The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-10-05

ing rum. 1 want none Of your advice.
When 1 want il I viii send for you; IN
I'll then keep 1t 10 yourself
"You have a license to sell rum. have
you?" Mr.. Dow replied You will sell
il 10 anyone who can pay for it, viii
you? You support your family by de-
s;roying the families Of others, do you?
Heaven helping me, III see If l cannot
change all that
That was the beginning Of the end OF
he liquor traffic in Maine. This event
occurred in 1S4l.
Let the reader picture 20 himself the
state Of the country at that time and ne
can see how almost hopeless was the
IA SIX Mr. Dow had set himself 10 do The
people were but recovering from the IN
ancial crisis Of 1887; the fruits OF the
SPOTS system were corruption in politics
and greed of unholy gain; jackson was
dying; there was 10 be succession OF
mediocre men in the executive chair; the
country was ripe for the Mexican war,
which was but part and parcel or the
general chaotic condition % public NOR
ais. Webster was still clearing the sky
occasionally with his thunderous logic.
but, as one man put I; in reviewing the
agitation for prohibition. we are 10 de-
scend 50 low as a nation that after 1900
we had no further use for the defender
o. the constitution
Yet il was in 1s41 ;ha: Neal Dow set
about the work Of exterminating the
grogsaop. He gave up mis- business. ief'
mis- wife and children and started on his
missionary work. Winter and summer,
not or cold, wet or dry. ne drove in MS
open buggy all over the state OF Maine.
with a friend, sometimes Two. Series OF
meetings We're arranged before hand.
Often ne drove into a town or a country
schoolhouse 10 find his audience waiting
for him.
II was the purpose % this work 20 lay
out before the people the true character
Of the liquor traffic as the direct and IN
evitable cause OF a large proportion or
the poverty. pauperism and crime OF me
country and almost all the misery AMI
wretcnedness Of the people: that il in
fic;ed more mischief 20 the state and
more misery 70 the people than are pro-
duced 10Y all other sources OF mlscnlel
combined. In al these excursions a large
quantity OF temperance tracts were tax
en- along with them, anc these were
thrown out at the doors OF houses "a they
passed along, and especially they were
freely distributed among the children Al
the school houses and among the people
a. the meetings.
Extracts from mis- speeches at tha time
show that mis- ideas were as clear and
forcible az if ne had been years IN mark
ink out his course OF action, Incidents
coming under mis- observation furnished
thoughts for his bitter denunciauon OF
the saloon-keeper.
In ten years Mr. Dow had finished MS
self-imposed work. The state or Maine
was convinced that the sale OF liquor
was bad for it and the legislature in 1871
pa ssed an act prohibiting the manufac-
ture and sale Of liquor in the borders OF
the pine tree common wealth. The result
was the total suppression Of the liquor
traffic in the ruraldistricts and lis reduc-
ton TO per cent of what IL had been
in the towns.
Mr.. Dow never claimed that there is
no LIQUOR cold in Maine He did claim.
however that the sale had been mini
mixed and that the business had been
made disreputable. That one act Of 1851
did all that ne wanted done, and in for
ty-six years ne did nothing but add 10
or change a few Of It's details.
Mr.. Dow raised a regiment when the
civil war broke out. and he became a
brigadier general. He spent year in
Libby prison and was exchanged for
Fitzhush Lee.
In 1856 ne went 10 England and preach-
ed temperance there, but made small
Roadway. England was not ready for
him. In 1873. ne was again in England
Occurring on temperance.
In 1893 the Woman's Christian Tenn
perance Union was born. NJ. Dow
doubted its success. bu; he was compell-
ed 70 surrender The women took him
up and carried his name into the remot-
est regions Of me world.
In his habits General Dow was regu-
lar as a clock Seldom did day pass
that he did not arise a O'Clock in the
morning and take a two or three mile
walk for his heal Although OF late ne
had secluded himself more and more a.
| time passed. people naturally turned =
him for advice when perDlexed. He Nv
ed in MS library and looked forward with
sublime faith % the time wnen. as Abr
ham Lincoln predicted. there would be
| neither slave nor d-unkard