The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-07-31
The woman's Crusade.


II is impossible not to feel a great deal
of sympathy in reading the accounts of
the liquor crusade OF the Western wom-
en-, not, perhaps, with the movement
itself but with the despair and disgust
which have led TO it. 1t is now quite
half century since the movement for
the suppression of intoxication began in
this country, and during that time it
has been, in the main, in the hands OF
the male sex; let us examine with what
results. At first, the means used was
moral suasiOn; the leagues which
sprung up all over the country were
purely moral associations, formed for
! the purpose of encouraging among those
who believed in total abstinence the
zeal for the good,cause. Men were per-
suaded into signing the pledge in the 1
/ belief that voluntary resistance of temp
/ tation YVES the best resistance. This
was the first stage of the movement.
! AS soon as those who had banded them
selves together for the suppression of
drunkenness found themselves strong
enough, they resorted to that means of
effecting their object which to most per-
sons seems to be the natural and obvi-
Gus means of accomplishing any social
or moral object = legislation. They
passed laws in n number of States absO-
/ lutely prohibiting the sale Of intoxicat-
/ ing liquors, and brought into action
new machinery and novel expedients
/ for its enforcement; finding, however,
after many experiments, that this did
not put an end to drinking, they fell
back, or rather were compelled by their
natural enemies, the liquor dealers, to /
seem to fall back, on statutes substitut-
ing regulation for prohibition; and in
some States it has been no uncommon /
thing to see a sort of alternative ma |
chinery set in motion, which for one |
year, or a number of years, turned out |
prohibitOry statutes, and in the alternat- /
ing periods license laws. Still the sale /
of liquor seemed to go on very much as
before, and finally in Ohio, if not in !
other States, laws were passed creating
not merely new machinery, but new
theory of law for the suppression of the
vice and the traffic i'm it; hitherto, the
theory of law had been that the sale of
liquor was like the sale of anything
else-an ordinary occupation in which
any one might engage, subject to proper
restrictions. The new theory land this
J theory naturally enough grew out of
the previous legislation on the subjectl
was that the sale of liquor was some
thing different from the sale of other
things, and in fact was more like the
sale of nitro-glycerine or arsenic, and
that any one who engaged in 1t ought
, to do so at his own peril-and not only
I, so, but that there were certain classes in
l the community affected by the sale in a
very peculiar way. Therefore it was
provided by law that any one related
to the purchaser of alcoholic stimulauts,
by marriage or by blood within certain
5 degrees, might bring an action against
the dealer and recover in damages for
q the injury resulting from the intoXica-
tion of the vendee. But this law did
not succeed much better than its prede-
J, cessors; actions were taken under it,
D but there was considerable difficulty in
-, executing It's provisions. The whisky
!, traffic still went on, and the triumph of
1 temperance seemed as far of as ever.
D 1t cannot be denied that the super
!, vision of the liquor business has not
thus far been n success. The reason is
very simple There has never been any
serious attempt on the part of those
classes in the country who ought to
govern it to grapple with the question.
Whenever n State legislature has passed
prohibitory law, the great majority of
{ the intelligent and educated people in
I the country have sneered at it, and said
that every one knew it could not be en-
, forced. No sooner, on the other hand,
does the usual license law succeed it,
free rum" Notwithstanding the patent
S fact that the danger is n great if not an
increasing one, people content them
{ selves with framing statutes without
the slightest desire or expectation that
. they shall be enforced, and appointing
!, officials whom everybody understands
D will not enforce them. All the ordinary
means had been tried. Nothing re-
, mained but extraordinary means.
Il s,,N.
q are undoubtedly the wives, mothers,
and children of drunkar,Is. They have
D been assured for nearly fifty years that
4 intoxication and the traffic in intOxicat-
{ ing liquors should be put an end to.
y Instead of these promises being kept,
J drunkenness has been on the increase
t throughout the country, and the women
S who suffer from it have been as badly
of as ever. There is nothing very
t strange, under these circumstances, that
r the women of Ohio and other Western
n States should, under the influence of
Q strong religious and moral excitement,
!. take the-law into their own hands, and
n move en- nldSSe on the headquarters of
S the traflic-the saloons themselves
: and, having received cogent proof that
laws and constitutions were of little use,
# should resort to more primitive means
q of attack. They do not seem to have
!, used, OF to have melted others TO use,
: violence. They have merely descended
d upon notorious places of sale, and by
s means of making them publicly odious,
e have succeeded, in most cases, i'm induc-
d ing the seller to give up business, for the
time being, at least. There are, no
d doubt, questions connected with the law
S of trespass which may arise out of such
i proceedings; but it seems to US that it is
g the remedy of really oppressed class,
n who feel that they have been trifled
s with and imposed upon long enough.
If That the liquor traffic is going to be
:. put an end to in this way, probably no
;. one imagines. Even that the women
are likely to form permanent organi-
/ zation for its suppression seems highly
i improbable. But what cannot be doubt
IS ed is that, for time, at least, the women
II have succeeded in convincing the men
l. that, if the latter cannot manage certain
Y functions of government, these must be
d managed by some one else. This 'cru-
4 sade,i as it is called, is nothing more
n than the women's way of convincing
Y men who have been deceiving them
i that they will be deceived no longer
e ". Y Nation.
T.nx Opr-p .ror, Tho XVaoFor,,