Mr. William Jennings Bryan,
the Secretary of State, has set a noble example, as from newspaper reports
it appears that he gave a farewell dinner to Ambassador Bryce,
without champagne or other alcoholic drinks. He has a loyal supporter
in Shanghai, in the person of the American Consul-General, Dr. A. P. Wilder,
who, to the great regret of everybody who knows him in this port,
is retiring from the service on account of ill-health. Dr. Wilder
is very popular and figures largely in the social life of the community,
but Dr. Wilder is a staunch opponent of alcohol, and through his influence
wines at public dinners are always treated as extras.
So long as the liquor traffic is so extensively and profitably carried on in
Europe and America, and so long as the consumption of alcohol is so enormous,
so long will there be a difference of opinion as to its ill effects,
but in this matter, by means of its State Prohibition Laws,
America is setting an example to the world. In no other country are there
such extensive tracts without alcohol as the "Dry States" of America.
China, who is waging war on opium, recognizes in this fact
a kindred, active moral force which is absent elsewhere,
and, shaking hands with her sister republic across the seas,
hopes that she will some day be as free of alcoholic poisons
as China herself hopes to be of opium. Every vice, however, has its defense.
Some years ago I met a famous Dutch artist in Peking, who,
though still in the prime of life, was obliged to lay aside his work
for a few days each month, due to an occasional attack of rheumatism.
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