Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-11
A MILLION OF NAN S
And Over in the Big W. O. 7. o. Petit
ton.
Expected Here This Week-The Mon
ster Meeting ut Convention
Hall-The Outlined Plan.


the world-the monster polyglot petition
against the liquor traffic that has been
made up in every quarter Of the globe by
the efforts of the Wcman's Christian Tenn
perance Union. At all events. the petition
will reach here in time to be draped about
the walls of Convention Hall at the great
mass meeting of Friday night. This petit
ton, about which SO much has been writ
ten and said, is the result Of upward of
tN elve years of the hardest kind of labor
or the part of missionaries of the w. G..
I. U. 1t now contains 1,12l,3oO actual
names which represent upward of SIX
millions of people residing in every sec
ton of the earth. Many of the signatures
are attestations on behalf of organiZa-
titns. The Salvation Army with one sig
nature Endorsed for 100000 members; the
attestation of the Good Templars meant
10000 names; the United Society of
Christian Endeavor added 100000 names
in one line. 1t is estimated that the in
dorsementS of societies end churches
amount to nearly 100000 persons There
are three kinds of Endorsements; first, the
names OF women; second. the written in
dorsements of men. and. third. the at
testation of officers of organizations
which Endorsed the petition by resolution
or otherwise There are upwards of one
million men represented on the petition.
The Original Plan.
The original plan of Miss Frances E.
Willard, who first conceived the notion of
the polygot petition to the rulers of the
earth, was to obtain 2,O0O,0O0 signatures.
and she proposes to continue the work I'M
til this number is reached. The notion of
the petition came to her in 1883, when, as
president OF the w. c. T. u. of America,
she attended the convention held that year
in San Francisco. She was taking the
usual trip through Chinatown, and was
struck with the fearful degradation of
both men and women as the result of the
opium habit. Her notion was that the wo-
men of the orient could do something to
better their condition, and in short time
the plan of petition was evolved, and be-
fore many days had passed Mrs Mary
Clement Leavitt of Boston Tad started out
as the first missionary to obtain signatures
for a petition that should be presented to
every ruler of the world. asking them to
strip away the sanctions of the state from
the drink traffic and opium trade, and to
protect homes ty the total prohibition of
these curses of civilization" Alone. and
with only money enough to go to Hawaii
Mrs. Leavitt began this great work. In
Honolulu she formed branch of the w.
c. L. U. and started the petition. The wo-
men there paid the cost of her voyage to
Australia, where she spent year and
founded unions. Then she went to New
Zealand, China, Saran. Siam, Burmah, In
dia, Afghanistan, Madagascar, South At
RIGA and the Congo Free State. Three
years in Africa exhausted her strength,
and she went to Europe to rest, but in a
short time she was hard at work there or
ganiZing unions and setting women to
work getting s;gners. In England, Hcl- |
land France and Italy, she said, her work |
was even harder than it had been in At
RIGA. and she encountered more opposi- |
ton.
Thick md Fast.
Other "all-the-world missionaries" fol- |
lowed Mrs. Leavltt until the petitions We're
circulating throughout the globe, and be-
fore many months had elapsed they be- |
gan to pour into the Temperance Temple |
in Chicago, the headquarters for the work.
There Miss Alice E. Briggs gathered them,
and by her they were shipped by the bushel
to Mrs. Rebecca G. Shuman of Evanston.
ILL.,, to whom was allotted the task of
the Individual petitions on white
muslin for the purpose of preserving them.
The muslin was formed into webs or rolls,
on which the petitions, after being cut and
pinned, were pasted, averaging four col
umns abreast, with about 100 names to the
yard in each column. Mrs. Shuman mount
ed 1928 yards, over one mile, making up
ward of four miles of names, if they were
written solidly one under the other. This
aggregated I'll 200 names. In addition to
these there came rolls already mounted
names. There are other names aggregat-
ing hundreds of thousands yet to be
II ounted and added to the petition.
The Petition.
The following Is the text of the petition
to which the millions of minds have given
assent:
PETITION OF THE WORLDS WOMAN'S
CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION
For The
PROTECTION OF THE HOME.
Addressed to the Governments of the |
World.
Honored Rulers, Representatives and
Brothers:
to the physically weaker sex, are strong
of heart to love our homes, our native |
land and the worlds family of nations.
We know that clear brains and pure !
hearts make honest lives and happy homes.
and that by these the nations prosper. and
the time is brought nearer when the world
shall be at peace.
We know that indulgence in alcohol and
opium, and in other vices which disgrace |
our social life, makes misery for all the !
world, and most of all for us and for our
children.
We know that stimulants and opiates
are sold under legal guarantees which |
make the governments partners in the traf- |
fic, by accepting as revenue portion OF
the profits, and we know with shame that |
they are often forced by treaty upon pop |
ulations. either ignorant or unwilling.
We know that the law might do much. |
now left undone to raise the moral tone of |
society and render vice difficult.
We have no power to prevent these great |
iniuuites beneath which the whole world /
groans. but you have power to redeem |
the honor of the nations from an indie |
feasible completely.
We therefore come to you with the united !
voices of representative women of every |
land, beseeching you to raise the standard |
OF the law to that of Christian morals, to
strip away the safeguards and sanctions
of the state from the drink traffic and the
opium trade. and to protect our homes by
the total prohibition of these curses of
civilization throughout all the territory
over which your government extends.
General Purpose.
The purpose Is to present this petition
first to President Cleveland by exhibiting
it here in his presence. 1t Is then to be
taken abroad in two steamers that have
been chartered, one by Lady Henry
Somerset and the other by Miss Wizards
society. This tour around the world viii
begin in 1896 and will include each capital
of the world, at which monster petition
meetings will be held. In each place the
petition will he festooned about the walls
as is planned here, and in this way 1T is
hoped to bring the temperance cause to
the notice, not only of the governments
of the earth, but to the minds of indi-
viduals The latter influence is what Miss
Willard calls the arrest of thought" and
from this she hopes great results will fol-
low.