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Brentwood, Cal.

HE Creator placed upon the earth for the use of mankind many things. Man, aided by

the intelligence which the Creator gave him, selects for his use that which he discovers from time to time to be useful or desirable.

Among the selections is the grape, and its chief product, "wine." It seems only fair and reasonable to believe that the Creator in His wisdom must have foreseen that man would discover wine could be made from the grape, and that man would drink of it both to his joy and sorrow.

He must also have foreseen that the use of the wine would far outweigh its abuse; that the good it would do would be much greater than the harm, else there might not have been any grape. If we doubt this view, then we must doubt the wisdom of the Almighty.

And what is true of the grape is true of every other thing created for the use of man. It is expected of him that his God-given intelligence shall

the blessings set in his pathway.

Those who lack that intelligence must be directed by those who are more fortunate, through precept and example, and by the knowledge of cause and effect, not through Prohibition, for were Prohibition the remedy, it would have been invoked in the beginning by the Only One having the right to invoke it. The Almighty put some trust and showed some faith in the intelligence of His own creatures, we poor mortals, and rightly. To right the wrongs due to excesses on the part of the thoughtless, to disclose the better way, to point out the serious results of over-indulgence to the end that temperance, real temperance, in all things may obtain, should be the constant endeavors of those seeking to find a remedy for the evil of excess. Knowledge, intelligence, education, regulation, self-control, and especially the latter, these are the safeguards, not confiscation, destruction or obliteration, which are the remedies of the Prohibitionists.

Shall we stop the manufacture of drugs because people suicide or become drug-fiends or lunatics, through

their excessive use? We put on warning labels and pass restraining laws. Shall we put the railroads out of business because of fatal accidents? We invent protecting devices and install "safety first" warnings.

Shall we stop the manufacture of fire-arms because of many fatalitiesaccidental or otherwise-result from their use? Again the safety device and the law.

Shall we stop surgery because so many operations end fatally? Science is progressing toward lessening the death rate.

Shall we close the schools because over-study harms some young people?

Shall we close the churches and give up our religions because religious insanity sometimes results? It is not to be thought of.

Destruction of industry will not bring about intemperance or work of any other reforms. Temperance must be brought about by temperate methods, not by Prohibition.

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BY EARL MERRILL

Arbuckle, Cal.

HE Vineyards of California Must Not Be Destroyed By Prohibition!" This is the battle-cry that has been taken up by the California Grape Protective Association. It prevents the laying waste of thousands of vine-clad acres in California, and leaving the people who own these acres almost as destitute as those whose fortunes have been destroyed in the havoc of the European war.

Perhaps the Prohibitionists have not thought of this phase of the question. Perhaps they regard the welfare of their moral weaklings as of more importance than that of the thousands. of honest, hard-working, temperate living farmers and their wives and children, whose means of livelihood they are attacking.

If the growers were allying themselves with the inebriates, it would be

a different matter. But they are not. They preach against intemperance just as Christ preached against it, although He turned water into wine at the wedding feast. Christ believed in fighting temptation; He did not believe in removing temptation from the world.

Just because some men will get drunk on lemon extract is no reason for saying that the lemon groves must go. Just because a sharp knife is dangerous in the hands of one kind of man is no reason for taking away knives from all men. The sight of fine jewelry and silverware tempts some men to steal; the love of good clothes is responsible for a good many vain and weak-willed people going wrong. Should one make laws, then, against the diamonds and lemons and butcher knives and good clothes, that a certain minority may go untempted?

The majority of people would make good use of these good things of life. Why deprive them of their rightful heritage and turn those who have been engaged in the growing and manufacture of these products out of their homes?

Are the Prohibitionists ready to dig down in their pockets and pay for the damage they intend to do?

Are they willing to pay for the uprooting of those miles and miles of green vineyards that constitute one of the chief glories of this State of California?

Echo answers: "Hardly!"

Then why not devote a little of their overflowing energy to remodeling some of our laws, if they have to remodel something?

Why not make it more of a crime to get drunk and less of a crime to raise grapes?

Why not preach true temperance for a change, temperance in eating, drinking, pursuing pleasure and in all things?

Let them preach self-control and the growers will uphold them as will all good thinking men and women and teachers, and school children who have learned what the word means.

Let them abstain, if they want to, and the growers (unlike themselves) will not try to make them drink. Let them try to influence others by their good examples and the growers will work with them shoulder to shoulder "in the vineyard of the Lord."

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BY ELSA BARKER

Livermore, Cal.

ESTROYED! An

industry

which dates back to 1772, an industry which our National government encourages and supports, and which is promoted by our State government and by our universities, destroyed? Can the people of California do this thing? They can -but this is not the issue: Is it right that they should do it? and most of all-Will they do it?-those are the questions.

Is it right for them to prohibit the production of the famous wines of the Golden State? Is it right for them to deprive of their livelihood more than one hundred thousand people, without compensation? And shall the State and nation be deprived of the revenue from the livelihood of these people, justly?

Or the question might be stated thus: Shall we punish the use of an article as well as the abuse? It is of ten stated that tea, coffee, etc., in excess are poisons. Soda fountain "Specials" have sent people to hospitals, but do we prohibit the manufacture or sale of the ingredients?

We grant that the liquor traffic is

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injurious to a few weak willed people, but the State of California has provided by previous legislation, a tried and effective means of protection for these, which does not affect the lives of the hundred and fifty thousand people vitally interested in the Viticultural Industry.

Temperance, moderation, is the whole secret of good living, and Prohibition is not a temperate measure; it is not even favorable to temperance. Many a boy or girl has taken the first step downward in reaction against absolute prohibition at home.

