Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-02-03
DEADLY CIGARETTE
Advocate of Moral Reforms Gave
 Two Lectures Yesterday.

The Christian Lobbyist Reformer," Rev Rennetts c. Miller of Hartford,
 district secretary for southern New
 England, is spending some days in this section of the state in the interest
 of moral reforms. Yesterday he spoke
 at the First and Second Congrega- tional church Sunday schools on the
 perils of the cigarette, particularly, to
 growing boys He was listened to
 with deep interest. His wit and
 stories, along with some new and im-
 pressive facts, made it the kind of
 an address to boys that they will not
 easily forget.
 At the vesper service at the First
 Congregational church at 5 o'clock, Mir
 Miller spoke on Moral Victories, 1 Won and Waiting" It was a brief
 review of the great moral battle in
 congress in recent years. He gave the
 same address more at length at the
 Second Baptist church last night. He
 spoke in brief as follows:
 T come not simply to represent the 1 International Reform bureau, but, in
 general. all the great moral reform
 organizations at the national capital. Our reform bureau, of which Dr Will
 bur F. Crafts is the well known super
 intendent, is Christian organization, representing the churches on the fir- ing line at Washington in great moral
 battles.
 Bureaus Object and Methods.
 Its chief object is to secure the passage by congress of important leg islation along all lines of moral reform, 1 and also to prevent bad legislation. It has accomplished some remarkable re- suits along these lines, in cooperation with other societies. Twelve impor- tant bills have been drafted by this reform bureau and pressed through congress under its leadership.
 Its four great foes are intemper- ance, impurity, Sabbath breaking and gambling. It has four methods of work; legislation, letters, lectures and literature. In legislation it is a Chris ton lobby seeking to have the moral sentiment of the land crystallized into law. It makes much use of letters in arousing congressman and senators to support moral measures. Otter hun dreds of letters go out from the bureau into the districts of congressmen who are indifferent or hostile to great moral measures, thus arousing the best element oftheir constituents, who flood their congressman with letters urging his support of said measure. This cleo trical treatment of his moral backbone is usually very effective.
 "The bureau sends out about 5,O0O,- 900 pages of literature yearly at an expense of $5,000. Among the many bills whose passage the bureau has led in securing may be named the fol- lowing: The Gillett-Lodge bill to stop American traders from selling lauor, opium and fire arms in the South Pa- cific islands, particularly the Hebrides group. This was the bill so long de- sired by Dr John G. Patton. the veteran missionary there. President Roose- welt presented our bureau with the pen with which he signed the bill.
 Some Reforms Accomplished.
 Ut was our bureau that drafted the bill that broke up the divorce col- onies' in Oklahoma and other terri tories few years ago. We also se- cured the passage of the bill protect ing girls in the District of Columbia, and President Cleveland presented us with the pen with which he signed the bill.
 "Our bureau drafted the bill or amendment and led in the battle that stopped the selling of liquor in all im- migrant stations in the United States. Now our newcomers can land sober. Our bureau drafted the Teller amend ment that closed the gates of the St Louis exposition on Sunday. notwith- standing the fact that the brewers fought desperately to have them open that they might sell their beer that day on the exposition grounds.
 This bureau has had an almost equally brilliant career in defeating bad legislation. It has had several bard battles with the race track gam bling trust of New York. and defeated them in nearly every instance. In it defeated these gam blers in the legislature when they tried to get legal foothold there.
 Perhaps the bureaus most notable victory of this kind was the defeat a few years ago of the bill in the Phil ippine military government to license the opium traffic in the Philippines to a private monopoly, which would have fastened that iniquitous curse upon our new national ward and thus re- peat England's shame of @ years ago, when. forcing opium upon China. en- slaved a weaker race for commerce rather than for Christ. After the bill had passed the second reading there, the Protestant missionaries came to- gether and prayed, plead and protested in vain.
 Stopped Opium BilI.
 ''So they cabled our bureau for de- liverance. asking us to focus public sentiment on the president. which we did until the white house was flooded with letters and telegrams of protest Finally the president cabIed that the opium bill must be abandoned, and it would have been the darkest chapter In American statesmanship. and all Dur boasted talk about delivering the from Spanish oppression md McKinIey's talk about manifest iestiny' would have appeared as na- fional hypocrisy in the light of hIs- iory.