, 1877-07-01

include city saloons ander. the license and
regulation Of municipal authorities. In any
case, therse is no authority; direct or infer
ential, for employing the city police as spies,
informers, and Witnesses to enforce this
law. .
If the Woman's Christian Temperance
Union rea1ly desire to accomplish something
practical in behalf of temperance land we do
not question the sincerity of their motiyes),
they will abandon their present effort to
revive the Sunday-beer strife, which will
only lead to greater intemperance if it shall
succeed, and it will occdpy field where
woman's presence aud influence may yet
achieve wonders. We commend the A1uH-
rHY movementin Ohio to their considera-
ton, where hundreds of pledge-signers hare
been secured in every city and town in the
State by means Of personal application and
persuasion This movement is similar in
nature to the Washingtonian and Father
MATHEW movements, which started about
forty years ago and achieved the
most beneficial results. Those move
ments were originally based upon per-
sonal efforts of reform, upon good example,
upon persuasion and argument, upon Chris
tian influences aud kind, sympathetic aid
extended to all who made an effort to aban-
don the excessive use Of alcoholic liquors.
While the temperance reformers kept within
these limits, they swept the country, and,
undoubtedly saved many an old drunkard,
and kept thousands of young mon from
drinking at all. They started ut time
when the use Of whisky was almost univer
sal throughout the country; barrel Of new
whisky was almost as much matter OF
course N every farmers house as barrel OF
vinegar or a barrel Of cider. Whisky was
the drink. Wine was rare luxury, in which
only the wealthy could indulge, and beer
was almost unknown. In this condition Of
things, nn abstinence movement wasa bless
ing, SO long as personal persuasion and Chris
tim influence were the means to the end. But,
after awhile, these reformers weeried in
well.doing, and sought to shift the actual
labor from themselves to the constnbulary,-
to accomplish by force what they had previ-
ously accomplished by moral suasion.
Henceforth they encountered the opposition
of temperate drinkers who had previously
assisted them, and relied upon tippling Con-
stables to enforce laws in which they did not
believe. From that time till now, whenever
force has been applied where persuasion
should have ruled, there has been no good
result, but only political strife and bad
feeling.
The Indies Of the Womans Christian Tenn
pernnce Union are only repeating the mis-
take that has been mado spasmodically over
and over ngain during the last twenty-five
years. We do not think they will be able to
influence City Council Of thirty-six men
most of them practical and sensible men-to
join in their error; but, if they should, itwould
be all the worse for them and all the other
respectable people Of Chicago in the end,
as it would only lead to a rerival of that sort
of city government which prevailed under
GOWN. If the ladies want to do some prac-
tical good in temperance way, they should
fail into the MunpHr movement, Start it in
this State, and help it along with their own
Christian and woman1y inauence,-avoidirg
the North Side Germans, who believe they
aro temperate in confning themselves to
beer-drinking.