Litchfield enquirer., 1874-02-26
Prayer Meetings And The Liquor
 i. Sellers ..


 called. Those engaged in it do not trust entirely to moral suasion, because they force themselves upon the liquor sellers and turn their places of business into places of prayer. It is not in strict &C., cordance with law, because those engag- ed in it are trespassers upon the private rights of the liquor sellers. It is not pure ly human effort to rid the community of @ pestiferous evil, because in every in- stance the help of the Divine Being is in- voked; neither is it purely spiritual la- Dor, because the prayers are offered before very counters whose overthrow is desired. In short, 1t appears to be non descript struggle against liquor selling, ln which every weapon known to the moral reformer, except the purely legal one, is employed,
 A correspondent of the Ohio State Jour nal, writing from London, Madison county, Ohio, gives lively but authentic account of the operations in that town. The scenes he describes occurred on what IS known in that part of the country as the February ''sales day." when the farmers and cattle breeders of Madison county bring in the best of their herds and tiocks for purposes of display and of exchange. On such day whiskeY is drunk ordinarily in large quantities. It there fore furnished fine opportunity for the women, ln the words of this correspond ent, ''to clothe themselveses anew in the armor of religion to fight the cohorts of King Alcohol" Unfortunately the day was cold and the ''armor of religion" did not altogether counteract the natural effects of the low temperature. It was the intention, we are told. ''to divide the foroaC Sr,ko Io AL1A might be singing and praying in each of the saloons the entire day." But this plan was changed for two reasons-first, because some of the liquor sellers reso- lutely closed the doors of their shops in the face of the women; and second, because there was ga desire to make as formidable an impression as possible on strangers" The assault, to adopt the prevailing and not altogether inaccurate style of language used in speaking of these operations, was made, therefore, in 8 single body. At a number of places, however, the women held their religions exercises on the side walk, while the liquor sellers within dealt out drinks as usual to the thirsty. At all of the outdoor meetings the women are re- ported to have knelt on the ice i'll prayer Unless the laws of nature were suspended we should imagine that kneeling on the ice would be dangerous to any woman and fatal to the delicate ones.
 One result of the days labor was to be seen in the money drawers of the liquor sellers. None of them closed their shops, but many of their regular customers ap- pear to have been prevented from enter ing by the novel proceedings at the doors. One seller, who at recent ''sales day" had taken in one hundred and fifteen dol lars by noon, on this day took in but twenty dollars by the same time. This difference in money receipt means that a large number of men who the month be- fore went home drunk, on this day went home sober. Others of the liquor sellers are said to have opened negotiations with the enemy, the result of which was an agree ment of their part to sell nothing but beer or light wines. Still others, however. excluded the ladies and sold to all who entered whatever they asked for" But, taking the town together, it was the gen. eral opinion that there was much less drunkeness and disorder than heretofore had occurred on such day.
 When the women of community rise up in arms against any peculiar kind of business, it Is safe to infer that there is some monstrous evil to be removed. Wo- men, however radical in opinions, are always conservative in action, and they do not pray out of doors on the ice flor any trivial reason. For such revival of sound moral sentiment, however irregu- lar it's manifestation, there can be no oth- CT feeling than that of respect. But senti- ment, and especially moral sentiment, rarely finds authority in law to do what. even those under it's infiueuce want to do. A crowd of praying women have no more right to enter room against the wish of the owner or the person who hires 1t than a crowd of burglars However injurious or despicable mans business may be, so long as he conducts 1t according to law he is entitled to protection from the vio- lence of a mob, whatever may be the charac ter of the individuals composing the mob. The intent of the visitors does not make good, either in law or in sound reason, the absence of consent on the part of the person visited.
 The women in Ohio, before beginning their meetings, have obtained pretty gen. orally the consent of the liquor dealers. This consent, however rarely has been given voluntarily. It has been given by q man brought face to face with a crowd of women. We are not certain, therefore, of the disposition of the liquor sellers. There was one thrifty person who became so energetic 8 convert that the women raised purse of money for him. It is not best to subsidize men to cease doing evil.
 The main question is, what good will the community get from this movement? Will the dreadful practice of dram-drunk- ing be broken up or diminished? Will the moral judgement of the people he strong enough to overbear the personal interests of the liquor sellers and their customers? Thus far the women have been sustained by popular opinion. One suit at law has been brought against them, for interfering with the business of the plaintiff, but they do not appear to be regarded by their neighbors and friends as law-breakers. On the contrary, it is thought they are doing good work.
 The strength of the movement lies in the disposition of the public. The women must be discreet or the cause will suffer. It Is question in any case whether the good resu Its ofthe sentimental cru sade can be retained in the daily practices of the people. The destruction of few barrels of whiskey is of lIttle account; to diminish permanently the total number of liquor shops in community is re- suit of great consequent ca result which we hope these women, working in their own way, will help to secure. ~. E. Post.
 Affecting is romance that comes from Indiana. A young gentleman living near Terre Haute felt that life had no charms if young lady of whom he thought a great deal didn't consent to marry him. She didn't, and he immediately went west, and employed a sympathetic friend to write to her saying that he was dead, and begging her, as his parting request, to stop and drop weed or flower or tear upon his lonesome grave if she happened to be passing in that direction. Mark the practicality of the modern young lady : No thrill of anguish desolated her soul 1; she calmly wrote back to the friend if he had any consideration for her feelings