We believe that intemperance is one of the greatest evils of our age and country, a curse to humanity and a mighty bulwark in the way of Christian progress. It is a crying shame that the liquor business, which is so universally conceded to be the cause of so much drunkenness, discord, disease, anguish, poverty and crime, should have placed upon it the brand of respectability by legal enactment. And this is intensified, when we remember that this unrelenting destroyer of our homes and the church has been legalized and is now protected by the will and consent of the Christian voters of our land.

      We believe that our churches should wage unceasing war against this great evil and seek in every proper way to put it down. And the very appearance of any complicity with it should be avoided, by refusing membership to any who are engaged in the business, and by excluding all members who persist in indulging in intoxicating drinks. - [Francis W. Taylor]

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[From the Baptist Argus, October 28, 1897, p. 15. Transcribed and formatted by Jim Duvall.]

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