The Grange advance., 1874-07-01
The Moral Power OF women.

|
men than the past and current crusade
against the vice of drinking and the traffic
upou hi .h 1t feeds. The exhibition and
demonstration of this power are so full OF
suggestion and instruction, both to men
women, lat they demand more thaa
passing consideration, especially IN their
Tearing upon some OF lne nost sIlrrlng
! questions Of the time.
j Why is it that the hardened rum seller
who, behind his bar, has dealt out the Eq
uid death to his victims for years, qua'ls
before a band Of praying beseechlng "o'
men women who, coming from tnelr
! cunforta bic retirement, brave WIND ana
storm and mud-brave ouloQuy s2d mis-
representation and curses, and all the
harsh b s,scles tha. brutality can throw
III their path to compass reto:m that
snail keep their natural supporters ana
pro e tors pure and prosperous? why IS
It I'll st meo looking on form new resolu'
lions # sobriety and reform the vicious
nabi:s of their lives? Why is it that
~ehauges which involve the destruction OF
! Il brutal business and Of habits 10 which
hundreds Of thousands are welded with
all the power Of a burning appetite, awake
no more violence than they do? Why is
| it that so many good men, whose souls pro
test against the sacrifice Of ease and pr
vacy which these women make bow to the
movement as something supremely Chris
tiap, and, therefore, verltably divine?
First, Of course, because there is no
man, however brutal, who does not know
that the women are right-thst whisky is
curse. not only to those who drink it.
but TO the unofending who do not drink
it..s Every nan feels that the a. ton Of the
women is an embodiment and expression
of the dictates Of his own conscience
Approached in way which disarms all
violent opposition, with an appeal to God
and to all the u,anlinees which he pos
! sesses, the vilest panderer to debased ap-
petite trembles not only before the pure
embodiment conscience without, but be-
| tore the answering conscience within. He
! hears Coos voice in the souls which ap.
preach him, and the same voice in his own
soul. There is something terrible in this
A mob which would tear his house down
a descent OF the officers Of the law, the
threats OF outraged fathers and brothers,
would only stimulate his opposition, and
give him an apology for continuing his
crime; but this quiet appeal to his Co..
science, by those whose consciences he
knows to be pure, is awful to him.
Second, the mind Of man is 80 constitu-
ted as to feel most sensitive the praise and
the blame Of women It is hard for any
man to feel that he rests under the CEN
sure Of all the good women by whom he
fs surrounded. The harshesL words that
have been spoken against the crusaders
| no haor hc ,h1n
they have found behind the bars they have
visited; aid these poor creatures were
speaking to win the approval OF the brutal
men they loved. A man who has not
some woman, somewhere, who believes
in him, trusts him and loves him, has
Re ached point where selt-respect is gone
All men, who deserve the name of men,
desire the respect of women; and " hen a
man finds himself N business which fixes
upon him the disapproval of whole com
munity OF women, power is brought to
bear upon him which he certainly canno,
ignore, and which he finds iti iiHcult to re-.
sst. The power of woman, slmp:y as
woman, has had too many illustrations in
| history 20 need further discussion here
A mans seltrespect can only be nursed to
its best estate in the approval CT the finer
sense and quicker conscience OF the wo-
men who know him.
The third reason is that the end which
these women seek is purely and benef-
Gently moral one. They are not after
money, they do not pursue revenge, they
do not seek political po wer or perferment,
they work in TIE interest of no party All
they desire, and ali they labor tor, is the
reform and ssey OF their husbands, broth.
ers, fathers and sons, and the extinction OF
those temptations and sources of tempta.
ticn which endapger them. They bear ne
il!-will to the dram-seller, but the mo.
ment be relinquishes his traffic they cover
HIM with their kindness and sympathy.
They not only have the sympathy OF party
men, as such, but they are denied the
sympathy of portions Of the Christian
church. They pursue a much desired
moral end by purely moral meaos They
seek nothing for themselves, but every
thing tor the men they love, and for the
men that ether women love. The ele
ment of selt sacrifice is in it all. They &C
from peaceful home pursuits, from the re-
tirement which is most .congenial to them
from prayers where they Lave begged FOL
the blessing of heaven upon their enter
prise, into the street, into foul dens Of de-
bauchery, into private expostulations with
brutal men, into atmospheres reeking will
ribsldly, and all to saYe others. No mar
; with spark of manliness in him-which
after all, is only godlines expressed in hu
man chsracler-can regard such q specta-
Gle as this without being moved to adm
ration and reverence.
And now tor the lesson which this cru
eade teaches US. It will be hard one fo
some women to learn, but desire for tht
conser vation Of the best forces of society
demands that it shall not only be stated
but needed. The ballot, even when exer-
cised in the right direction, has not yet, il
any state, proved cure for drunkenness
No law that has been enacted for the sup
preston Of dram selling, even in State
where special constabulary machinery ha
s.. -