negligence of the Church, as to this form of immorality even among its own ministry and membership, and he "blocked out and preached in 1808 his first temperance sermon, which was subsequently expanded into his celebrated "Six Sermons on Temperance."

*He (Dr. Rush) frequently and publicly communicated in the Episcopalian and Presbyterian Churches; towards the close of his life, chiefly in the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. James P. Wilson."-Rees' Cyclopædia.

By means of a very wide correspondence and persistent labor, Dr. Rush succeeded in enlisting the leading spirits of many different branches of the church in this holy crusade, and to-day his ringing appeal comes to us from that first essay : "Ministers of the Gospel of every denomination in the United States, aid me with all the weight and influence of your sacred office to save our fellow men from being destroyed by the great destroyer of their lives and souls."

It is cause for profound gratitude to Almighty God that the last few years have seen a great advance in public sentiment on this whole subject of temperance reform. This great national evil, the drink curse, has assumed such gigantic proportions as to alarm every Christian patriot. The snare which the drinking habits set for souls awakens the church more and more from her apathy; while the queens of society, the mothers and daughters of the church, quick to detect a peril of domestic purity, are becoming more and more sensitive to the hideous dishonor and ruin which the curse of drink surely brings upon the home and the family.

At such a time the great Presbyterian church not only cannot afford to be an indifferent spectator in this great struggle, but true to her historical position, and resting upon the clear teaching of God's Holy Word, she must heed the triumphant call of Providence : "Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward.' The Presbyterian church has a goodly heritage and an honorable record on this subject of temperance. Let us see to it that no man takes her crown.

Previous Assemblies have decided for us the importance of this work, and have committed its oversight to judicious men, who though straightened by the lack of financial support, have yet accomplished a noble task in arousing the church to the needs of the hour, and in directing the Sabbath-school in its important function of training up the young in sound and scriptural ways of thinking as to the evil of strong drink. But it is a homely maxim that "whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well." The Permanent Committee should not be expected to make bricks without straw." If the cause of intemperance is one of the greatest evils confronting the church to-day; if it is pre-eminently a difficult and delicate task to guide the crusade of the church against this monstrous iniquity; if confessedly, much yet remains to be done, the church undoubtedly owes it to her Permanent Committee on Temperance to furnish liberally the material means without which its efficiency will be greatly crippled.

The Assembly deeply regrets, therefore, that the churches did not more generally contribute to the funds of the Permanent Committee last year, so as to have enabled it to meet all of its obligations; and it expresses the hope that contributions will be sent in immediately from the churches, so as not only to meet the indebtedness of the Committee, but to enable this arm of the church to do its work without embarrassment. Much other valuable information may be found in this Report evincing the diligence and fidelity of your Permanent Committee, but as the printed report is in the hands of the Assembly, and is a permanent document of the church, nothing further need now be added to this conspectus of the report, than the remark that the very modest "suggestions" of the Permanent Committee are mostly embodied in the recommendations, which your Standing Committee have now the honor to propose. We, therefore, recommend the following resolutions :

1. That the entire extinction of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage is the goal to which the General Assembly looks forward, and for the accomplishment of which, it expects the earnest, united, determined and persistent labors of all its ministers and people in connection with the religious and sober citizens of our common country.

2. That under God the removal of intemperance must depend upon the forming of a wholesome public sentiment, the power of conscience, enlightened by the Word of God, and the strong arm of the civil law wisely enacted and faithfully enforced.

3. That this Assembly cordially approves the work of the Permanent Committee on Temperance during the last year, and commends its zeal, fidelity and success in the difficult and delicate task before it.

4. That the Assembly rejoices in the fact, that at least fourteen States in the Union have enacted laws requiring physiology and hygiene, with special reference to the influence of intoxicating drinks upon the human system, to be taught in the schools

supported by the State. And the Assembly recommends that the people under its care use all proper means to secure similar laws in all the States.

5. That the Permanent Committee is recommended to ascertain the nature of the efforts being made by temperance people, and especially by the church, to promote the cause of temperance in each of the States in the Union, and report the results of its inquiry to the next General Assembly.

6. That it is recommended to all the Church Courts to appoint a Standing Committee on Temperance to supervise the work within their bounds. That Presbyterial Standing Committees arrange for holding temperance institutes and conventions under their direction, and to prepare a distinct temperance narrative and send the same to the Permanent Committee on Temperance on or before the Ist day of April, and that a report on the narratives shall be made to the Assembly by said Committee.

7. That this Assembly, in common with sister churches and other friends of the cause, recognizes the year 1885 as the centennial year of the temperance reform, and recommends that Synods, Presbyteries and Churches celebrate the centennial week, beginning Sabbath, September 20th, in some suitable way, and especially it urges ministers of the Gospel to preach on the subject of temperance on that Sabbath, and that the churches make a centennial offering for the use of the Permanent Committee at the same time, or at some other convenient day within the year, and that the Sabbath-school and Church Temperance Societies hold appropriate temperance meetings during the week.

8. That the church sessions are urged to give special supervision to this important department of benevolent work in the church and Sabbath-school; and to remember the necessities of the Permanent Commiteee in the distribution of their benevolent funds, and the obligation of the church to sustain the Committee in the stupendous work committed to its care.

9. That this Assembly tenders to the Synods of Kansas and Iowa, and the Christian people in general in those States, its hearty sympathy in their heroic and successful endeavors to suppress the saloon within their borders, and to promote righteousness, temperance and good-will among the people.

10. That all who are called to labor among the freedmen be urged to give special attention to the inculcation of sound temperance principles in their instruction of this race. Naturally very sensitive on the subject of personal liberty, they need to be guarded against a slavery which binds soul and body in shackles worse than fetters of brass.

II. That while the Assembly approves of what the Board of Publication has done to inculcate temperance in the "Lesson-papers," it would recommend that if possible, still more prominence should be given in their "Lesson Helps" and Sabbath-school papers, to instruction on the sin of drunkenness, its insidious approach, and its awful

curse.

12. That as the temperance reformation is God's work, we call upon the church for prayer to Almighty God that He would give the church wisdom in dealing with this great evil, that He would save the young from the snares of the tempter, that He would break the bands which now hold so many as willing captives in the thralldom of drink, and that He would give wisdom to our rulers in legislating for the protection of this great people against their worst enemy.

13. That this Assembly would give emphasis to all the injunctions of former Assemblies on this subject, and would especially enjoin upon all our ministers to be faithful in preaching the whole truth of God on this subject lest the blood of souls be found on their skirts.

14. That the Rev. John Hall, D.D., LL.D., Rev. Robert D. Harper, D.D., and Elders David M. Stiger and Daniel W. Fish, whose term of service expires with this Assembly be re-appointed for three years; and that the Rev. Henry J. Van Dyke, Jr., D.D., be appointed to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Rev. Edward P. French, D.D., and that Theron G. Strong, Esq., be appointed for the term of three years instead of David B. Ivison, who declines re-election.

15. That this Assembly re-affirms the action of former Assemblies, recommending the Permanent Committee to appeal to the churches for funds to defray its expenses, and that the churches be directed to put these collections in the miscellaneous co of the statistical report.