Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-06-11
EDITED BY THE W. G. T. u.
MRS. HUNTS BILL SIGNED.
Ihe FIRST Temperance Measure ever
Adopted by the General
Government.
/ special Correspondence of The I'oicc


WASHINGTON. ID. g.. May -. Pre,i-
dent Cleveland has signed senator Blar>
scientific temperance education bill. which
passed the senate unanimously and the
House with only eight votes against il.
After attaching his signature he present
ed to Mrs. Mary II. Hunt. superintendent
of the department of scientific Tcmper-
ance Instruction of the National W. {. +.
=. the pen with which he performed
that act.
To this lady belongs the whole honor
of having secured the adoption of the
flrSt dlStlnctiNcly temperance measure
that has ever passed Congress. heard
one Congress say to her: "Ordinarilv
such bill would be - years in getting
through. and but for your work. Mrs.
Hunt. it wouldn't have had the ghost of
a show
From the time the bill was referred to
the committee on education of the House
until it, passage. Mrs. Hunt was con-
,tantly on the watch and labored inces-
sanity. 1t never would have been re-
ported by the committee had it not been
TOR the pressure which she eXerted and
the numerous petitions which. through
her efforts. the W. G. L. L. ladies through
out the country showered in upon their
representatives in Congress. Finally it
was agreed by a majority of the commit
tee to report the bill to the House with
out amendment. just as it came from the
Senate. Then almost any one would
have rested, particularly as assurances
were given that it was ''all right" and
that there would be mo trouble now"
But Mrs. Hunt still recognized the need
Of vigilance. and it was well that she did
for without her untiring persistency il
would probably have been left over until
the last hurried weeks of the session and
then quietly buried out of sight. since
members of Congress, however favor
able, would. being engrossed with their
own bills. not be able or willing to give
il especial championship. The measure
becomes law just as Mrs. Hunt wrote
lt-aS IA congressman expressed ii. with
every Il dotted and every I eros Sed. -
certainly II remarkable thing to be said
in these days. of any piece of legislation.
Mrs. Hunt modesty disclaims the
credit for it, passage. and SAYS that had
it not been for the active and practical
cooperation which she received from the
W. {. I. |. throughout the country, she
could not have succeeded. T.. y.
The vote on the bill in the House was:
For. Republicans, 95. Democrats. ia.
total. 2O9; against, Republicans, none.
Democrats. : not voting. Republicans.
10. Democrats, 60, total. lOj.
1t will be noticed that more than one
fourth of the whole House We're either
absent or lodged the vote. For the
dodgers there is no possible excuse. since
the rule requiring those paired with alb
sent members not to vote on any politi-
cal question did not apply, this not being
party measure.
The Washington Sentinel Cliquor or
gam, commenting on the success of the
measure, says:
Those few gentlemen who voted
against the bill will receive the thanks of
all haters of sentimental hypocrisy and
miserable jobs. -
Those few gentlemen" were all Dem
ocrats. of them being from North Car
Olina. from Indiana, , from Iowa, and
from South Carolina. Among those
not voting was Mr.. Ira Davenport, the
Republican candidate for governor of
New \ ork last fall. But Mr.. Davenport
may have been absent. Other non-vOt-
ing members were Holmes and Peters.
Republicans from Iowa and Kansas. re-
spectively. Pirce. of Prohibition Rhode
Island, did not vote in favor of the bill.
OF the l2l Southern members. fl either
voted against the bill or did not vote at
all. OF these rs were Democrats and
were Republicans.