The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1901-10-24
Temperance Work.
fBy skowhegan W. c. T. Union. ]

Hast thou chosen, oh my people, in whose
party thou shalt stand,
Ere the Doom from its worn sandals shakes
the dust against our land?
Though the cause of evil prosper, yet tits
Truth alone Is strong,
And, albeit she wander out-cast now, see
around her throng
Troops OF beautiful, tall angels, to enshieid
her from all wrong. --Lot0ei
The last meeting of the w. c. I. L.
was held, Tuesday, p. m, Oct. $. The
subject of the afternoon WAS the Chris
tian Civic League of Maine. The prin-
cpal feature of the program was very
interesting talk by Mrs. w. IL. Spencer
on the work of that organization during
the four years in which it has been In
successful operation. A quotation was
given from the address OF Pres. Hyde
delivered at Wateryille at the time the
League was formed, showing the imper-
alive demand for the Organization of
! Christian feeling, in order to do effective
work against the compact force of the
saloon. A responsive reading brought
out the purpose and methoas OF the
League. The thought was brought out
that at the present moment, when the
| HdllOh mas lOsh du lAhtoA SiAisNH 800
been led by the circumstances OF his
death and by his dying utterances to
! feel the nearness of God and also TO
realize the horrors of lawlessness, 1t Is
most fitting to press the claims OF an
organization which aims to raise the
ideal of citizenship and to secure the
enforcement OF laws. The work OF the
able, level headed secretary, Mr.. Berry,
and the contents of the periodical OF the
League, the Record, prove conclusively
that there Is every encouragement to
work through this organization, where
ever public sentiment has secured the
election of officials alive to the duties
they have sworn to discharge. The great
eat hipdrance to its effective work is an
apathy of public conscience which make'
county officials dare TO disregard their
solemn oaths and TO impede the enforce
ment of law.
Extracts from the Record illustrating
the need for temperance work In our
own state were then listened to, and
Mre. Merrill read ringing stanzas from
| Lowelrs present Crisis" song,
Farewell TO Drink by Miss Maddocks,
closed a very interesting program.
There was a good attendance and much
interest and enthusiasm Ia the work
were manifested.
The following is an extract from the
address delivered by Pres. Hyde of Bow
dom College, at the mass meeting In
Wateryille, when the Civic League OF
Maine was organized:
| The real strength of the saloon lies IN
the cruel, Unsuitable and remorseless
thirst for gold. Why Is the saloon Sc
hard to exterminate? Chiefly because
there are ten or fifteen hundred people
in our midst, who, by selling liquor by
the glass, can get living with least
capital, least braiBs, least conscience,
and least hard labor. A saloon is
place where man can sell cents
worth of drugs and dollars worth OF
degradation for dime. What wonder
that there are ten or fifteen hundred peo-
pie 10 our midst who are willing to vio-
late the law, and make themselves
nuiaances to the community on such
profitable terms The degradation they
| i flict costs them nothing, but Is an as
surance of increased trade; and their
stock costs next to nothing in proportion
to the price at which they sell IL; and
even that can be had on terms Of easy
credit from the distillers, the brewers
and the wholesale dealers. That is what
makes the liquor business so attractive
to certain class of citizens. There
! isn't another line of business In which
man can pocket, by giving so cheap
and paltry commodity, the wages of
the workingman. That a certain class
of men should like this sort of business
is not surprising; but that the Consttu-
ton and laws of the State should be set
at naught In their Interests; that the OIL
cals of county and city should receive
their Instructions from them; that the
Christian people of the community
should be ruled by them, this Is indeed
surprising; this ought not to be. 1t is
| to protest against this state of things, to
correct it as far as 1t can be corrected,
and to put an end to 1t as speedily as
possible, that the Christian Civic League
of Maine is organized today.
| Prohibition has never yet been fairly
tried In Maine. 1t has been on the
Statute books some forty years, and u
part of the Constitution for a dozen
years or more. Ii may be that prohibit
ton is not the best way to deal with the
liquor problem. II so we want to find
it out. And the only way to find out
whether 1t Is or not is TO mass your flf-
| teen hundred saloons on the one side,
and your fifteen hundred churches on
the other; give plenty of funds and wise
and courageous leadership, and your
systematic education and concerted
action to both parties. If, under these
@ ,nditions, the saloons continue to
fl >urlsh and multiply, then indeed we
hall admit that prohibition Is a failure
in Maine. The question whether free
people has enough self-sacrifice and
Intelligence, and strength and courage
Ia cast this evil out of their midst by
this method is to be fought out right
here in Maine. Let every Christian man,
Catholic and Protestant, Orthodox and
Liberal, Congregationalist and Episco-
palian, Methodist and Baptist, join hands
and show that with the Constitution and
he law upon its side the united church
OF Jesus Christ Is at least as potent and
practical an influence for human happi-
ness and human virtue as is the out
lawed saloon for human misery and
human degradation.
Stepped Into Live Goals.
"When a child | burned my foot
| frightfully," writes W. II. Eads of
|