The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-02-23
IsTEhPEkaTE TEMPERANCE.

r'ss some time past the Geographic dis
patches have been enlivened by spirited
accounts Of the Temperance raids' in
Interior Missouri. 1t seems that tenn
serance wave is passing over that section
IF the republic, and its greatest effect is
apon the minds of women. The wives,
mothers, daughters and sisters have taken
It into their heads to suppress the traffic
n intoxicants, and having set their
hearts on the work have put their
bands to it. The women-not the
.aEble and forward, the characterless
md vile, but the eminently respectable
assemble in large companies, and with
vengeance in their hearts, determination in
heir eyes and hatchets in their hands,
march to a saloon which they proceed to
lbate in the most daring, most lawless, but
most effective manner possible. They
preab the windows, smash the furniture
and fixtures, and empty the liquors into
,he cutters. The proprietor looks upon the
proceedings in anger, and in despair sees his
property destroyed. He cannot interfere
10 prevent the wreck for the wrecllers are
women; he dare not cut, shoot Or use a
club, for those who despoil him are women;
he cannot even use lhis tongue effectively,
.or his assailants are the wives and
daughters OF the best men in the commu-
nifty.
Having laid one saloon low, the ladies
proceed to another, and demolish it in the
same manner, and thus they gothrough the
town. Having completed their work of de-
itruction they either return to their homes
Dr., assembling at a public hall, harangue
each other and record solemn vows to keep
IN abating saloons in defiance of law.
Now, this may be an effective way of
temporarily checking an undesirable and
altogether offensive traffic, but is it such
way as community can applaud and sus-
tain? We think not. 1t is heroic but it is
unlawful. And is it not degrading women
A man may be total abstainer and pro-
nounced i-saloonist, but if his ideas of
woman's sphere be correct, he will want
10 go away, hiding where he can neither
hear nor see when his respected mother,
his wife or his sister tackles a
bar and with Ratchet plays havoc
with bottles and glasses. He would
prefer that the evil should continue than
that IL should be abated through the mob
efforts of refined and lovely women. 1t
was bad enough and sufficiently humiiat-
Ing a few years ago when reputable, we'll
meaning but misguided women went from
saloon to saloon, and kneeling in the saw
dust mingled their voices in song with the
fumes of whisky and through clouds of
tobacco smoke appealed to the Almighty to
suppress the death dealing traffic. The
''crusade' was bad enough, we say,
in all conscience, but this Mis-
souri, temperance movement is eminently
worse, for disguise it as we may, and say
what we may to excuse it, it is criminal l.;
those women are violaters of the law and
they are all liable to criminal prosecution.
OF course they cannot be convicted,
for the reason that they are good women
and because the iuries will not be made up
of ruined saloon-keepers; but their doings
nre none the less unlawful.
The experience of the world has been
that the greatest success attends temper
ance wars that are fought temporarily.
Intemperance in laws or in the application
of temperate laws works more injury than
good. We believe that one good woman
can do more for the cause of temperance
by her words and influence as womanly
woman than can a dozen women with
hatchets breaking in the heads of whisky
barrels.
The truth is, temperate and temperance
men dislike to read of the doings of the
Missouri women, and much more would
they dislike to witness their doings.