The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-12-12
N0-LICENSE
Union Rallies
in Churches.
W.C.T.U. PRE- SIDENT
Was the Prsncipal Speaker
at Trinity NJ. E. Church.

The temperance rally at Trinity
Church last night was attended by a
crowd that about half filled the audi
torium Of the church. The principal
feature of the services was the address
by Mrs. Stevenson, the state president
of the w. C. T. L., on THE present as
poets of the temperance cause" Mrs.
Stevenson is an attractive speaker,
with a good command of language and
a pleasing personality Her remarks
We're listened to with attention by the
audience and were a very fair eXDosi-
ton of the attitude of the temperance
workers of the state.
The meeting was opened by a devO
tonal service, under the leadership of
the pastor, DR.. King, who spoke apprO-
priately in introducing Mrs. Stevenson.
The Offering of the evening was devot-
ed to the uses of the w. c. T. L. While
the collection was being taken, a male
quartet rendered in an effective man
ner, God bless my boy tonight"
In his remarks preparatory to the lee
ture of Mrs. Stevenson, DR.. King spoke
as follows: Il am amazed that the peo-
pie of this country are willing to tole-
rate the saloon. 1t debauches and ruins
the best of our young manhood and its
victims lose all that entities them TO the
respect of men or the mercy of God.
it is mystery that society tolerates
the liquor traffic for the policy of Ii
cense is a suicidal one Cor the country
as well as for the individual. If the
saloons were closed, every man in this
land would be richer in every respect.
do / ever expect to see the saloon
abolished? Yes, I believe that the time
40, Oalr oil
and consider this an age of barbarism,
because we tolerated the liquor traffic.
Mrs Stevenson's address was along
the lines usually pursued by temper
ance workers, and did not contain any
thing that was particularly novel, al
though hers was a very forcible pre-
sentation of the arguments generally
used against the consumption of and
traffic in alcoholic beverages.
Mrs. Stevenson said in part:
IF 1 were to take a text from which
to talk, I would choose that portion of
the Scriptures that refers to the dis
like of men for the light, from the fact
that their deeds are evil. AS the gospel
says the greatest condemnation of the
world is that the light is everywhere,
and men refuse to receive it. Our capa-
city for the reception of light is cumu-
lative, and the more Of the great truths
of the universe we grasp, the more we
are able to receive.
The history of the temperance cause
is very brief. 1t covers a period of not
more than fifty years. We know not
whether to smile or shed a tear over
the account of the early temperance
movements that were made in the days
when it was honestly believed that
moderate drinking was not only legiti-
mate but absolutely necessary Not
very many years aso in western
church it was felt by the members that
some action on the temperance ques-
tion was needed, and they voted that
no member of the church should be al
lowed to consume more than 10 gal
Ions of liquor for each member Of his
family per annum, and this was con-
sidered so stringent that it caused some
trouble among the members of the
church.
Just as the utter fallacy Of the divine
right of slavery to exist has been made
apparent to the people Of this coun-
try, so the absolute wrong of the liquor
traffic is being made apparent to us
now. The drunkard is a man that has
lost all his chances of respect from
his fellow-men and has had all those
qualities burned out of him that make
il possible for him to attain the king
dom Of heaven. The army of eco 900
drunkards that is now marching across
our lanQ IS devastating II ana Destroy
ing all that we hold dear in life.
There is no greater fallacy than that
of moderate drinking. it is impossible
for the vast majority of men. Even
if it We're possible, no man has a right
to do that which may lead his brother
to destruction for the divnest feature
of Christianity is it's teaching of the
doctrine Of regard for the safety of
others
If it is wrong to drink liquor it is
wrong to sell it. There was once a time
when the liquor dealer had a certain
place of Importance i'm the community
but now if any man knows the mean
ing OF the word ostraclse, it is the
man who deals out poison TO his fellow
men. The saloon is responsible for all
the crime degradation and poverty Of
the country.
From this point the speaker consid-
cred the physiological effect of an in
diligence in intoxicants and closed with
stirring appeal to the audience to
support the cause of no-license which
was declared to be the only safe mu-
nicipal policy. The question of license
was discussed with some vehemence
and the speaker stated that the money
secured from licenses was worse than
useless to the city in the long run. The
various other economic features of the
license question also received consider
able notice.