The leader., 1900-03-28
WASHINGTON LETTER.

Tie both duuudi intttiuk VI tut Sou7
grcssional Temperance Society was
held in this city on Sunday night last,
and was largely attended both by mem.
bers of Congress who belong to it, and
by citizens of the District. Represen-
tative Grout, of Vermont, president of
the society, presided over the meeting,
and there we're speeches by Represen-
tative Littlefield, of Maine; Represen
tative Lloyd, of Missouri; Representa-
tive Talbert, of South Carolina; Repre-
sentative Greene, of Massachusetts,
and Representative DAZZLE, of Wiscon-
sin. Before the speaking began, Rev. |
+. ID. Power, the secretary, read his |
annual report This is the sixty |
eighth annual meeting of our ancient |
and honorable organization" he said,
land in honor of the ninety sixth |
birthday anniversary of Neal Dow, |
which occurs on Thursday next. The
father of statutory prohibition in the
United States was the living embodi- |
ment of the great principles of tenn
perance. Half century ago he saw
the woe and misery and ruin wrought
by the traffic in strong drink in such
light that he consecrated his life to the
work of antagonizing it. He began
the fight with courage, impetuosity, |
and fidelity that carried everything be-
fore him. He traversed the State of
Maine for ten years from one end to
the other, and sowed it knee deep in
temperance literature, until sentiment
crystalized into law" The most i'm
portant question touched upon by the
speakers was that of the army canteen,
which Congress thought that it had
abolished at its last session, but which
was given new lease of life by a tech
nical Interpretation made by Attorney
General Griggs. Opinions as to the
wisdom of the abolition of the canteen
differed, but practically all were uni
ted in the opinion that the law should
be construed according to its plain
meaning and intent. On this topic,
Representative Lloyd of Missouri,
said 1.-The Congress of the United
States has some serious questions to
consider in connection with temper
ance legislation. One of them, and
one of the most important of them, is
gress has hard problem to solve.
Army officers almost without exception
testify that the canteen is a good
thing; that it tends to increase the So
briefly and efficiency of the army. Be
that as it may, the canteen question is
burning one aud must be solved"
Other speakers took similar ground,
Rev. George Daugherty, Rector of
st. Augustine's Church, of this city, re-
turned from Cuba on Saturday. Speak
ing of the opposition to Mgr. Sbarretti,
the new American Catholic Bishop of
Havana, he said that the dissatisfac
ton of the Cuban element over Mgr
Sbarretti's selection has been greatly
exaggerated by sensational newspapers
Some discomfort, he said, prevails
among small fraction of the popula
ton which seldom. if ever. attend
church services. The majority of
Bishop Sbarretti's flock, among whom
are many Spaniards as we'll as Cubans
and Americans, recognize his worth.
The collection of the religious sta
tistics of the country must wait until
more pressing needs are disposed of by
the Census authorities. Some com
ment has arisen over the fact that the
list of schedule questions does not
contain any with reference to religion,
and it has been supposed that the sub
ject was to be omitted altogether
This, however is not true. The stats
tics will be obtained from the various
churches and religious organizations
and not from direct questioning. This
is the way that they were obtained in
1890 and it was found to be especially
accurate and valuable. Under the
present law, the same method will be
followed, but such an inquiry cannot
be begun until more imperative in
vestigations are conducted and the
$4,000 enumerators are out of the way
This division of the subjects into one
group to be taken by enumerators and
another taken by correspondence
and special agents, will secure greater
accuracy and satisfaction, and persons
especially interested in religious sta
tistics should not be unduly impatient
at the postponement of this investiga
ton, which the law requires.
Owing to the efforts of the Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ami
mails, the Senate Interstate Commerce
Committee has decided to rescind the
action favoring the extension to 4S
hours of the time for which live stock
in transit may be permitted to remain
on the cars without unloading for food
and water. The Committee made a
favorable report on the bill recently,
at the request of the shippers, who
claimed that the change from "a to As
hours would be humane rather than
otherwise. 1t was urged that in the
process of unloading for feeding and
rest, good deal of cruelty was neces-
sary on account of the excited condi-
ton of the cattle after day spent on
the cars. The Society did not agree
with these representations; in fact,
they ridiculed them, and the Commit
tee has now asked that the bill be re-
committed. This will have the effect
of killing it.
Memories of Dwight l.. Moody.