Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-05-20
WOMAN's DEPARTMENT.
EDITED BY BELLE MEADE SMITH.
wowan,s Relation to Temperan,

Won ans Relation to Temperance
Is moral and not political. 1t origin
ates in the family, expands in the socia
circle and afterwards widens out IN al
eddying tide that can neither be meas
ured nor followed. Practically little
good or evil can be traced from her atti
tude either for or against temperance
yet in the complex scheme O
life she has in some way ol
other exerted an influence. She may
have been without convictions of any
shape upon the subject, and consequent.
lv she may have thus bred a spirit OF
Indifference in some one else. She may
have believed in temperance but not in
diligence, and from that stand point, she
NAV have wrecked the career of one who
was too weak to adhere to her comprom-
ising code. On the other hand, she may
have seen the demon in the cup and
80 may have tiled to point il
out to others; but to no avail
apparently; yet who shall say that such
was the case? She may not, it is true,
have accom- piished much for the men OF
her own generation, but she may have
planted seeds i'll the breast Of a son or a
daughter that in due season would devel-
ope in the life, character and influence of
some descendant, destined perhaps to
become human benefactor. In that
case, that woman's convictions were OF
the utmost Importance. But look
at the matter in whatever light we may,
woman's relation to temperance is a
kinship that cannot be denied. She may,
indeed, sell her best right for mess Of
conventional porridge, but che cannot de
stroy her alliance, for in some guise or
at some time, it will sweep back upon
her like tidal wave. II women could
only be brought to perfect recog-
nization of their RESPONSE ilities
in this direction, the time
might come when champagne and
whisky did not 81 in the halls OF Con-
gress, and when like mammo 9th car Of
Juggernaut inteinperance did not grind
to death millions OF helpless women and
chiloren. No young girl should ever be
permitted by her parents or her friends
to associate with, much less to marry, a
man who is known to be-convivial, /,
and no matron should ever countenance
as a guest, anyone whom she suspected
OF the same fault. Mors oser, no woman
should tolerate the presence OF the de-
canter upon the sideboard and no
mother should feel that her children
were completely educated unless, as a
fundamental principle, deep-rooted abb
hoirence of the fascinating glass was
firmly and irrevocably laid. Other
wise she cannot be sure that
her girls will die honest women,
or that her sons will be other
than a curse and a reproach All women
who know anything of the horrors OF in
temperance ow that it is a subject
upon which one cannot be too radical.
1t is only the women who know nothing
about it and who. indeed, have been for
tunate enough to have consofted with
sober men, who look lightly upon it.
Esther, in "Felix Holt" complained to
her father that she could not eat the
soup, because Liddy, the handmaideu,
cried into it. 1t would be well for
women il they could cry into the wine
that their husbands and fathers and sons
drink, and thus, by their tears, make it
distasteiul TO them. Yet it is doubtful
whether even Niobe could produce this
result, for we all know that worse
things than tears make their way into
the cup, and still it is drank
and drank with relish. THO influence
which even slight indulgence exerts, is
far from pleasing. 1t may not cause
man to reel through the streets like
ship that has suddenly been bereft of its
rigging, or TO cling to a wsyside lamp
post as his best friend, but 1t certainly
does cause him to be disgusting. 1t
is useless to deny that he is affected by
moderate tippling, because an observer
can readily see that such is not the case.
Indeed, il he was not, and did not wish
to be affected, he would find wine no more.
irresistible than milk, coffee or water. 1t
is the effect and the effect alone that
makes Intoxicating drink fascinating.
In its early stages rum makes man
either silent, mirthful or oratorical. He
loses the con rol OF his voice and declaims
like a ventrloquist who is talk
ing nonsense through the medium OF
rag baby. He is also visionary and emo
tional, and is almost as ready to make
love to manikin as he is to woman.
The above picture is not the portrait Of
the helpless inebriate, whose intelligence
has become thing Of the past, and who
in his debauchery is an object of pity OF
disgust to all, but is the life-like pre-
sentation Of the level-headed man
whom nobody thinks is under the
influence of liquor, and who would at q
moments notice knock anybody down
who said he was. nights sleep will
bring him around all right, ii is quite
true, and ON the following morning he
will be ready to attend to business again
But should any woman who is initiated
into the tricks that wine plays
when it is transferred from bottle
to a mans head, write down all
he said and did, during his moments OF
forgetfulness, and later on, during mo-
ments when he was not forgetful, call his
attention to the same, he would insist
that she was crazy and that he never did
and never would utter such absurd
things 1t is to counteract influences
such as these that every woman, and
especially every mother, should conse-
crate her life and her power.
A Lesson AmericaE Girls ShOutd
Learn.
A distaste for house wifery is steadily
developing among American girls. As
they are destined to become the mothers
of the future, this is greatly to be regret
ted, and should, if possible, be corrected
The trouble arises from the accomplish
ments which OF late yes.rg have been Sc
lavIsbly appended to even the common
school education, and which, although
they are pretty enough in themselves
more frequently lead to heavy bre1d ant
undone chopsthan to thoroughly artistic
productions. There is not one girl out o
one hundred who can really play accu
rafalv on tha piano or Daipt a nictur