Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1853-08-18
VOL. VINO. AZ.
Gelllperallrc.
(From the Lily)
Duty Of Women in Regard 10 Social Drinking.
BY A. HOLLY.

that liquor has effected 1t has been por-
trayed by the tongue of the orator. and
pen of the writer; and it is constantly
before US in rags and tears, suffering and
disgrace, obscenity and oaths, blOated
forms, delirious braiuS, and raving death.
Scarcely a family but has felt its awful
hand and upon woman has it fallen with
all its horrors of tOrmenting fires Man
has stepped and stupefed his brain till,
like the lowest forms of animal life, he is
hardly capable of pleasure or pain; and.
to the sensitive mind. which would retain
Gods image, this is perhaps the most hor-
rible state conceivable But. the intel
lect of woman has been left clear to en-
dure all the pangs which the demon of IN
temperance could infict She it is. who
bears the curses and blows of the drunk
ard and she it is, who sees her children
growing up in poverty, misery and crime.
and herself sinking to the grave under
the weight of her Affections Aud does
all this suffering fall upon the guiltless
Does the penalty of violated laws fall
with its heaviest weight upon the inno-
cent, while the transgressor goes cOmpar-
atively free | have notthus learned the
word of God is true. and as sure as there
is Justice in the government of the Crea-
tor, so sure is it that woman's sufferings
are in some way brought on by her own
faults
If these things are so,-aud who dare
deny lit Is time for woman to examine
herself as an individual, as member of
society, and as a subject of Gods govern
ment, and see where the guilt lies In
the first place she is guilty, deeply guilty.
if she puts herself into this mighty whirl-
pool of ruin, or if she allows herself BY
any means to be drawn in. Have women
the power to avoid becoming drunkards
wives, aud the mothers of druhkards' chill
dren There is no doubt on this point
IHeY hare the p0lrcr : There is no need.
even in this day of drunkenness. that any
unmarried female ever be a drunkard's
wife. The light Of the nineteenth centu
ry has brought this whole subject out of
darkness, and any girl, before she is old
enough to think OF marrying. can see il
in its length and breadth They all know
there is no safety in giving their affections
to any young man who is not from princi-
pie and from the bottom of his heart "A
temperance man and they know if hc is
such a temperance man, there is no dan
ger of his becoming a drunkard / mean
this as a general rule, which will hold
good In ninety mine eases out of a hun
dred and if the hundredth female should
become a drunkards 5 wife under such
guards as these, her guilt will doubtless
come from different direction. How, then,
40 lfyfyv pf trr, M r-io.l TT,,.-
nothing to do aclth q Yoxug man zrjt0 1CIU
IN azy lgaY countenancc hguor-ay5,tkiAg.
My, further, rgecthiStfya oRcances tolc-
ard 1r0tr o0ectlo7lS, 7eIlless he IS religious
III n temperance HIl1S.
1--WE admit" you say, ';that in individ-
ual Instances, this might be done but,
the most of unmarried females, will new
er follow such stringent rules" What one
can do, MI can and if you carelessly
throw yourself into the arms of matrimo-
ny, you must suffer the consequences Of
your imprudence And when those conse.
quenccs shall come, you need not ransack
the world to find the guilt; nor attempt
to place it all to the account of man
You may know that if you suffer physi-
caly. you have disobcyed physical law
if mentally, a mental law if morally,
moral law.
While I contend that each one has her
future destiny in this matter. almost en-
tirely in her own hands, ] am obliged to
acknowledge that the customs of society
are such, that, unless a mighty Reform
shall be effected, thousands and thousands
will hereafter pass this same road to de-
struction, as thousands and thousands
have passed it before And this c0nsid
Grafton should arouse every woman in the
State to a sense of her respousi bility as a
social being for here Is the important
point to which the energies Of woman
should be directed | do not hesitate to
declare that woman has the power by her
social intercourse, to open or close the
food-gates Of Intemperance, just as she
NAV please. Let her bostow her smiles
upon the liquor seller, or the liquor drink
er, or the liquor apologist or even let her
treat him with the same regard she would
a decent man, and liquor will continue to
to flow on, aud not even a Maine Law can
stop it Let her welcome such a man to
her parlor; let her greet him pleasantly
whenever she meets him let her attend
social gatherings where he attends, and
have no word Of ceusure for him, and he
viii certainly continue to sell or drink or
apologize Let the mother treat such
young man socially in this manner, and
her daughter viii be very likely to marry
him, and surely she will not reject his
company. Let the mother aud daughter
treat him so, and if that daughter does
not marry him, some other daughter will
and when she shall suffer the pangs of
drunkard's wife, viii those Who By their
social intercourse endorsed his conduct,
have no guilt2 On the other hand
the Rumseller be looked upon BY woman
as an enemy Of bis kind, and let him be
treated as such let the rum -drinker be
associated with. only IN efforts for his Re
form. let the rum apologist be rejected
from the social circles Of females let the
girl who associates with the young man
who ia any way favors drinking, be treat
ed bv the rest of her sex as If she had
been guilty of a great moral wrong; let
all the social intercourse OF woman, as
connected With this matter. be regulated