OCTOBER 9. 1953
A
National Temperance . Study Course
WHAT DOES IT MATTER? . (Junior)
Once upon a time there was a ,-hung man called Thomas Trifler, llld he was determined to have a. good time. So he neglected ills work as much as he dared. and stayed out late every night, and drank and smoked and did whatever he pleased.
"You'll never get on in the world." said his father. .
”You'll never know what rec happiness means," said his mother.
"You'll ruin your health," said the doctor.
"You'll lose everyone's respect," said the parsoll.
And all his relatives. friends and neighbours had something of the same sort to say.
But Thomas Trifler would not take any notice of their warnings. ' I shall live my own life how 'I please," said he. "What does it matter ,to other people how I choose to spend it? I don't inter- lere with their way of llvillg, so why should they try to interfere with mine?"
well, one fine night when he
lll1iCl been having a better time than usual, he was so unsteady on ills legw and so muddled in his head that helwas quite unable to find his way home. and he tumbl- Mi down in the middle of the road, and lay there until a police-
. 4 1AV(r;zr mu
man came by and tnlndied him on to the police station in a wheel- barrow. I
Next morning Thomas Trifler was taken before the'nlagistl-.,te.
"If you please. your Honour," said the policeman. "I found th.is min lying dead drunk in the road ll-W nzzht, and quite incapable of minding himself."
”Is that true. Thomas Trifler?" asked the magistrate.
"I expect it is." said Thomas cheerfully. "I don” remember any- thing about it, but I like to get drunk now and again."
"It doesnt matter whether you like it or not." said the magistrate, ”such drunkenness can't be allowed; and as the only cure for drunken- ness is” to stop drinking, you must become a total abstaliner and sign the pledge."
that your drinking habits do not disturb and trouble anyone else I'll discharge you, and you may continue to do Just as you like."
-So the crier was sent round the town. "0 Yesl'0 yesl 0 yes!" he called. "Let everyone to whom it matters whether Thomas Trifler drinks intoxicants or not, come at once to the court to state his case. God save the King!"
In a very short time the court was filled to overflowing.
Call the first witnessl" said the magistrate. ' '
The first witnem was Thomas Trifler's mother. .
"And why does it matter to you whether your son drinks or not?" asked the magistrate.
"Because when he's out late and I don't know if he is coming home drunk or sober, how can I go to sleep till he's safe in bed?" asked Mrs. Trifler. ."What does it mat- ter to me, indeed? It means that five nights out of six I'm tossing and turning,'wondering if he's left himself sense enough to get home without falling in front of a car, or stumpling into the niver. or breaking his neck on the front
"But it's not fair to stop me steps
drinking altogether," Exclaimed Thomas Trifler. "I wasn't doing any harm to anyone when the policeman found me, was I?"
"No," said the policeman.
"And I wasn't stealing, or damag- inx I-ny0ne's property, was I?"
"No", said the policeman.
"Then why shouldn't I get drunk when I want?" asked Thomas Trifler. "What does it matter to other people whether I drink or not - I'm not interfering with them?”
"We'll see about that." said the magistrate. "it it can be proved
sale than sorr - !
RESTONE
BRAND
- :21: cram...
. GERS HARDWARE.
COMPANY LIMITED DISTRIBUTORS
2 l.
Next tl;'nelyou're sII0PPl98. ' the distinctively-styled G-B Lullaby g. .
(WITH .l.UMlNOUS Dltl 35.95) I
. .1 . Ellen the most expensive spring-wound clock!
V dlan General Electric Company Limited. T0'0'"0-
. l-:.g-4-:' -
CI .d0ll'fl want her to lie awskel" said Thomas indlgnantly. "It's not my fault is she's so stupid."
But the magistrate only said, "Call the next witrlessl" Up stepped Thomas Trifler's
father.
"Well," said the magistrate, what have you to to say?"
