The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-04-18
Woman.s temperance column
The Lord of hosts IS NTH as, the God
of Jacob is u refuge"
History OF the Home Protection Petit

VI ttOUHt EEOttCtfOn Ettit-
The Home Protection Petition was
ordered at the annual meeting of the
Illinois. Woman's Christian Temperance
Union at Monmouth, Oct. 10, 1873. IL
vas drafted by Miss Willard, with the
exception of the legal portion, which
was furnished BY LAWYER w. L. Black
Of Chicago), and was accepted Dec. B.,
BY the Executive Committee of the
State. Union. The first meeting at
which it was presented was held by
Miss Willard at Geneseo, Dec. IL, but
the petition was not in the hands of the
public until after the holidays. Less
than a thousand names were obtained
before Jan. l, and all petitions were
called in March l; so that the entire
work of securing the n hundred and
ten thousand names covers a space of
about nine weeks. That a response 90
general should have been made within
a time SO brief shows not only great en-
erey OH the part oftemperance women,
Christian ministers and reformed men,
(for these three classes have mainly
done the canvassing,) but shows also
the strength of of sentiment i'm favor OF
woman's temperance ballot in Illinois.
| The canvass was in Chicago largely
confined to public meetings. In Car
thage, mainly through the efforts of one
woman, the names of 1857 persons Of
legal age were secured from O popula.
| ton of 2500. This is only a fair sam
pie of what equal faithfulness would
have achieved in most towns of the
state. The educational effect of such 9
canvass can hardly be over estimated
It clarifies individual opinion and solid.
ifes public sentiment. 1t compels {
vast amount of thought and discussion
and leads to "taking Sides" thus trans
lating great numbers ont of indifference
into that arrest of opinion known as de
cision.
The signatures to the petition arr
pasted on strong white muslin, 10 inchei
wide, bound on the right with red ant
on the left with blue ribbon, in compli
ment to the two wings of the reform
movement in this state; the color of tn,
petition itself s%ymbolizes the woman
movement, and the three indicating tn,
national colors, which are being 30 rap
idly allied to the total abstinence cause
The length of the petition is about 65l
feet, and it has an average of four sig
natures to each line. If there were bu
one signature on each line the length
would be 1900 feet (about 500 yards.
There are are fifty thousand names o
Illinois voters on this list, which repre-
sents over 450towns and every Congress
sional District in the state. The weigh
of the petition is Sc pounds. 1t wa
presented to the Legislature March 6tl
by seventeen ladies representing al
parts of the state. Mrs. j. E. Foster o
Clinton, Iowa, the gifted lady lawyer
was present by invitation, and present
ed the legal aspects of the case. Mis-
Anna Gordon (Miss Wizards privat,
s~ccretary,) had entire supervision o
sending out the petition, and putting |
together, a quite Herculean task. Prom
inent business men of Chicago, chief o
whom was r.. j. Fowler, Esq, furnish
ed the fund for postage, printing ant
amanuenses. On the evening previous
to the formal presentation of the petition
a mass meeting was held in the hall o
the House of Representatives, at which
time the entire hall was festoOned il
graceful folds with the petition. Tht
formal presentation was made to tn,
House on behalf of the ladies, by ,
Democrat, Judge Kinds, of Freeport
Ia an able speech, and three of the la
dies, Miss Willard, Mrs. Foster and Mrs
st. John addressed the House at regu
lar session by invitation, upon the mo,
ton of Hon. Sol. Hopkins, a Republi
can; this being the first time the honor
has ever been enjoyed by ladies'. Abou,
the End of April, the ladies will return
with fifty thousand new names and pre-.
sent them to the Senate. This is don.
by advice oil prominent members OF the
Legislature.
1t is hoped that good men of both
parties may band together to elevate
this measure above partisan politics and
to the level of simple justice and loyal
ty on the part of our law makers tow
ard the women of the Prairie State
~CSpringfield State Journal.