National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-02-28

streets, ut which place all persons having bust
ness relations with the paper will call. Due
notice will be given of the removal of the
business department to the new REPUBLICAN
building.
THE CRUSADE IN THE DISTRICT
1t is more than probable that many of the
notices received by s;iloon-kecpers in this
city of the intention of the ladies of tho
District to visit thcm after the manner Of
their Ohio sisters, are either foolish hoaxcs
or equally foolish advertising lodges. 1t is
generally known, however, that few Of
the more enthusiastic temperance devotees
of both sexes have seriously entertained the
idea of beginning Crusade" in our
midst Whether they will do so or not re,
mains to be seen; but if they do, their OK.
perience will be far different from that
which has attended similar efforts in the
country towns of the West. The provoca-
tion may be as strong here as elsewhere
but, like all great communities, the District
has within its limits an amount of capital
invested in the various branches Of the
liquor business which is sufficient to compel
a certain kind of respect. 1t is an acknowl-
edged weakness of human nature to re-
spect strength of any kind, but especially
when it is based on the aggregation of
capital and it is therefore certain that our
dealers in spirits will not be without friends
and supporters in the event of a crusade
against them. This alone should be sutfi-
cient to discourage the effort, if one is con-
templated; but there are other and more
convincing reasons why all thoughts of it
should be abandoned. If We analyze the
movement closely we find that its success,
which can only be temporary, is mainly due
to the community of interest which prevails
in the localities where it has been attempted.
Those localities, as we have said, have been
country towns, the population of which is
so small as to enable each citizen to know
all of his townsmcn, and probably to be
familiar enough to call them by their first
names. 1t follows, as matter of course,
that each family in such small communi-
ties is acquainted with the circumstances
of their ncighbors, and, as the CON-
mon belief asserts, knows everything
shout everybody else's business" Those
who know anything about life in coun-
try towns know that it abOunds greatly
in gossip regarding the affairs Of others
that the names of neighbours dogs
like the names of his children, and the
number sex and spots of his last litter of
pigs, furnish the staple of everyday con-
versatiOn. The French print of which the
parsons wife's dress is made is the occa-
sion of comment only surpassed in earnest
ness by current criticism of the peculiari-
ties of neighbor Smiths case of mumps.
1t is therefore natural that the inteInpcr-
ance of any member Of such a community
should become matter of paramount i'm
portance. Particularly is this the case in
localities where tendency to religious in
fiuence prevails, and the consequence of
that influence is deep interest in the re-
formation Of the Maynard. As rule, too,
the average n-keeper or dram drinkcr
of the country town is less intelligent, and
consequently not so we'll informed upon his
rights and immunities. than his cotempo-
rary of the larger cities. He is seldom
wealthy enough to occupy position of in
fluence, and where churches and schools
are as plentiful as they are in Ohio is apt to
be regarded by the majority Of his fell ow-
citizens as the common enemy of mankind. |
Backed by this feeling, by the community |
of interest to which We have alluded, and |
hS more united moral influence than |
could be combined in large cities, it was to
be expected that the woman's movement
would succeed. Under less propitious cir |
cumstanccs their efforts would have proved |
futile.
Ii requires but a moments reflection to
discover that none of these propitious cir
c,imstances prevail in the District. Aside
from the strength OF the liquordealers,
arising from moneyed influence, which We
have described, the women of large com
muni;ics Ike this are necessarily differently
surrounded The population is SO large as
TO enable them to form congcnial social
circles of their own, into which none but |
congcnial spirits arc invited or allowed to
enter One direct result OF this organiZa- |
ttOh vi SDCiNtS ID an uisEA vi tlC A
circumstances and habits Of next-door
ncighbors, and consequent alb
scncc of any close bond of SYM
pathy even between people whose
dwellings adjoin. There are no loans Of a
drawing of tea or cup of salt between
ncighbors, to be paid back on Saturday
night, and no intercourse of that intimate
kind which exposes tc one family the long
cominss ard short goings of another. 1t is
therefore impossible that the community of
interest to which we have referred as char
acteristic of small towns should exist in
large cities, and although the moral belief
Of the two peoples may be the same, no
combination for such a definite object could
he made of sufficient strength to create
more than brief and unavailing breeze of
excitement: To build up such cyclone as
Mr.. Beechcr talks of requires unanimity |
Of action SO comprehensive as to include |
men, women and children of all classes
and every grade of life, and, in short, to |
provoke every citizen to more or less activ-
ity in behalf of the cause. Again, the char
acter of dram drinking, though in many
respects the same, is not calculated in large
cities to provoke the same disgust that it
does in small towns. 1t is well known
tact that at least one half, if not two thirds,
of our people are dram-drinkers to greater
or less extent. Those who take drop for
the stomach's sake, and those who take it
for its intoxicating influences, are the means
and the extremes between which there arc
different grades of intemperance, number
ing hundreds and thousands of respectable |
citizens. This fact presents an array of |
supporters of our drinking saloons which
shows that their proprietors arc not without
numerous friends, and although the latter
may agree that the abolition Of the practice
of dram drinking would he beneficial to the
ao1x Ali