National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1876-07-31
TEMPERANCE MEETING.
An Interesting Occasion.


The meeting under the auspices of the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union an
nounced for yesterday afternoon st Lincoln
hall was held in the lecture room of the build
ing, and was well attended, considering the
unfaYorab,e weather, the room being filed.
Mr.. Stewart, president of The Y. NJ. c. A,
made prayer at the opening.
The speaker, Mrs. Stevens, of San Francisco,
was introduced by Mrs. Linville, and delivered
a very interesting address, which was listened
to with great attention, and many were moved
to tears at some of her touching incidents.
Among other things, she said she hoped the
people might be aroused and work more zeal
ously in the temperance cause. When she re-
membered that in this country there are four
saloons to every church she thought show
fearfully the odds are against u.s." We are
told that if people would use native wines no
harm would be done, but in her State of Cali
fornia their native wines are dragging the peo-
pie down to ruin fearfully.
In San Francisco they have $500 saloons or
places where liquors are drank, and at the
grocery stores even the children sent there for
bread are urged and taught to drink beer.
Many of you are perhaps indirectly interested
in this liquor traffic. Mr.. A. or Mr.. B. sells
liquor, and yet you do not like to offend him
by refusing to patroniZe him for other articles.
This evil is mans greatest enemy; his direct
foe. If you will spell the word "murder"
backwards you will find it to be cred p
a strange coincidence-and she believed all
the murders, and even those SO recently COM
mitted in Washington, were traceable directly
to the effects of rum. Six millions of men and
women in our country are worshiping at the
shrine of Bacchus, and of these sixty thousand
per annum fill drunkards' graves, and the
broken ranks are at once filled up again by re-
cruits from the moderate drinkers.
She had come here at the wish of the tenn
peraDce women of San Francisco to ask Con-
gress for an abandoned Government building,
standing on q rock near that city, and formerly
used as marine hospital, for the purpose of
establishing sailors temperance home. She
has been here three weeks; the bill has not yet
been parsed by Congress. 1t woald not take
over five minutes of their precious time to pass
it, if they only would, and let her go home re-
joicipg. But whether it passes or not, the
women will not quit their work. They are
thoroughly enlisted in this warfare, and their
weapons are not carDal. She spoke of the
struggle our country made against the slave
power, and yet this rum power is a more terri
BILE evil than human slavery. The one en-
slaves the body only, hut the other enslaVes
both body and soul and drags men and women
drunkard shall enter the kingdom of Heaven.
She believed the women of the country would
save the young men, though the old may be
so addicted to their cups that they cannot be
reached. She was glad to see the young men
of the Young Mems Christian Association
taking so firm stand in favor Of temperance.
THIS is a solemn question and must be decided,
iCr Chris tanity and temperance is against them.
She thought there ought to be inserted in our
catcchtsms the doctrine that "persons cannot
diiuk wine and be Christians, AID she believed
that fermented wines should not be used a.
Sacramen:s. One wholesale liquor dealer said
to her, when have made my pile I'll get out
of this business She said men would take
this ''bl' oil money!" and by and by would give
a few thousand dollars to some church: but
she did not believe the Lord was pleased with
such gifts.
If the men will make laws to open liquor
shops the women will pray to their God to
close them. We often hear that women
should not leave their homes to engage in
work like this, and she believed that woman
should be keeper of home; but when this
terrible enemy places temptations before her
IONS, her husband and invades her own home,
what shall she do? Size used the beautiful in
cident of the little Scotch boy who was willing
to be let down by a rope from a cliff to secure
some rare plant growing on its side if only his
father would hold the rope to show that the
women can feel secure as they go down into
the haunts of misery and vice ct the call of
the Lord when they know that the Eternal
Father holds the rope. As she came through
Philadelphia, and was there over Sunday, she
found the Centennial Exposition closed, but
the saloons were in full blast, and she thought
how is it that they have moral power enough
to close the Exposition grounds, but in the
great Quaker City they have not power to
close these saloons! The people say, go,
these Germans will have their beer" So they
cater to the Germans and they cater to the
Irish, but she did not hear of any catering to
our grand American population, which ought
to be an example of temperance and purity.
She told of wealthy friend whose husband
had came home intoxicated, and, because she
sat up waiting fer him, he knocked her down,
and when telling Mrs. Stevens of il she said,
"don't envy me my wealth and luxury, but l
may well envy you because you have sober
busband.' The meeting was closed with
very earnest prayer by Mrs. LinYille and the
beLediction by DR.. Gray.