The Red Cloud chief., 1884-01-25
WOMEN AND RUM.

Ninety-nine per cert. of the resu.cta-
ole women in the country, maids, wild
ows N matrons. are heart and soul
opposed to rum in all IFS forms. To
woman there is net only nothing in
rum that is pleasant, but there is moth
inc that is not misery. A man NAV
find some comfort in intoxicants. while
he Is drinking them. and till the ISrri-
bic reaction comes. lie finds comfort
IN the bar-room for it is ALWAYS warm.
n there is always an exhileration
n lltting-up of spirit. in drink.
While drinking he has. or thinks he has,
something of n good time, and when
he staggers home, no matter how
wretclfd that home NAV be, he is in a
condition that makes cold and hum
ger endurable. The rum supports him
till Its effects passes Of, and then
more rum restores him to new life, and
SO on.
OF course it comes to an end, and the
end IS wretchedness itself, but till the
stomach is gone, so that rum VIII not
excite II. there is some compensation in
it for him.
But his wife and chiiiren! While the
husband is in the warm groE-shop, they
are %shivering in the wretchei hovel.
Rum takes the place of clothes. and
fuel, and pleasant surroundings for him,
but they have the cold. the Dirt, the RAGS
and squalor to endure without that sup
porr.
They have the wretchedness while the
husband and father is away, with the
a,-.l., xl,s L. o1,s,~ ., q,
add brutality to the other misery they
are enduring. Cold and hunger are
certain to be supplemented with kicks
and blows. Brutality invariably brings
up the doleful train of hunger, cold and
want.
The father, absorbed in business, may
not note the growing color on the face
Of his son, and the other unmistakable
evidences of the gnawing appetite which
is consum NO him. But the mother,
with her keen instincts. is never de-
ceived. She knows his out-goings and
his in-comings; she marks the progress
of the destroyer, and long before the
father begins to suspect the truth, the
mother Is certain. of it. Woman-like
she shields her son.. and keeps the nor
itu llulH III bC " ASr-e "hNAN ~
burns like a coal of fire
She has daughters who are to be mar
ried, and there comes another danger.
Who is to be the custodian OF their hap
piness? Is the destroyer to mar their
lives? Son or daughter it is all one.
Rum threatens both.
Rum is the one standing dread of
every woman in the land l;um is the
one threat that hangs over every wom-
ans life. Rum is the standing menace
to peace and happiness in every house
hold. Rum is the N haunting ghost
If every woman who has husband, son
or daughter. Other vices have limita-
tionS-this has none. Other vices may
be cured, or. at the worst, Il man may
care something for wife and child with
other vices. but rum is the one giant
vice that roots out of a man every scln-
tilla of affection. and every atom OF
tenderness. 1t is the king vice which
includes ali the others. There is in it
dishonesty. brutality aud murder.
There is nothing that is bad that is not
possible fer a drunkard. nothing that a
woman most breads in the direction of
the bad but what in a drunkard is more
than probable. almost certain.
Is it any wonder that good women,
universally, are willing TO do ANYTHING
to curtail its power for evil? Is 1t any
wonder that almost universally they
are the foremost supporters OF every
proposition to kill it out? They know
It's misery better than men do. for they
are its chief victims.
Upon the women of the country a
great duty devolves. This over-shad-
owing curse, this aggregation of vices,
this epitome of misery. has impudently
set up its claim to the control OF the
country. 1t has announced its deter
n;nation to increase its power for evil
ny intrenching itself behind law. and to
his end proposes to make the laws. 1t
has announced itself above law. The
5rewers and distillers have organized
10 prevent any interference with their
horrid business, any curtaiiing OF their
power to spread misery and death. They
are ORGANIZING a new and effective raid
upon the women of the country, strik-
ING them through their sons and hus-
bands.
How are the women to meet this at
tack? By organization. Let them or
ranize as have their natural enemies.
the rum-sellers. Let every township in
the United States have its organization
If the purpose of which shall
be ( O develop public sentiment against
cum and for the promotion OF sobriety.
let them refuse all companionship with
Im, either in the drinker or seller.
they nave the power in their hands
to make drinking not only unfashion-