Norwich bulletin., 1909-06-04
SOME ACCOMPLISHMENTS
OF REFORM BUREAU
Rev. r. c. Miller Spoke at Methodist
Church.

At the Trinity Methodist church
praver meeting Thursday evening,
Rev. Rennetts c. Miller, Connecticut
district secretary of the international
Reform bureau of Washington, ID. C.,
was the speaker to an interested con-
gregation upon the work OF the bureau:
In explaining its purposes and some OF
its accomplishments, Rev. MT. Miller
spoke in part as follows:
Il come to speak not only OF the
work of the International Reform bu-
reau, but in a general way of that OF
all reform organizations which have
CO. operated with US.
The Reform bureaus chief object
is to secure the passage by congress
of important legislation along all
lines of moral reform and also to pre-
vent bad legislation.
Its four great foes are intemper-
ance, impurity, Sabbath breaking and
gambling. 1t has four methods OF
Legislation. letters. lectures and
Literature. In legislation it is Chris
tan lobby seeking to have the moral
sentiment of the land craystallized in
to law, and great success has crowned
it's efforts in this line Among the
many bills whose passage the bureau
has led in securing may be named the
following: The Gillett-Lodge bill to
stop American traders from selling Ii
quor, opium and firearms in the South
Pacific islands, particularly the Hebri-
des group. This was the bill so long
desired by DIR. John G.. Patton, the vet
eran missionary there. President
Roosevelt presented our bureau with
the pen with which he signed the bill.
ut was our bureau which drafted
the bill which broke up the divorce
colonies in Oklahoma and other terri
tories a few years ago. We also Sc
cured the passage of the bill protecting
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 Of
amendment and led the battle that
stopped the selling of liquor in all
immigrant stations in the United
States. Now our newcomers can land
sober. Our bureau drafted the Tell
err amendment that close the gates of
the st. Louis exposition on Sunday.
This bureau has had an almost
equally brilliant career in defeating
bad legislation. Three years ago our
bureau began the anti racetrack gam
bling campaign in New York which,
under the magnificent leadership of
Governor Hughes, has resulted in vic
tory; yet the fact remains that but
for the work of our bureau that great
victory could not have been won. Our
speakers and literature have gone all
over the state.
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
private monopoly, which would have
fastened that ubiquitous curse upon
our new national ward and thus re-
peat England's shame of so years ago
when, forcing opium upon China, en-
shaved 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, pleaded and pro-
tested in vain.
$50 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 kilograms of pro-
test. Finally the president cabled that
the opium bill must be abandoned, and
| it was.
Keep your eye on your congress-
man Encourage him with letter
As Jerome of New York says, Public
officials dob etter work when they are
watched and DIR. Parkhurst's famous
| revised version is very suggestive a.
well as true. The wicked flee wheI
no man pursueth, but he makes bet.
ter time when somebody is after
| him."