The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1901-04-07
CARRIE NATION AND KANSAS.

Under the above title William AIer
White. author Of Whats the Matter
With Kansas?' contributes an interest.
ing article to the current number OF
the Saturday Evening Post. He por.
trays in graphic style some OF Mrs. Ma.
TONS picturesque exploits, commencing
with the period when the death OF hel
first husband through the influence Of
strong drink first filled her mind with
hatred for the liquor traffic. The article
is an excellent survey OF the whole sit
nation involved in the title and. while
designed primarily TO interest and
amuse, is none the less thoughtful and
though temperate is not devoid of ex-
pressions Indicative of the writer's esti-
mate of the woman and her work. That
these opinions are in the main we'll
founded most readers OF the article will
be ready to admit.
In tracing her earlier labors in the
cause Of temperance. Mr.. White writes
"She has but one mental output For
years she has been considering The evils
cf the liquor traffic. She has acted.
when nature would stand the strain no
longer in a primitive way-with savage
musicl In Medicine Lodge she used to
get out a hand-organ through which
perforated paper sheets are passed. and
sitting on a prominent corner OF the
town. she would grind out dolorous
temperance songs 10 the citizens. In
time they came to give her as much
notice as one gives to the waterplug on
a corner. Another form Of self-relief
was to haunt the local jail and constab-
ulary and pray with the prisoners. who
usually voted her Q nuisance
These two vents became monotonous.
So she hiked out in Barber county in a
buggy on temperance mission. Nearly
year ago she struck the village OF
Kiowa. She stoned two joints. 1t was
her first smashing The world never
heard OF it, The local papers contained
only humorous references to 1t. Every
body knew Mrs. Nation down there.
But she was imbued through and
through with hatred for the saloon.
Then came an awful pressure Of con
viction as to the futility Of her life.
the maidening conclusion that she had
made no impress. that her song and
jail prayer methods were methods Of
guilty pueriiry. She probably accused
herself Of rank cowardice. She finally
laid hold Of the territory, which is just
across the line from all Of us, where ir-
responsibility reigns Mrs Nation car
ried into that land hatred and a deter
minaion to destroy Then she set out
for Wichita from Barber county. liter
allv with an apron full of rocks, but
when she got to Wichita her courage
failed. She prayed one night in the
saloons instead of smashing. But cour-
age came to her again. and the next
morning she sailed out. keyed up hi
lariously, irresponsible, anarchistic. She
smashed the finest bar in the town: she
was taken 20 the police station, fat,
double-chnned, and laughing outland-
shly.
In that Trip to the police station she
cot over into the land of responsibility
again. In palliation of her offense she
quoted the law at the officer who ar
rested her. Then the w. c. T. U. women
heard Of it and rushed down to see
her They congratulated her. Then she
began to see that her best defense was
to claim that she had started a war"
Occasionally Mr. White gets philoso-
phical, as in the following: Like many
persons of limited mental capacity she
Is sure of her distinctions between right
and wrong, Therefore she has been free
to act without restraint. The person
who spends valuable time toying with
the equities Of a circumstance, trying
to locate and make out the boundaries
of exact justice before proceeding is
unlikely to follow the strenuous life"
AS to the moral aspect of Mrs. Ma
TONS course. the conclusions Of Mr..
White are eminently sound. He says:
The lawlessness Of the Kansas joint
bred Mrs. Nations mob Kansas plant
ed the joint and reaped the hatchet.