THE KING’S BUSINESS 457 In the Associated Press report of the newspapers of April 10, 1918, was contained the statement that the United States Government had bought up the entire production of Bull Durham tobacco. W. H. Watson, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, says in the Evangelical Messenger: “But a new angle was brought to our attention a few days ago when a prominent educator, a superintendent of schools in one of the leading cities of this state, stated in the presence of the writer that he had received a letter from professedly patriotic sources telling of the soldiers’ great need for tobacco, and requesting him to have every child in the schools of that city prepare a tobacco ‘kit.’ They were instructed to put into each ‘kit,’ one pipe, one package of a certaiii kind of tobacco, one package of another brand, and one package each of several brands of cigarettes. Thè professor said that upon investigation he found that every article of the sug gested ‘kit’ was manufactured by the American Tobacco Trust. He said he had good reason to believe that practically every superintendent of schools had received a like appeal. ‘The American Tobacco Trust,’ he said, ‘is making millions out of this movement.’ Most of the paper talk is inspired by the tobacco companies. Surely this is a shameless imposition upon American pat riotism. The cry for tobacco in the trenches is coming not from the soldiers so much as-from the Tobacco Trust. Those who are not already users of the weed are encouraged to enter this snare of the devil.” This is a shameful outrage, especially in face of the fact that in an article appearing in The Literary Digest of April 13, 1918, is contained the statement that of those who were refused for service because of heart difficulties 90 per cent was due to the. use of alcohol or tobacco. The Western Christian Advocate writes as follows of this outrage that is being perpetrated by the Tobacco Trust and the Government upon our Amer ican nation: “We are scientificallv correct and ethically right in opposing the use of tobacco. It seems a small thing to spend time on when men everywhere favor ‘Lady Nicotine.’ We have spoken out, not because'of moral conviction, but because of scientific knowledge. Recently we quoted Dr. Quackenbos, the great psychologist, whose language was of positive character. We have set our standard against giving cigarettes to the soldiers. .Not from a moral point of view, but because they are absolutely hurtful to the human constitution.” Dr. J. H. Kellogg, the well .known head of Battle Creek Sanitarium, writes in Association Men: “The American stock is depreciating, physically, men tally and morally. The causes are many. Among the most potent and direct are: The saloon, the brothel, and the cigarette. These three evils are the greatest causes of our growing national inefficiency and unpreparedness. The saloon is passing. John Barleycorn is dying. But we have not begun to fight the brothel, and we are encouraging the deadly cigarette. The cigarette is known to be an enemy of scholarship, of culture, of morals, of health and vigor, and yet it ds tolerated, even encouraged. The millions of cigarettes now being fired at our soldier? will many a one hit its mark and will do its mischief. More American soldiers will be damaged by the cigarette than by German bullets.” Thè Western Christian Advocate in commenting on these' words of Dr. Kellogg, says : “Think of it, these are not the words of a reformer, a preacher, a faddist, but of a physician, a scientist, a physiologist, a biologist, a psycholo gist, a man of the widest experience in dealing with sick folks as a specialist.” The American Government has been given the authority and exercises the authority, to forbid our using wheat at the present time as a food, because of the need of the wheat we had on hand for our soldiers and for other purposes.
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