The Weber Literary Journal in only two glasses of beer weakened the memory and intellect from five to fifty per cent. This phase of the question alone would have caused concern to a nation which had prided herself in her intellectual superiority, but a still more serious problem faced the country that of her morals. Through all history liquor and immorality have gone hand in hand. It has been the cause of the downfall of nations. The great city of Babylon was captured while its inhabitants were drunk on wine. Liquor and immorality caused the downfall of Rome. At the beginning of the World War when the very life of civilization was threatened, the United States was brought suddenly to realize that these things which had allowed former civilizations to be swept away by savage hordes were already strongly fastened on her people. She saw the same leniency toward drunkenness and immorality that had characterized the nations of old. She saw the sons and daughters of her first citizens in drunken parties and saw them accept as a matter of course, the debauched morals of the once loathed outcast. The homes of her people were ruined, the father often a helpless wreck, the children worse than orphans. The need for action was imperative. America could not fail. American ideals of liberty, justice and equality, could not perish from the earth. Only one thing could save her a new purity of American life purity on which rests every virtue which can save intelligence, strength, courage, faith and the spirit of self sacrifice which offers life itself that right may triumph. Just as the physician tries to heal the broken body by striking at the source of the disease, so our legislators, in attempting to heal the ills of a nation, struck at the root of the evil. In the early part of the year of 1919 they passed the eighteenth amendment, prohibiting the use of strong drinks. Utah, later, went even further. She realized that the cigarette was undermining the morals of the young so decreed that its sale within her boundaries should cease. It is not yet possible to compute the intrinsic worth of these laws in saving our national integrity from the dangers attend- 40 The Weber Literary Journal ing moral laxity. But some results we can already see. Money that formerly gushed into the coffers of the saloon is being used for the better and nobler purposes of life. Banks flourish where alcohol was formerly sold. Business houses no longer ask "Does your husband drink?" Already the attendance at colleges has increased and the children of the future, upon whom our nation will depend, are growing up without ever beholding the drunken brawl of the saloon or feeling its effect in the circle of the home. And if we but assert our rights and demand law enforcement, the youngster of tomorrow will never make acquaintance with the cigarette. People are beginning to see the necessity of observing the principle given to the Latter-day Saints long ago through the Prophet Joseph Smith. They are beginning to recognize the fact that the living of it is a national asset. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I appreciate the fact that we, as a people, have had this principle and been reaping the benefits derived from the living of it for nearly a hundred years. I appreciate the fact that we have had it ingrained in our souls and that we have been greatly blessed through compliance with it. Wherever Mormon boys have gone they have led physically. Of all the drafted men in the United States during the war, Utah had next to the highest percentage of men who were physically fit. Arizona, populated by many Mormon communities, ranked next. Our home life has not been destroyed. Our people have not attended drunken parties. They have not indulged in those things which undermine morals. They have kept themselves physically strong, mentally alert, and morally clean. Thus they have given to their children a priceless inheritance, the greatest blessing that can come to man. When I think, therefore, of the Word of Wisdom I remember that it is the law of health given to man by direct revelation; I remember that it is the stepping stone to most of the great virtues of life; I remember that the Mormon people must acknowledge its all-powerful influence in keeping the vices of the modern world from the hearthstone of the home. 41