The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1883-09-07
TEMP

The obtaining of seventy-two char
ter members to the lodge Of Good
Templars recently organized in Kim
ball speaks well for the town rs iudi-
cative of its moral strength. The
lodge, if properly managed, can do a
vast amount of good. The large num-
Der of ladies comprising it is in itself
its greatest strength. If by their in
f%luencc they can prevent one man, be
he young or old, from going down in
to the black gulf of intemperance or
reclaim one from such a depth, surely
their work will not have been in am.
Women are the greatest sufferers
from the terrible evil of lntemper-
ance. 1tmakes their husbands brut es,
themselves widows, their children
fathcrless and all of them paupe,s
and beggars. 1t is not to be won-
dered at therefore, that in them we
find its bitterest foe; It's most unre-
lenting enemy. The only trouble is
they are often too jealous; they try
to do too much. They seem to think
that i~ntemperance can be crushed
out in a day, as 1t were. by so doing
they, in some cases, make themselves
a~ntagonistlc to those whom they
would otherwise enlist as warm sup
portcrs i'll their cause. Wiser heads
than theirs; wiser heads than ours
with the good of their fellow men
at heart are puzzled as to the best
means to check this great evil. Simp-
ly because they may not agree with
them or with us as to the proper
method to adopt in the premises is
not indicative of a lack of interest in
the good cause. 1t would hardly be
consistent for a Methodist to say to a
Presbyterian: you cannot enter the
kingdom of heaven only through our
faith. Although there are those just
SO bigotcd.
What nan will not Go for himself
he will often do for another is true
in SO many respects it should be a
maxim. We believe, therefore, that
IN the moral suaslon of women in
temperance is overcome more than in
any other way, and not by prohiblto-
ry laws. Nothing would please us great
er than to see every saloon in the
country wiped out of existence, but
the time for that mucn to be desired
act has not arrived. The moral SEN
timent of the country has not reached
that point. To educate people up to
it is what our temperance people must
do. Elevate them to that plane and
then and only then prohibitory laws
can be easily enacted and enforced.
The confines of this article will not
permit of an expression of our views
as to what laws should be IN the mean
time enacted. The great majority of
mel appear to ike spurious liquors
and they will drink it. If they can
not obtain it openly they will covert
ly. So long as the appetite exists
there is disposition so crafty it.
Defined wrete: "Virtuc, as under
stood by the world, is a constant
struggle against the laws Of nature"
So it is with those who have a natural
appetite for liquor; with them to be
temperate is a constant struggle
against a taste which was born with
them or has come to them in a nat.
ural way and which oil the prohibito-
ry laws in the world cannot efface.
Were it not for the liking of alcohol
ic beverages there would be no
drunkenness. Take away the desire
for them and you destroy the business.
This can best be done by moral sua.
sion and the ladies, young ones es.
pecially, are the ones to do it. w.
have known many a man brought
back from the verge of drunkard's
grave by kind, intelligent reasoning
from a sweetheart, wife or friend.
There is nothing in the world a man
has so much respect for as a true
woman.
The foregoing has been written for
the benefit of and applies equally to
the w. C. T. U. and the Good Temp
lar, and although our views may 20.