The Portland daily press., 1885-11-30
TEMPERANCE.
w. c. T. U. and Law and Order
League Meeting.

! LedSues MIS-. GeO .. NUM-, pICSlucut VI OhS
Portland w. C. I. o., Rev. Mr.. Crosser, pas
tor of the First Presbyterian church, and
Rev. Mr.. Daniels, pastor of the Second
Parish.
Mr. Kimball opened the meeting by read
ing the 10th Psalm, after which prayer was
offered by Mrs. Humphrey. Mr.. Kimball
then said that it is the intention to hold
meetings regularly during the winter and if
the finances will warrant it to procure good
speakers from away He hoped that the
evenings contribution would be generous
one.
After the collection, Mr.. Kimball made the
| opening address. He said that those pre-
sent had met to discuss for little while a
| great question: question which is being
considered by all thinking people, and is fast
becoming historical. Different questions oc-
cupy the attention of the people of different
sections of the country, as for instance Mas
sachusetts takes pride in her manufacturing
| industries the coal and iron industries are
| of the greatest Importance in Pennsylvania,
| and other pursuits in other portions Of the
| land One section cares little about the sue
cess of the industries of another section,
| but the entire country takes interest in the
liquor question, and that question in the
course of few years is to do more to break
| down sectionalism and unite the country
| than anything else now before the people
On the one side is the strong and powerful
| LIQUOR interest. against which the fight is
being carried on, and great gains have been
made during the past twelve months. The
| speaker said that those who read only the
| local and political papers are not informed of
these gains, as such papers either misrepre-
| sented the facts or ignored them altogether.
Immediately after, Mr.. Kimball read the
| following despatch, which, he said, of
course was true-printed in the PRESS of
| Saturday, as showing the prohibition gain in
| the South
ENTHUSIASTIC PROHIBTTIONISTS.
FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA. GOES AGAINST
THE RUM SHOPS.
ATLANTA, Ca, Nov. 27.-When it was an
nOunced Wednesday night that Fulton
county, Georgia. in which Atlanta is situated
| had adopted local prohibition by 240 majority
| the enthusiasm of Prohibitionists was un-
bounded The city pas n s5ate Oh widest widest
| the streets by thousands and torches and
| bonfres lighted the heavens. This is not,
however, the end of the Prohibition night.
| The ProhibitiOnSts declare thatnOt until the
| the fight be stopped. Already instructions
have been sent out to leaders in the country
| to see that all candidates for the State legiS-
| lature, for governor, for Congress, and all
| other offices shall be pledged to Prohibition.
| This pushing of the prohibition question in
| to the active politics of the State has created
| unbOunded excitement in all sections. The
| ProhibitioniStS declare their purpose OF only
| standing by the Democracy in so far as the
| party makes itself a prohibition party. Cries
for st. John are heard ON all sides. II a
national election were to take place TINS
| week the State would vote the Prohibition
| ticket. The negroes are all actively COM
/ mitted to Prohibition and go arm in arm
| with their white allies
| 1t has been claimed, said the speaker, that
the question of prohibition should be taken
| out of politics, but the persistent efforts to
pervert the laws has rendered this impos-
sible, and ten States this year give larger
prohibition vote than was polled in the entire
| country last year.
Mrs. Hunt was the next speaker, and de-
| voted her attention to two branches of the
work of the Woman's Christian Temperance
| Union When the association was organized
| its work was divided into two channels. One
| was to carry the gospel to the poor and
| down-trodden the other, to secure better
| laws for their protection. From these two
| departments have grown out about thirty
| subdivisions of the work which Mrs. Hunt
| likened to the mass of telegraph wires
| strung over the streets, composed of a large
number of single wires, each of which while
| not distinguishable to the unframed eye has
| its special purpose. OF these thirty divisions
! of the work, the speaker took those which
referred to the laws of heredity and seien-
| tifc temperance instruction as the subject of
| her remarks.
The true meaning of sin as used in the
| second commandment-"Th sins of the
fathers thall be visited even unto the third
and fourth generations of them that hate
| Me'-is disease, the Jews believing that
disease was the direct punishment of sin.
| In visiting the homes of the lower classes
almost the first thing encountered by the
| members of the w. c. L. U. was the case of
| the blind and manned children. Investiga-
| tion showed that these were in majority of
| cases the children of Incorporate and
| drunken people, Blind Katie and the little
lame girl both of whom became known to
| the members of the Children's Christmas
| Club, had such parents.
In studying this phase of their work, the
| ladies We're told that these people sinned in
| agreat degree through ignorance rather than
| wilfulness, and it was urged that they be
| taught the true effects of alcohol upon the
| human system. The question of temperance
| instruction became in this way brought into
| intimate relation with the question of hered-
| ity. In thirteen States laws have been
| passed providing for the teaching of physi-
| Ology and hygiene in the public schools with
| special reference to the effects of alcoholic
| stimulants and narcotics upon the human
| system A text book has also been prepared
under the direction of the Union.
| Rev. Mr.. Crosser said that not having had
| the privilege of being present at the previous
meetings he was somewhat at disadvantage
as to what phases of the question are under
| discussion but he presumed that the object
| of all was to push national prohibition by
| pushing local prohibition and total alb
! stinence. Taunts may be hurled at the
people of Maine but especially hare the peo-
| pie of New York and Ohio no right to make
such aspersions with the political machines
| in those States in the saloons. In the recent
| election in Ohio the result was simply to
| change the machine from the Democratic to
| the Republican saloons.
| The eyes of people of other States are up
ON Maine watching the war against the rum
sellers. The speaker said that to him the
| Portland rumsellers appeared 10 bear the
mark of Cain.
| In the liquor question parents should take
| interest for the sake of their children and
| every effort should be made to induce
| moderate drinkers to become total abstainers.
| 1t is easier to prevent the formation of bad
habits in the young than to break the habits
| when formed.
Rev. Mr.. Daniels, the last speaker, refer
red in an interesting manner to the progress
of temperance work in the countries of the
Old World. The question is gaining in Eng
land, Switzerland has adopted local option,
and all eyes are bent upon Russia in anti
cipation of the closing of her rum shops.
Bismark never said a truer thing thar
when he deplOred the fact that Germany had
| become a land of beer drinkers.
The meeting was dismissed with the
I