Strength of character is the greatest asset in a people. Will enforced abstinence of both strong and weak be conducive to such a strength of character? No, nor will the inevitable evasion of a drastic Prohibition law be favorable to respect for legislation, but it will even encourage disregard of all law and order regulations. And will not the political trickery necessary to force such an unwelcome measure upon the people be an example to our children and result in the further degradation of our political system?

For these reasons, therefore, our answer to the two questions above stated must be: No! It is not right nor fitting that the people of California should do this work of destruction. No! and again No! The people of California cannot reverse the policy which they have pursued since the days of the Spanish Padres; they cannot nullify the work of the thousands of people and the millions of dollars which have been devoted to the Viticultural Industry. The Vineyards of California shall not be destroyed by Prohibition!

"The Lord your God proveth you." Deuteronomy 13:3.

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HE foregoing text is applicable to the Lord's people in a special way; yet as we look at the world to-day, we can recognize that the Lord is surely Judging the Nations, especially those that have been greatly blessed with His favor.

Consider Europe, for instance: How wonderfully those nations have been. favored with opportunities for coming to a knowledge of the Lord! Ever since the days of Jesus and the Apostles, Europe has had Gospel privileges, more or less. Of course, we are not to hold the people of to-day responsible for anything in the past. To do so would be unfair. But we are to consider that in a general way the influences of Christianity have spread over the world, especially in Europe.

Gradually the world has come to esteem itself to be Christian. The nations of Europe are generally styled Christendom. Nevertheless, the Bible declares that the world is not Christian, and has not the Spirit of Christ in its activities. The world, therefore, is self-deceived. To the extent that the nations have had light, to that extent they are responsible. The Bible. does not show, however, that the world. has full responsibility. Only Only those have full responsibility who have taken the step of entire consecration to God through Christ, only those who have been begotten of the Holy Spirit. These have been illuminated and have come into the highest place of opportunity and blessing in the Lord. These have a deep insight into His Word that no others possess.

The World's Judgment Has Begun

But so far as the world is concerned we can readily see that in proportion as they have seen, they should be required to do. We can feel quite sure that God would expect more of the peoples of Europe than of those of Asia and Africa, who have little knowledge of Him. So just at this time, when Bible chronology shows that God's leases of power to the Gentile governments has expired, we see exactly what we should expect that He is permitting these nations to pass judgment upon themselves, so speak. He is permitting them to show themselves, to manifest their real condition of mind and heart, to demonstrate whether or not they have made proper use of their opportunities and blessings in the way of development in righteousness.

to

have

The nations of Christendom had much to say about the Lord. His name is to be found in all these countries. The nations have held aloft the Cross of Christ in an outward way. They have many places for prayer and worship. They have abounded in forms of godliness. They have had much wealth and treasure. They have had hosts of priests and preachers of all denominations. With all the advantages and experiences of the past. nineteen centuries, we might have expected Europe to be in a much better condition than it is—that it would have learned much more than it has as to what is the Spirit of the Lord and what it is not.

Loosing the Four Winds.

God is now letting loose the winds of strife. He is letting the nations.

As we look back over the past thousand years, we can see that God has been holding the peoples of the earth more or less under restraint, permitting them to go only so far at any time. Otherwise they would have destroyed themselves long ago. The hearts of fallen humanity are so selfish that, had mankind been permitted to go their full length, the race would have been annihilated long before now. But God's due time has come to let loose the winds of strife, with the result that the long-expected storm has burst in fury upon the world. The trouble is spreading from nation to nation; and it looks as if ultimately every nation. will become involved-surely every one which formed part of the old Roman Empire. (Daniel 2:44.) Whether the strife will extend beyond the boundaries of the Roman rule we do not know-nor whether it will involve America.

Minds of the People Astray.

These United States have had many advantages over other countries. Our temporal blessings have been multiplied on every hand. Nevertheless, we must confess that there is much of mere outward forms of godliness here, much of ceremony, hypocrisy, dishonesty and crime. Great light has been given and largely ignored. Therefore it would seem that sooner or later our land may become involved in turmoil. There is much of Christian profession here, an outward form of gadliness devoid of its power. Consequently it seems hardly possible that America will fail to escape full share in the judgment of the nations.

There is much restlessness amongst the people everywhere. Indeed, the whole world is becoming crazed as the angry passions of men are being stirred

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up against one another. In the countries at war where the soldiers in the trenches are killing one another by the thousands-sometimes sixty thousand in one day-necessarily a hardening influence goes with this course of action. The soldiers must become more or less benumbed in their sensibilities, as a natural result. As a whole, the world to-day seems to be telling the Lord, telling His people-who are not of this world-and telling the angels

who are looking on what their spirit really is, and demonstrating that it is not the Spirit of the Lord.

It reminds us of the spirit of James and John, the two Apostles whom our Lord surnamed "Sons of Thunder," because of their courage and fiery zeal. On one occasion they wished to bring down fire from Heaven to destroy the people of a little Samaritan village because they had refused to sell bread to our Lord and The Twelve. But the Master reproved them saying, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of;" that is, they had become His disciples, but had not yet realized what is the spirit of a true disciple. It was, therefore, no wonder that they did things contrary to the Lord's Spirit.Luke 9:51-56.

After the disciples received the begetting of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost they would not have even thought of doing such a thing; for then they received the Heavenly illumination and could discern that the Spirit of Christ prompted its possessor to help others, not to destroy them. Previous to Pentecost these disciples were zealous Jews, courageous in defense of what they thought right, as against wrong. And so it is now in Europe. Many are zealous, and are trying to find some good reason for what they are doing.

The leaders tell the people various things. In some cases the people are told that their liberties and the development of their country are held in check by jealous neighbors. On the other hand the people are led to think that militarism is their greatest foe, and therefore must be crushed. On both sides of the question at issue the