"only this, your Honour." said Mr. Trifler, "when my son is drinking and having A good ti.ne he spends more money than he cams. and Iran lze comes to nle for help to settle his debts. I'm not a rich man, your H.m3u:, and it's hard to have to break into ..ly sav- ings."
"You .1ee.:ll'.". lend me the money if you feel so stillgy," ,-7.;-1 Thomas sl.kiiy. But. the nlagistrntc only said, " Next witlless."'
"That's me, your I-Ionourl" said Thomas Trifler's brother. "It's not fair to the rest of the family if Thomas is allowed to go on drink- ing and doing as he likes. He gets himself talked about all over the town, and people don't like to be friends witll me, or to give me a job, because they suppose I must be as wild and unreliable as he is. Thomas may be having a good time, but he's spoiling the chances of the rest of us."
The next witness was the little girl who lived next door.
The magistrate looked her up and down. "Dear me," said he, "you're a very small person to have any- thing to say as t whether Thomas
Trifler should drink or not."
lleoulilul , G-E 4 electric
ularmcosts you only
can't match this modern, lolw-priced
(3.13 Electric Clock for unfailing accuracy, performance and convenience. An: what convenience! You never wind, oil or regulate the G-E Lullaby . . . you never ave to
l; "crank-up" its pleasant, yet insistent alarm.
drop into your electrical dealer's showroom and see only 34.95. Small Appliance Dept, Cana- V
LGENEBAL lalrcllllct
CLOCKS '
CIANADIAN omnal. nlcrluc COMPANY LIMITED"
x......,.... ,..-a --'-
......k-
THE GUARDIAN.
"I'm big enough to be frighten- ed," said the little girl. "I'm frigh- tened to come back from school by myself, because when he's had something to drink he's so nasty and silly, and tries to catch me and kin me." ' i
There was someone else. a pretty young woman, who seemed to have been crying.
"Now why are you here?" asked the magistrate. "what can it matter to you what Thomas Trifler does?"
Wit matters to me more than to anyone else," said the young wo- man, "because I'm in love with him, and he's asked me' to marry him. But how dare I marry any- one who doesn't care what hap- pens so long as he has a good time? What sort of a husband and father would he make?"
Thorn-as Trifler hung his head till all that could be seen were his very red ears. "There can't be any more of them, at any rate," he muttered.
But he was wrong; house was still full of people waiting to explain why they ob- jectod to him taking intoxicants.
The first to stand up were the men who worked with him.
"Thomas is the best workman of the lot of us when hegsets his mind to it," said they; "but when he's been dninkirlg and staying out late he isn't fit for anything next morning, and we have extra work to do."
After them came the motorists, fifty or sixty at least.
"Look here!" exclaimed Thomas Trifler indignantly. ”I don't know a single one of you! What in the world can it matter to you if I drink?" '
"It matters just this." said the motorists; bfor one reason or an- other we sometimes have to drive through this town late at night; if you are sober either you will be in bed when we come through, or you will walk sensibly on the pave- ment; if you are not sober you may reel about the road, or even lie down on it, and there's no telling what horrid accident you may cause."
Then the magistrate cleared his throat and the policeman shouted "silence in court!"
"Thomas Trifleri" said the mag- istrate, "the kind of life you lead matters to hundreds of P930918 be- side yourself. You 'have heard the ways in which your drinking hab- its interfere with the rights of others; you can no longer be al- lowed to please yourself in the
the court-
'matter. You must become a total
sbstainer and shoulder your share of responsibility. By insisting that you become a. total abstalncr I am giving you an opportunityio have the best time of your life, and you'll come back to thank me." Questions
Tl;i'flcr's
(1) How did Thomas family?
drinking affect his own
. Value, 10 marks.
(2) How did Tommy .Triiler'a drinking affect motorists? Value, 10 marks.
(What Does It Matter. by Mr- garet Baker.)
