A shadow fell across the missionary’s face.  There was a tone of discouragement in his voice.

“The great question is what to do,” said Mr. Dinneford.  “There are no problems so hard to solve as these problems of social evil.  If men and women choose to debase themselves, who is to hinder?  The vicious heart seeks a vicious life.  While the heart is depraved the life will be evil.  So long as the fountain is corrupt the water will be foul.”

“There is a side to all this that most people do not consider,” answered Mr. Paulding.  “Self-hurt is one thing, hurt of the neighbor quite another.  It may be questioned whether society has a right to touch the individual freedom of a member in anything that affects himself alone.  But the moment he begins to hurt his neighbor, whether from ill-will or for gain, then it is the duty of society to restrain him.  The common weal demands this, to say nothing of Christian obligation.  If a man were to set up an exhibition in our city dangerous to life and limb, but so fascinating as to attract large numbers to witness and participate therein, and if hundreds were maimed or killed every year, do you think any one would question the right of our authorities to repress it?  And yet to-day there are in our city more than twenty thousand persons who live by doing things a thousand times more hurtful to the people than any such exhibition could possibly be.  And what is marvelous to think of, the larger part of these persons are actually licensed by the State to get gain by hurting, depraving and destroying the people.  Think of it, Mr. Dinneford!  The whole question lies in a nutshell.  There is no difficulty about the problem.  Restrain men from doing harm to each other, and the work is more than half done.”

“Is not the law all the while doing this?”

“The law,” was answered. “is weakly dealing with effect—­how weakly let prison and police statistics show.  Forty thousand arrests in our city for a single year, and the cause of these arrests clearly traced to the liquor licenses granted to five or six thousand persons to make money by debasing and degrading the people.  If all of these were engaged in useful employments, serving, as every true citizen is bound to do, the common good, do you think we should have so sad and sickening a record?  No, sir!  We must go back to the causes of things.  Nothing but radical work will do.”

“You think, then,” said Mr. Dinneford, “that the true remedy for all these dreadful social evils lies in restrictive legislation?”

“Restrictive only on the principles of eternal right,” answered the missionary.  “Man’s freedom over himself must not be touched.  Only his freedom to hurt his neighbor must be abridged.  Here society has a right to put bonds on its members—­to say to each individual, You are free to do anything by which your neighbor is served, but nothing to harm him.  Here is where the discrimination must be made; and when the mass of the people come to see this, we shall have the beginning of a new day.  There will then be hope for such poor wretches as crowd this region; or if most of them are so far lost as to be without hope, their places, when they die, will not be filled with new recruits for the army of perdition.”