Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1906-10-26
Trien NAL Convention of Wet U

Much business was cleared up al
the first days formal session of the
triennial convention of the World''
Women Christian Temperance Unior
in Boston. The delegates met in
fremont Temple. which was crowded
throughout the day. The welcome OF
the state and city was extended by
Governor Guild and Mayor Fitzgerald.
Mrs. Lillian M. N. Stevens, of Port.
land, Me-, vice president at large OF
the worlds union, presided. The re-
mainder of the day was given over
largely to the presentation of greet
ings from other organizations and to
the introduction of the leading repre-
sentatives of many countries at the
convention.
A resolution asking President Roose-
velt and Secretary of State Root to
renew the suggestion formerly made
by the president and the late Secre-
tary Hay that Great Britain and the
United States unite in presenting to
other nations a treaty to forbid the
sale of opium or intoxicating liquors
to unci vilized nations was unanimous
ly adopted.
Late October 18, the Governor
rendered the delegates a tea at the
Ford building.
An early forenoon devotional service
in the Park Street Church was fol-
lowed by the opening of the conven-
tion proper in the fremont Temple,
the delegates being called to order by
Mrs Stevens. The president, Lady
Henry Somerset, being detained at
home by illness. Mrs. Stevens will
preside through the convention. Mrs.
Stevens read letter of greeting from
Lady Somerset, which was in part as
follows:
To protect the home, to Danish the
sa loon, to shelter the weak and to
preserve the strong-these are your
Intentions 10 our warfare against the
LIQUOR traffic. And there is another
motive power, for it is the fulfilling
of the will of God which gives the
great impetus to your work, the ful-
filling of His will as we'll in the legis-
lative history of nations as in indivi-
dual lives
Noting we believe today is more
destructive to the well-being OF any
people than the organized liquor
traffic. Nothing makes 1t harder for
men and women to fulfill the destiny
for which God created them; nothing
principle. saps vitality,
wastes resources and devastates homes
more than the drink habit, which is
the fateful heritage Of nearly the
whole civilized world.
In your convention many subjects
may arise over which you may differ
or disagree. but pray most Of all for
you that the power OF the spirit Of
God may be in your midst. May
there be in your midst deep sense
of that power. May the golden light
Of charity be round you as an
aureole and may hand clasp hand IN
that loyal comradeship which gives
united strength. and may this con-
vention draw you closer to the unseen.
It was voted to send cablegram
of appreciation Of Lady Somerset.
Mrs. Stevens announced that the
of the W. G. T. U. in
different countries had presented to
Lady Henry a bell to be placed in
the chapel at London, where she
worships. A cablegram from Lady
Henry was read regarding this as fol-
lows;
"Grateful. humble, loving thanks
for the silver toned voice"
The report of Mrs. Agnes Stack,
honorary secretary of the Worlds W.
G. Il. o., was presented. 1t showed
that gains had been made nearly
everywhere in number of members
and activity. The greatest proper
tional gain has been made in Sweden,
where membeish of 79S three
years ago has been raised to 263S. In
India there are 1872 local unions, with
a total membership of 904 Scientific
instruction has been in
troduced in the schools. In South
Africa where Miss Stack spent several
months last year, many new unions
Luvn haan oruanizad
Three are llG5 branches in Great
Britain with total membership of
100, 053. The licensing act passed by
in 1904 has proved an oh
sfacls in tie wav of the people by
them from suppress ng the
liquor trade in their own localities.
Much work has been done in the way
Df establishing coffee houses aud
restaurants There has
been a large increase membership in
Ireland
The work is proceeding slowly but
in Germany. The W. G. I.
U. of that country sent petition to
the War Department to discontinue
the issuance Of wine and rum to the
troops in South Africa and received
favorable reply. The department is