(INTERMEDIATE-SENIOR LESSON)
ALCOHOL-AN AGE-OLD PROBLEM
one sometimes hears it said that because the drinking of alcohol is very old practice, it must be a very good one. Now. it 13 HUG that the use of alcoholic drinks goes back'as far. D8l'hBPS..ss re- corded history; but this is true aura of several other W985 01 1111' man behaviour. theft. murder, sla- very, and others, All these PMC- tices have a very long NSWTY. but one never hears that fact used as an argument for their approv- gi in the mid-twentieth century.
t is quite probable that when the institution of human slavery was first challenged by the consciences of men there were those who argu- ed that there had always been slaves, and that as long as human nature remained vvlmlv 10 W93 W39 would I1W'3l'l 1” W959 ”m were owned. Such an argument sounds foolish a century after the abolition of slavery. 50 the mill-' tor of its long history 3! I10 "99 ommendlation for the D73-0'-l" 0f drinking today.
Alcohol. 3 loom-go
'11-lo glory of how man's con- science has turned against l"5Vi'-To age alcohol, is an enlightening as well as s lascllmunll one It is significant that alcohol was early recognized as a scourge to man- kind. and one of the raoe's 111810? social problems. In a. document which comes down to us from an- cient Egypt. dating from about 2000 no. there is -. passnae when A wise man named Anl is lilVlX'iZ advice '0 the younc mm 01 hl-I time. Among other thinll. hc warns them against "all the disas- trous consequences of ur--- times! and diuolute llvlns." Those In- cient folk knew some of the disas- trous consequences even before
high-poweredlmotor cars. The null: and scroll: Drink
Among ancient people. 1'9 W" W3 I-lebrcws..who were most strongly and persistently outspoken Is-Ilnat alcohol. They seem to have been most keenly aware of spiritual truths and values, and most cons- cious of the evils that afflict man- kind. Among the sins that are condemned in the Scriptures. drunk- cnnea ranks high. its students
be familiar with some typical Biblical lmusen denim with the subject. Here are a. few:
"Wine is a mookcr. Ittonl drink 1; nging; and whosoever is de- ceived tnerebylla not 11156”-H0" mou. my gun, and be wise...be not among wirlebibbcra." (?rov. 30- 1; as: 10. 20.)
in the luornlnt. N!” W” "W7 follow etronk drink: mi MW”: until niq-int, dll wine inflame. (Ill. 5:11.)
"Who hath woe? who hath sor- now? who hath contention? WM um-nbbungz Who hath wounds
the day! of distilled spirits Ind r
or the alcohol problem you Ihould.
"W03 unto them thit riseup early,
CHARLOTTETOWN
without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his.colour in the cup, when it. moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and
stingeth like an adder." (Prov. 33: 29-32.) "But they also have erred
through wine. and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink; they are swallowed up of wine. they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in wisdom, they stumble in judgement." (Isa. 28; '1.)
"Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink." (Hab. 2: 15.)
"It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth or is offended, or is made weak." (Romans 14: 21.)
"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with Spirit." (Eph. 6: 18.)
By' using a concordance, and looking up the words "drun.ka.rd,” "drunkenness," and "strong drink" you could add many other pas- sages to this brief list.
A summary of the teachings of the Bible on. drinking would in- ciude these points: (1) The use of liquor brings about physical
deterioration. Isaiah mentions several aspects. (2) strong drink is deceptive. The colour, the
sparkle, and the smoothness men- tioned by the writer of the Pro- verbs remind one of some present- day advertisirlg except that the end result, the serpent's bite and the adders sting are omitted from these advertisements. though not from the ancient writing. (3: Then. too, drunkenness moves in bad company. I Samuel 30: 16 links it with thievery, and St. Ppul ill Galatians 5: 19 adds many others to the vicious list.
There was one clan ill ancient Israel which completely abstain- cd from drinking wine. They were i. Rechabitm, described in the th rty-fifth chapter of Jeremiah. Verses five and six read like this: "And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabitas pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wille. But they said, We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the so of Rechab our father, commande us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither yo, nor your sons forever."
