Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-09-27


ton with the lessons as presented,
and that he believes the graded les
sons a great Improvement over the
Uniform except in one instance. In
the first year Junior there Is no spec
ific temperance instruction, and he
asked the convention to pass resell
ution asking the Lessons Committee
to include at least four specific tenn
perance lessons in that years work.
The annual address of the president
by Mrs. Buck was well received.
Among other things she said: The
blind official is az great a menace as
the blind pig The loss Of life BY
alcohol is ten thousand times as great
as the loss of life by war. Eighteen
dollars must be spent for every dollar
OF revenue from the saloon. One
boy in five is sacrificed to the liquor
traffic every year.
1t takes toll of one hundred thous-
, and lives a year.
The address of Rev. James .Ander-
son of Valley City, was one of the
events of the convention, and he han:
died the subject of initiative and ref
erendum In a thoughtful and convinc-
ing manner. He said the prohibition
law is the most effective instrument
yet devised dealing with the liquor
problem and questioned whether inlti-
alive and referendum would bring .
greater good. That the fault was not
with the prohibition law but with the
men who enforce it. A tremendous
awakening of moral nature 1s need
ed. He said he does not believe We
are ready yet for a pure democracy.
We have safe prohibition law. let
US not change It for a mess Of pottage.
Initiative and referendum is a dan
gerous experiment.
The conventioQ passed q resolution
squarely opposing initiative and refer
endum as. applied to the constitution.
The convention speaker, Mrs. Flor
ence Atkins, Of Tennessee. captiyated
all hearts at once. She made two 3D.
dresses, Saturday evening and Sunday
evening in the Opera House. She
said that the work Of the w. c. T. U.
was woman's rightful work. That it
was her right to protect and safeguard
her home and her children. That the
legalized liquor traffic is the foe OF
every home, every woman and every
child.
She said we are on the eve of the
greatest battle the world has ever
known. The lines are drawn, and the
women must train and raise up an
army to fight the most powerful or
ganization in the world. 1t will be a
veritable battle between Jehovah of
Hosts and the powers of Darkness.
The liquor dealers have made the
statement IF we can defeat prohi-
bition in Maine We will enter upon a
campaign in every dry state in the
Union"
If you do not keep up the agitation
you will live to see saloons upon the
street corners of North Dakota.
The liquor traffic is allied with the
criminal classes. There is always a
criminal ready to do it's bidding. :
She discussed the reasons advanced
by liquor dealers in favor Of license
and demolished them one by one.
Referring to the oft repeated ar.
gument that prohibition deprives
man of his personal liberty, she said
"No man of today has personal liber-
ty." She could think of but two men
who enjoyed real personal liberty,
Adam, when he was alone in the
Garden of Eden, and Robinson Crusoe
before Friday came.
When Adam was alone he might
caper about as he pleased, but God
saw that it was not good Tor Adam to
be alone. One day Adam awoke and
there was Eve. When he saw Eve
it was good-by to Adams personal lib.
erty. Crusoe had personal liberty un-
til he discovered the footprints, and
then Friday had to be considered.
She said that nothing short of ma
tional prohibition would ever satisfy
the Woman's Christian Temperance
Union, and the statement was receiv-
ed with applause.
We may lose few skirmishes, she |
said, but we are fighting winning !
battle.
In reply to the argument that more
liquor is consumed in prohibition than
license territory, she quoted the flg-
lres of liquor dealers themselves that !
one and two-thirds gallons of liquor !;
per capita is consumed in prohibition
territory and seventeen and one.third
gallons per capita is consumed in lic-
,nse territory.
Never have the liquor interests been
better organized, she said, we must
meet Organization with organization.