St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1859-05-12
Communications.
For the st. Charles City lntelligencer
WOman'S Influence.


above title, scarcely expected i,
would meet with reception suffi
ciently favorable to cntitle it to a
place in the columns of the Intelli
gencer But since you were generous
enough to publish it, please allow me
on this occasion to thank you for SO
doing. AS intimated in that commu.
nication, l intended to have written
you again, ere this but find it is
one thing to appear before the public,
and another to meet the appreciation
of that public.
The severe criticisms which my for.
mer article met with in certain quar-
ters, caused me to pause for while,
and would now deter me from troub.
ling you further, were it not that a
deep sense of duty, sense of my OBJ.
legations to society, impels me again
to take up my pen in its behalf. did
not suppose that my feeble effort would
excite remark, or attract much atten-
tion, but in your last weeks issue
find am called upon to treat the sub.
ject further, by some one writing over
the signature of IS" l have also
understood that some, who are friend
y to the cause Of reform, have alluded
to my former article in terms of COM
mendation while yet others have
sought to ridicule it, and its supposed
author. 1t has even been said that
am always in the street, seeking to
manage and regulate my neighbors'
business and not content with that,
| had now made myself still further
ridiculous by undertaking to write for
the newspapers. In the case of these
latter persons, l think | have fresh
proof of the old adage that, wound
ed birds tluttcr" Possibly the female
associates of these gentlemen have
not influenced them to higher and no
bier aims, bu. have debascd instead
of eXalting their characters. If so,
then | ain not surprised that they
should sneer at woman's influence"
and even at her efforts to influence for
good, not only The morals of her own,
but those of the boasted stronger"
sex
This very circumstance, Messrs.
Editors, proves that woman has an in
tinence, of some kind, and with your
appreciation and encouragement will
continue exerting the little influence
which 1 may possess to benefit those
around me. l wish, however, to cor
rect now the assumption that l am
always in the street, and delight to
hFegulate my neighbors' affairs The
sruth is, that, like Martha of old, am
p cumbered with many cares" of my
lsa%n, of a domestic nature, and seldom
I9s6 into the street nor do l know much
of the business of my neighbors, ex-
cept what is of public and general
character. 1t is with this that claim
the right to deal. If the business of
my neighbors affects the public inju-
riously if the habits of the people
are thereby corrupted and debased /
am a sufferer with the rest of the COM
munity, and claim the right to dis
countenance, and even correct it, if
possible, in one way or another.
A business of this deleterious char
acter, which is carried Oh more or less
in every community, is that Of liquor
selling. This business is one of the
greatest curses under which this or
any other community is known to SUI.
fer. l need not detail to you, Messrs
Editors, how men are besotted, and
sometimes women, even, by the habitu
al use Of strong drink-and how men
are rendered indolent thereby, their
substance consumed, wives and child
ren rendered destitute of suitable food
and raiment, paupers thrust upon So
ciety for support, vice eDgendered,
crime committed, and the other thou
sand-and.one evils, all caused by the
inhuman and nefarious business of in
discriminate traffic in alcoholic drinks
AYE, in the free sale Of prussic acid
strychnine and other deadly poisons
under the euphonious cognomen.
of "Old Bourbon" Monongahela,
Schiedam," Otard," &c, &c. Is i
not enough to make ones Mood chill
jim the veins to think Of the woe anG
, Tretchedness attendant upon the us,
Of these poisons ? But it is arguet
What this is free country. and ever.
one has right to do as he pleases--
: liquor sellers and liquor drinkers, it i
: ccntended, are not to be deprived Q
their liberties in a free country.
know that our fathers once carried o
war of revolution in defence of lit
erty," and declared that man was "el
, dowed by his Creator with certain il
alienable rights, among which ar
j.. life, liberty, and the pursuit Of happ
k ness )" but who will deny that srer
l. one Of these rights are invaded an
destroyed by the liquor traffic
! assert that no one has right
> injure his neighbor, whether in healtl