Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

so."
Booze Broadcasting Is a Beast
Extension of Remarks of
HON. EUGENE SILER
of Kentucky
In The House of Representatives
Monday, April 18, 1955
MR. SILER: Mr. Speaker, I have introduced
H. R. 4627, which is a bill to prohibit the transporta
tion in interstate commerce of advertisements of al
coholic beverages. It is my hope and desire that my
colleagues will study this bill carefully and then act
favorably
upon it for the sake of a more spiritual
citizenship, a more stabilized American home, and a
more serious-minded youth of tomorrow.
There are some things that should be strictly
regulated while they exist or else put in complete
subjugation among civilized peoples, for example,
the rattlesnake, the brothel, the stalking murderer,
the insidious thief, the trouble maker at home or
abroad, and the nice genteel advertisement of booze
in whatever form may be best calculated to make the
strongest appeal to our boys and girls. You say it is
a legal subject matter. So is the rattlesnake. You say
freedom of speech and press are inviolable. Yes ; but
under exercise of police power we do not allow the
free-speech man to use indecent language in the pub
lic square nor do we allow the free-press man to pub
lish obscene language in the Daily Times. Moral
health, and welfare may be, ought to be, and must
be closely and firmly regulated under the police
concept breathed into our Constitution by our Found
ing Fathers more than a century and a half ago.
In the dusty annals of bygone history, there
once lived a king named Belshazzar. He was a "man
of distinction." So much so that one night he had a
great feast and invited 1000 of his lords, not to speak
of the many princes, wives, and concubines that also
came along in great numbers. Now it looked like
everybody wanted to be a man of distinction and get
on a big binge on that occasion. I suppose about all
the 1000 lords got tanked up and doubtless we have
derived our current expression, "drunk as a lord,"
from the unseemly
condition of Belshazzar's lords at
that famous festival when wine flowed like a moun
tain stream after a hard shower in the spring time.
Strange handwriting suddenly appeared on the plas
tered wall, old Belshazzar took a bad case of delirium
tremens and on that very night the drunken king
was killed and new and sober administration came
into power under King Darius. Of course, the Bel
shazzar Wine was perfectly legal. None whatever
thought it could be regulated. "Let it flow freely,"
said everyone from the king on down. "Let it come
into the very home of the king and let its free inter
course be unmolested in the name of complete liber
ty."
But before that fateful night was over, there
was some free writing on the wall, some free delir
ium tremens among the men of distinction, some
free rigor mortis on the regal throne of Babylon.
In 1871 the Chicago fire raged over the city
unregulated and caused $196 million in damages.
In 1889 the Johnstown flood surged down the
unregulated and cost 2,200 lives.
valley
And now, unrestricted and uninhibited, alcohol
ic advertising may well, in my humble opinion, cost
408
much more than all the damage and loss of life of
both the Chicago fire and Johnstown flood combined
and then multiplied by two.
During my lifetime my good State of Kentucky
has continuously stood at the top
of the list of al
coholic producers and has frequently bragged about
this, and yet during that same lifetime span I notice
that whereas Kentucky once stood 11th in popula
tion among the states, it now stands 19th in the list
of states. Cause and effect Well you be the judge.
The same handwriting that was once on the plas
tered wall of Belshazzar may now be appearing on
the plastered wall of Kentucky or on that of America
if we persist in going ahead with our total indiffer
ence toward the harmful influences that come within
our homes and about our hearthsides in the form of
alcoholic advertisements.
Twenty million people in America are offended
every day by the alcoholic advertising that comes to
their homes consistently and continually without
even knocking at their doors, entering the very im
pressionable minds of boys and girls with the ob
vious purpose of making customers for an industry
that destroys, dooms, and damns human personality
as it rolls along.
We would not think of allowing an offending
beast to come into the American home unrestrained
and uninhibited. Yet, booze broadcasting by TV, ra
dio, or publication is a beast and it sorely offends
millions everyday in the American home. It is now
time to illegalize it in interstate commerce. It may be
later than we think.
The Pre-eminence of the Lord
Jesus Christ versus
The United States Constitution
Have we as a church grasped the significance
of the great doctrine concerning the pre-eminence of
the Lord Jesus Christ Dr. R. J. George has shown
to our Lord in everything. Cer
that it means loyalty
tainly it means loyalty to Him as Ruler of nations.
Our allegiance belongs to Him. We cannot give to
another that which belongs to Him alone.
The following statement is made in the 1954
minutes of Synod, page 158: "There is no question
but that we have departed from the early position of
the church on the oath question. It does not follow
that we have erred in doing
The question is, has this departure from the
early position of the church been made while main
taining the pre-eminence of the Lord Jesus Christ
in all things If we have compromised our loyalty
to Him in any way, we have erred. If we have prom
ised obedience to civil laws that are contrary to the
law of God, we have erred. If we have accepted prin
ciples that are contrary to the Bible, we have erred.
Whenever we promise obedience to laws that are
contrary to the law of God we do not give the Lord
Jesus Christ the pre-eminence in all things. The
same is true whenever we accept principles that are
contrary to the Bible.
In taking the prescribed oath to the United
COVENANTER WITNESS