The Portland daily press., 1879-07-25
GATHERING OF THE TEMPERANCE
The Mass Meeting and Picnic at White
Head.

excursion Wednesday as had been arranged,
when the desire to see and hear Secretary
Sherman would have caused thousands to at
tend who, as it was, did not put in an appear
ance. The day was delightfully."- cool, too cool.
The ''Gazelle' that carried down the most of
the distinguished guests, and the band, was so
heavily loaded as to require the assistance of
the sc. A. Warren" to tow her down, and at
the island twice grounded.
The woods may have been Goods first tenn
ples," but the woods of White Head were
mostly filled with shooting galleries and lem
onade stands
On the arrival of the "Gazelle,' the process
sion formed and marched to the grand stand,
headed by Miller's Cornet Band, c. L. Parker,
Esq, acting as Marshal. AT the stand the ex-
ercises opened by the rendering of musical
selections by the band, after which the Hon.
Geo. w. Woodman called the meeting to
order He congratulated the meeting on the
presence of so many of the pioneer workers in
the good cause. That such gathering had
come to this beautiful island in Casco Bay
speaks volumes for the cause. He then intro
duced A. j. Chase, Esq, who presided.
The Perham quartette then sung ''The Tenn
perance STAR
of Portland.
Mr.. A. j. Chase announced that in the alb
sence of the Hon. Nelson Dingley, the Rev.
A. S. Ladd would preside during the forenoon,
with the following list of officers: Secretaries,
George E. Brackett B. c. Jersey, Charles l..
Parker; Vice Presidents the Hon. Sidney
Perham, c. III. Berry, the Rev. T. lyric, J. X.
Osgood, Major III. A. Shorey, c. W. Horn,
Miss Marian Gaines, and Robert FL. Murphy.
Mr. Ladd said that the honor of presiding
over such a meeting was next in his estimation
to that Of being minister of Christ. The
meeting had but one purpose and that was to
agitate the subject of temperance. He had no
objection to hearing any man speak from that
platform on the other side of the question. If
any man thinks that temperance is wrong, or
that prohibition is wrong let him speak and we
will hear. The advocates of liquor drinking
claim that the desire to drink is natural one
Ii so, the man who is born, and was the
speaker said, without the desire to drink, is not
natural man. II there is spot ON earth
where man is responsible for being a-drunk-
ard, it is in Portland, not but what liquor can
be obtained in Portland, but a. man is not
tempted there as elsewhere. This meeting
then, has met to agitate the subject of temper
ance, looking to the end that the cause may
triumph, not only in this state, but in this ma
ton, and throughout the world,
Mr. Ladd then introduced Charles H. Berry,
Esq, as the next speaker, who said that owing
to the temperance agitation thousands of
homes had been made happy, and thousands of
men had been saved. Six hundred thousand
of Good Templars stand in line; SOC, 00O chill
dren are in the juvenile orders, and million
of reformed men are in the other organizations
The speaker was reformed man, and if his
conversion and that of other reformed men is
due to fanatical work, he prayed God that
there might be more of it. The work to
be done is to GUST the rum traffic The women
of our country are interested in the temperance
movement as matter of self-protection. Rum
is today the great enemy. Not day passes
but what men infamed by rum commit out
RACES on women. He trusted to see WON an
suffrage fixed and accomplished fact. He
hoped to see petition like that sent, in in Ill
inois, five miles long, for the right The tenn
had recently heard gentleman say that he
hoped he should never hear the word "yote''
mentioned in lodge again. A man who talks
temperance must vote temperance. The
liquor dealers advocate recently said that there
were 100000 bar-tenders in the land Each
one can control ten votes; let them but unite
and do their duty and the temperance fanatics
can be swept from the land. Let temperance
men be warned. Let them unite, pray and
vote for temperance, and thus beat the enemy
at their own game.
The Perham Quartette then rendered in
pleasing manner ''Strike for the cause of tenn
perance."
Hon. Sidney Perham was then introduced.
1t has been forty-five years, he said, since he
had drank anything that could intoxicate, ex-
cept once, when about ~ years ago he drank
some "bitters' on the prescription of ply
sican' More that half of his childhood
friends the most promising of the young men,
had gone down to a drunkard's grave. The
most promising of the young men of Oxford
county had gone down to the grave where a
drunkard sleeps. We are all one people, we
are all of one membership. No man can fall
and not have the community suffer. In this
community lilOiO uldlly going uOWn 10
death from this cause Everywhere in this
broad land the brightest intellects are goiug
this way. There is no such evil as this, no
such evil that so stands across the path to sue
cess. Temperance men are said to be one idea
fellows, but that idea prevails everything
Christians who would save sinners must first
get the rum out of them. The country suffers
In every respect on account of the existance OF
the 100000 drunkards in the land. Does any
man stand with folded hands looking with ut
fCrI nd How fl,nro
of the highest moral positions everywhere do
it,. And this is seen in the churches. No one
believed more highly than the speaker in the
holy influence of the church, but something
more is needed in disciple of Christ besides
being church member. There must be no
negative men, we must make ourselves felt.
We must work wherever there there is work
to do in the great cause of humanity
A grand gain has been made in the temper
ance cause. The time was when it was worth
mans life to execute the prohibitory law;
now 1T can be executed as well as any other
criminal law If it is not enforced it is the
fault of the law officers, here and elsewhere.
The speaker would advise all present, not as
Republicans, not as Democrats, not as Green
backers but as American citizens, to vote only
for men who will uphold the law.
Governor Perham here reviewed the drug
gist bill, and said if it had passed every one
would have been" druggists. - The bill proposed
to have educated men of good moral character.
How much moral character is needed to sell
rum? Last spring Portland sent a solid rum
delegation to the Legislature; that is delega-
ton pledged to the support OF the druggists
bill, and one of the druggists of Portland wrote
up to Augusta to say that if the bill did not
pass he should close his shop Qaughter), but it
is probably open STILL
B. c. Torsey, Esq, of Winthrop, was then
introduced and said that Governor Perham
was mistaken in thinking that last year Port
land elected a full delegation pledged to rum.
The delegation might have been "solid' and
united but if they were to be believed it
was in their devoti on to the temperance cause.
They were the self-constituted guardians Of
the temperance cause. Maine leads in the
temperance battle to day, as of old. Our re-
form clubs today represent class that but re-
Gently were low down. Today $4,000 of the
saved men are marching on to victory under
the bright banner of the Reform Club. This
movement has gone beyond this State; all over
the nation, and over the ocean to the old
world. The Good Tenn plars are going a great
work in keeping the prohibitory law on our
statute book; a work that the Reform Clubs
could not perhaps do. The speaker here paid
an earnest tribute to the "Maine Law"
al 4I,o,1