The Portland daily press., 1872-09-26
TEMPERANCE.
Mass Convention at City Hall
SECOND DAY.

| and Executive Committee, consisting of one
| member from each county.
The Executive Committee was then unncunc-
| ed.
Kennebec-George E. Brickett.
| Cumberland, Joshua l.. Chamberlain.
Somerset-Frank Kendrick
| York-T H. Hubbard.
| Knox-G. o Payson.
Waldo-F. S. Nickerson.
Lincoln-E. w. Stetson.
| Androscoggin-NelsOnD Dingley, Jr
| agadahoc-Henry Tallman.
| Penobscot-To be announced.
Washington-Abner Townsend.
Hancock-To be announced.
| ArOOstook-" H
| Franklin GO
| fill all vacancies.
Messrs Nickerson, Murphy, and Sturdivant
| addressed the convention in brief and earnest
| rem arks.
Dnrng the past six months, Messrs. Murphy
and Bryant have visited SO towns, delivered
| 50 lectures, and formed nine Reform Clubs
with membership of 1900. They have col
| lected 1854. .04 and expended $203 55, leaving a
surplus of $3.50. 40. Mr. Fitzgerald suggested
that county conventions should be held, which
suggestion was approved.
The President then read the following letter
from q: Z. Kimball, Esq, who was expected
to preside:
PORTLAND, Sept. 25th, 1872.
| y. *. O5GO0D. My Dear SIR:
For your polite invitation to preside over
your Temperance Reform Convention to-day,
| accept my thanks. And while / cannot accept
| the invitation you will permit me to Say that
| fully and cordially approve of your course in
the great cause of Temperance Reform and full
| ly believe ysu are reaching men in the right
| way to bring about real, substantial and en-
| during reform. And to yourself and others
acting with you, are the people of Maine in
| debted for making plain the fact that it is not
20 hall ,lory 10
| be true temperance man. And when the
| time finally comes that Temperance Reform
| shall be as entirely disconnected from party
politics as the cause of holy religion ITSELF then,
and not till then, can we hope that temperance
| and christianity mot temperance and party
poltics) will go on hand in hand reaching and
| correcting the hearts of the people.
| With an earnest hope that such time is fast
| approaching, and wishing you all the success
| your humane and Christian efforts so richly
| merit,
| remain,
Yours with Esteem,
| G. P. KIdBALL.
The following resolution was then passed:
| ResolUed That the thanks of this convention
| be and are hereby rendered to the press of this
State for their generous notices of this conven-
| ton.
After passing vote of thanks to the Maine
| Central and Knox and Lincoln Railroads for
| their kindness, the Convention adjourned to
| half past two o'clock.
AFTERNOON
The Convention was called to order at half
past two by the President, and prayer Of
| fered by Rev. Mr.. Cousens. The attendance
was much better than at any previous session,
| about 800 being present, the ladies composing
| the larger part of the audience. After few
| congratulatory remarks by the President, in
| which he extended the thanks of the Conven-
ton to the citizens of Portland for their courte-
sizes. Mrs. Partington of this city was intro
| duced. t.r.,.
| Mrs. PartingtOn gave an account OF her visit
to England, Belgium and France, and her own
| observations and experiences in connection
with the cause of temperance in those countries.
In Sheffield, Eng, she found that nearly every
church had organized Bands of Hope. After
considerable difficulty she succeeded in organ
izing a Lodge of Good Templars-in Septem-
| Der, 1871, and now there are over 1900 in the
United Kingdom-all in prosperous circum-
stances Nearly all these have emanated di-
rectly from the church; they have made relig-
ion and Jesus the basis of their organization.
She gave a thrilling description of the effect of
the rum tr affic on the workmen of Sheffield,
and of the persistent efforts of the friends of
temperance, which had restricted the hours for
keeping open the public houses. Formerly
they were open twenty hours out of twenty
now they were obliged to be closed from II p.
m. to- a. n., and an effort was being made to
reduce the hours from in the morning to in
the evening She spoke of the cheerful acqui.
essence in these regulations and remarked the
gratifying diminution of drunkenness in conse-
quence of them In Belgium and France she
found less drunkenness than in England; per
haps because the wines were purer. In Shef
field, in walk through their streets, she saw
twenty eight drunken women. In Belgium she
saw but two persons intoxicated; in France
three. Mrs. Partington presented long array
of statistics in relation to the production and
consumption of liquor in Great Britain, and the
records of the police in regard to arrests fol
drunkenness. There are bright spots, however
in England There are 10000 ministers, be
sides communicates and Sunday School teach
ers working and praying for the advancement
of temperance. She closed with cheering ac
count of the earnestness with which the Ear
ef Shaftsbury had entered upon the work.
Mr. jackson of Lawrence expressed the opin
ion that the temperance reform had not entire
ly grasped the great work. 1t had done much
to extend the hand of fellowship to the inebri
ate and reclaimed many, but the work should
not be suffered to languish. He illustrated th
power of appetite by an incident in his own ex
perience, and pleaded for greater measure O
love for the drunkard He believed that Wash
ingtonan Homes should be established in ever
State and sustained by the government No
only should the poor inebriate be looked afte
but his family ought to receive the attendanc
and support of the friends of temperance HI
pleaded for greater display of the spirit O
.. love; it was this, he believed, which had give
the reform cause in Maine its success
Mr.. Higgins of Augusta related his own ex
! perience as drunkard, and his reformation.
The appetite was created by the use of liquo
taken on the advice of physician for chroni
! disease contracted in the army. The temper
4 ance cause has done good in Augusta Th
commitments to the Jail for the past six month
was only 13, while the number for the precet
! ing six months was 6S. In the reform Club {
5 that city with a membership of about 11O
Il there had not been 30 violations of the pledge
Singing the pledge gives a man a higher an
, = better train of thought; it makes good neigl
| WIS VA" iiSphos lOVc 10 all. lie asked
young ladies of Portland to use their infiuenc
- to BRING the young men to the pledge.
y Judge Cotton of Tennessee recited an origin;
y poem entitled The Drunkards Lookinp-Glas
e "Camp-Meeting John Allen was next i,
troduced, and made one of his lively. rattlr
II exhortatons. He went one step further tina
r the rest of the brothers. The defect of the n
is Washingtonian movement was that men n
l. tempted to run the reform in their own strenp,
3 instead of looking above for help. This refor
l. promised to be permanent, because the men
l. it had gone one step fnrther and meant to b
+ come Christians.
5. Mr.. Jewett, Agent of the Massachuset
d Temperance Union, said he did not know al
v difference in kinds of intoXication. For t
IT past five years he had been working among t
r children of that State, and in the last sew
to months I'd enrolled over 5000 children in t
rs temperance army. He gave an interesting a
count of his labors among the schools OF
III own State. What we need is interest, zeal al
devotion, and bid you in Maine God speed