Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-21


| IELgoNI supreme in Omaha today. The
| lEsg BSs occasion is the gathering OF
| liz ES the strongest association OF
| IA Ndl women in the world - the
sAa1lAl Woman's Christian Temper
ance Union in national conVen-
| ton. With 10000 branch societies ana
| a total membership of nearly 2O0,00O
devout and devoted women, the w. ..
| T. u. exerts a potent influence in the
social and political life of the United
States. Delegates from every state and
/ territory are attending the Omaha con-
| VentiOn, each wearing the knot of white
ribbon which is the badge of member
/ ship, and each earnest in her desire TO
4 advance the temperance cause for the
1 sake Of as the association motto has
| it, God and Home and Native Land.
| There are no revolutionary plans to be
! discussed at this meeting. It's organ
! ization is so perfect and its machinery
so well oiled that the w. {. L. u JUS
| tihes its policies by results. The rank
! and file of it's membership is content TO
| continue operation along the lines al
ready laid out.
The w. c. r. U. was organized in 1874
| as the outgrowth of the great temper
ance revival which spread over the
country in the early 70s For many
years it seemed to make little progress
| in accomplishments although It's
growth in numerical strength was
! steady But the women at the head OF
! its affairs were not discouraged, ana
| they kept on with their work with In
defatigable industry and long-suffering
! endurance. Now its claims large
share of the credit for the triumph of
! its ideas reflected in the prohibition and
anti-saloon laws which have converted
such a large portion of the country into
dry" territory in the past few years.
TO-
the authorities to teach in the public
schools the principles of temperance
and the deleterious effects of alcohol,
establishing the scientific temperance
propaganda through the study of physl-
ology and hygiene. The w. c. I. U.
also secured the incorporation or
specific temperance lessons in the in
ternational Sunday school lesson series
and induced the churches to dedicate
one Sunday in the year to be known as
the Worlds Universal Temperance
Sunday.
In the past seven years the w. c.
T. u has been, according to its lead
ers, the determining influence in secur-
ing the passage of fifty laws of public
interest, and the defeat of an even
greater number of bills which they re-
garded as against the interests of pub
lie morality. The Union has secured
than any other organization in the
world. One of these monster petitions
is known as the Polyglot petition,
which bears so many names that If
it were made on a single strip of paper
is would be forty miles long. More
than twenty million persons have at
tached their signature to temperance
petitions circulated by the w. c. T. u
tn, oIJ fO Hn in hph1lf of
Temperance, the Union has been
leader in efforts to secure the enact
ment of laws for the protection of
women and children. 1t has also
started a campaign of education In
favor of a single standard of morals
for both men and women. 1t has ex-
ercised a weighty influence in the
movement to secure laws prohibiting
and regulating child labor What 1t
has done nationally it has also done
on a worldwide scale through the
worlds w. c. T. u, which is fedora
ton of all the women's temperance
organizations throughout the world.
Lady Henry Somerset was once presi-
dent of the world organization, as was
also Miss Frances E. Willard.
In far-away India these white rib
boners are as busy as they are in Eng
land Canada or the United States. In
| Germany they nave lnQuced Ine gov
ernment to direct the giving of tenn
perance lectures to the sailors aboard
the ships of the imperial navy. This
was the first time in the history of
any navy that such an attempt has
been made to reach the jackies in the
interest of temperance, and it is
claimed that increased sobriety bears
witness to the success of the under
| taking.
Miss Willard was for many years the
president of the organization in the
United States, and her name always
will be revered by the members of the
Union as their greatest captain. Miss
| Willard died before the fruition of her
| labors had become evident, but the
organization is still working along lines
she mapped out. Miss Willard is the
only woman distinguished by a statue
| in the federal capitol. A life-size fig
ure in white marble represents her de-
| livering a temperance lecture. 1t
stands in the Statuary hall of the CAPT
| tol and was presented to the nation by
| the state of Illinois.
The w. C. T. U. directs its chief
efforts, of course, against the use and
sale of Intoxicating beverages. 1t
| opposes the use of alcohol absolutely,
on the theory that it is impossible to
be moderate of temperate in the use
of what is regarded a physical and
moral poison. Its chief arguments are
along moral and hygienic lines but