Another passage tells the story of a young Hebrew, named Daniel, who lived about 600 B.C. Daniel was a captive in Bablyoll, where he and three of iris companions were selected for special training
to enter the king's service. We read that "the king appointed them ll. daily provision of the king's meat. and of the wine which he drank."
Then the story continua: "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat nor with the wine which he drank." It doesn't require much imagina- tion to look behind this event and picture the religious teaching and training that went on in the early homes of these young men back in Palestine. Quite clearly, from their earliest childhood there had been built into their lives and characters 'certaill great moral convictions. Among these was the conviction that they ought not to indulge in wine. Now they had the moral courage to stand by their convictions. They were young, but they didn't use that as all ex- cuse for, conforming to the ways of Babylon. They might forfeit by their refusal the chances of promotion that were coming their way, they might incurl the wrath and punishment of the king, but these considerations didn't matter when was right.
Now, it is true that there are passages in the Bible which seem to speak approvingly of the use of wir.e, notably Paul's advice to Timothy to "drink no longer wa- ter, but use a little wine fol-.thy stomachs sake and thine often in- filvmities." (I Timothy 5: should be remembered that people
IIlYlSEVEN-IIP IN IN! HANDY 6-IOITIE CAIIIEI OR THE NEW 24-IOTHE SEVEN-UP FAMILY PACK
SIVCI .
use omce" - St. John,-N. B.
Branches in: Moncton, Halifax, New Glasgow. Truro, Sydney
23.) It -
v A PHILCO MODEL N-ill Holds up to 650 pounds of Frozen Foods. . . storage space to hold a. full winter's supply of food. Separate Sharp-Freeze compan- mcnt freezes a full 125 pound load of food at temperatures to 15" below uro. Really BIG I savings on quantity purchases.
Commercial Equipment Limited
at mat time knew little about san- itation and the purification (I: water, and some may have felt that wine was more healthful or
Relieve Pain To (old
ihg Way!
PAGE NINE
in harmful than much of water may be. they attributed to wine
Continued on page 12
available. However
,THEyRMOGENE is ready to use-inaramlyl This Medicated Wool wedding generates sootlifllg HEA.Tp ,lo ald'aore lineal. chest cold. bl'0hEl1lClQ,l'ICllfIl.gII. lumbago. ariallca and tumor rheumatic Pains.
' ,'THERtv10GENE II -The Warmth (tin Soollics
N ,.g&"r In 1.
Under rlollllng &
l Cy
..-yp--
1 M”. for Your
MEDICATED WO0l
AT All. DRUGGlSTS
C-SO
When the weather forecast save "Nil" '9d0Y'v 9' "continued cold with new this of1arnoon"."IO 7'00!" owner doesn't worry about rushing to the neighbourhood markoi for food supplies. Bad weather doesn't inconvenience horlono bit, because she has a variety
Asure money
of menus right at her fingertips.
PHILCO MODEL Perfect honor for any Family. Holds up to 440 pound: ol Food. Three separate compartments . . .
A New, Git.-ml
Philco Freezer built to t .
save hundreds of dollars on food bills. Designed for new, modern living with more lcisure. iime,beiicrmcnus... kitchen convenience never before possi- ble. AND;fal'nous Philco features that
0T service . ,. por- ccizlln lnlerlor .
.. . interior light . . .
easy-lift. storage baskclsl
OH-I12 - The
Sharp Freezes st emperaturesto lS'
below zero . . .
accessories.
l
olor Slylcd in Key Largo with plastic and chrome
mm cllooxrll and STOREY LTD.” so
will give many years-
cotlntcr-balanccd lid '
;.L 31
-- -.-we.-s-rvf rhvwc-I. :L'&-W -.-.-
-;.L.-cw .. ..
4 o 6
fr i
.x i