Arkansas weekly mansion., 1884-01-26
WOMEN AND RUN.

NinctV-ninc per cent. of the reSpect3-
bic women in the country. maids, wild
OwS and matrOnS. are heat and soul
opposed to rum in all its forms. TO
woman there is not only nothing in
rum that is pleasant, but there is moth
inc that is not misery. man may
find spme comfort in intoxicantS, while
he is drink ny them, and till the horri
Lle reaction comes. He finds comfort
in the bar-room for it is always warm,
and there is always an eNh:leration
and litting-up of spirit. in drink.
While drinking he has, or thinks he has,
something of a good time, and when
he StaGgcrS home. no matter how
wretc cheu that home may be, he is in Il
condition that makes cold and hun
ger endurablc. 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 wretchcdncsS itself, but till the
stomach is gone, 50 that rum viii not
excite IT, there is some compensation In
it for him.
But his wife and children! While the
husband is in the warm Grog-shop, they
are shivering in the wretchel hovel.
Rum takes the place of clothes, and
fuel and pleasant surroundings for him,
but they have the ct ID the Dirt. the Tags
and sqllalor to endure without that sup
port.
They have the wretchcdncss while the
husband anil father is away, with the
absolute certainty that his coming is to
add rutality TO the other misery they
are enduring. Cola 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 unmiStakahle
evidences of the Enawing appetite which
is consuming him. But the mother,
with her keen instincts, is never de-
ccived. She knows his out-goings and
his in-comingS; eho marks the progress
of the destroyer, and long before the
father begins to suspect the truth, the
mother Is certain of it. Woman-likc
she shields her son, and keeps the hOr-
rid truth in her own breast, where it
burns like 4 coal of fire.
She has daughters who are to be mar
ricd, and there comes another danger.
Who is to be the custodian of their hap
pincss? 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. Rum is the
one threat that hangs over every wom-
ans life. Rum is the standing menace
to peace and happincss in every house
hold. Rum is the one haunting ghost
of 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 man every scin-
tilia of affection, and every atom of
tenderness. 1t is the king vice which
in n.ludes all the others. There is in it
dishonesty. brutality aul murder.
There is nothing that is bad that is not
possible fer Il drunkard. nothing that a
woman most breads in the direction of
the lad but what in Il drunkard is more
than probable, almost certain.
l. it any wonder that good women,
universally. are willing to do anything
tosurtail its power for evil? Is it any
wonder that almost universally they
are the foremost supporters of every
rropns ton to kill it out? They know
its misery better than men do, for they
are its chef victims.
Upon the women of the country a
great duty dcvolvcs. This over-shad-
owing curse, this aggregation of vices,
this cpitomc of misery, has imDudcntly
set up its claim to the control OF the
country. 1t has announced its deter
mination to increase its power for evil
by mtrenclIiny itself behind law, and to
this end proposes to make the laws. 1t
has announced itself above law. The
brewers and dis;illerS have organized
l. tl>,.I
hOrrid business. any urtalling of their
power to spread misery and death. They
are organizing n 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
eanizc rs have their natural enemies ;.
the um-scllcrs. Let every township in
the United States haye its organization
Of women. the purpose OF which shall
be to develop public sentimen! against
| rum and for the promotion of Sobriety.
Let them refuse all comranion>hip with
rum. either in the drinker or seller.
They have the power in their hands
to make drinking not only unfash. on
able, but di>rcputable; to set such a
seal of condemnation upon it as will
pale of good society. They can. if they
will, rc,egate it To tie bar-rooms of the
slums. They may. if they choose.
close every respectable saloon in the
country. without unscxing themselves
| or doing ANYTHING that the most refined
woman on earth could object to. They
| have the means TO make indulgence in
| intoNicants a social crime, to compel
men. young and old, who have an, self-re-
spect, feel that they risk something by
countenancing the horrid traffic in any
way. The power of woman for good is
something enormous, and God knows
| there is no cause in which it can he
better used than this. 1t is especially
their cause-they have the most inter
est in it.
They can save many young man
| from himself. and remove temptation
| from the path of many a threatened one.
Organization should be met with or
| ganizarion, and the women. the chief
sufferers from rum, should lead in this
| matter in their own defense. This is
| one very effective way to pulverize the
rum power Toledo Blade.