Devils Lake weekly world. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1911-1914, 1912-10-04

One of the features Of w. c. T. U.
was the splendid address
given by Mrs. ecia Buck of starkweath
er, who was acting president. Mr.. Buck
said in part:
1t is with genuine pleasure that in
behalf Of the First District I extend a
word Of welcome to the Twenty Third
annual convention Of the North Da-
kota woman's Christian Temperance
Union.
My first memory Of, the convention
city dates back to the quarter cent
ury mark. In the spring Of 1887, De-
wills Lake just escaped being the jump
ing of place; the railroad having but
very recently been extended westward.
Our friends still blushed to address us
at the Satanic city, which was then a
town Of 800 population, wild and woody
in the extreme, evidently trying hard
to live up, or down, to it's name. In
this ambition it succeeded fairly we'll
for many years, having the inevitable
reputation Of being wide open town;
works slowly, but always
surely and today public sentiment in
favor of law enforcement and clean
town Is stronger than ever before. In
1900 the population was HOO, the census
of 1912 shows an increase to $3.50 or over
400 per cent in twelve years. Its fine
public buildings, the Court House, where
thru the courtesy of the county Off
Gals, we hold our conventions, the
public library, post-office, opera house
public school buildings d school; 70,
the deaf are valued at over. $780, 900.
The assessed valuation of all property
is over $1,0O0.00o' Its business houses
rank well with any in the state, a rail
road center, in the famous Lake Region
which is unsurpassed as an agricultural
district, and situated near our beauti
full inland sea and North Chautauqua
an ideal place for summer homes ant
summer camping, it is a very desir
able location either for business OF
residence, but after all the chief asse
OF Devils Lake lies in the 1015 pupils
enrolled in it's public schools, an asse
SO valuable that no price can be plac
ed upon it, and herein lies the citiel
greatest opportunity and its greatest
responsibility; to build for these boy
and girls an environment that will
give them the right ideas Of citizenship
and safeguard them against evil, to
SO govern the city that they shall grow
up with respect for law and govern
ment: The. first duty of every city a
wen saevefy state and nation is tn
conservation of It's child life and tn
protection of it's homes.
We may well point with pride t
North Dakota's legislation along thes
lines We had enrolled in the publ
schools of the state in 1910, 135,203 pu
pills. The majority OF these boys an
girls have never seen an open saloor
The man who sells liquor either as
blind pigger or boot-legger is to Their
an outlaw. The business of liquor sell
ing, however conducted, is to Their
dishonorable, the seller disreputable
and to say of man-"he drinks
places him away below par. Thus on
prohibitory law places a safeguar
around the youth of the state maxim
! it as hard as possible for them to bt
come victims of the liquor habit. Sc
entifiic temperance instruction laws pr,
vide for the teaching of the evil e.
fects Of both alcoholics and narcotic
to all children in the public schools
An anti-cigarete law forbids undo
heavy penalty the selling or giving {
tobacco in any form to boys under eigl
teen years Of age and also provide
for the arrest and punishment Of boy
under twenty who are found smokin
in any public place: physical educt
ton law provides for training Of tt
body as well as Of the mind: chi
labor law and a law providing TO
the Juvenile Court have also been pas
ed. While some of these laws ca
doubtless be improved upon we rejoit
in the gain that has been made ar
would like to remain here the fact tn.
Mrs. Elizabeth Preston Anderson hs
been present at every session of o,
state legislature except one and has he
a great Influence in the passage Q
these good measures and in the mali
tanence Aof our prohibtory law. TIL
good people of North Dakota owe mo
to the patient, enduring devotion c
the leader of our organization than w
ever be realized until the book is ope
ed above. Our laws. permit the readir
Of the Bible IN the public schools a,
recently through the State Board
Education the 8ible has been made {
elective in our High School course al
credits are given as for other branche
AS far as we know North Dakota
the first state in the Union to tai
this important step and we are pro,
Of the fact.
4 Francis e. Willard called the w
mans Christian Temperance Union o
ganzed nother-love and that mothe
love has been made manifest in tt
forty or more departments throua
which we carry on our work. the nj
iority OF which deal directly or iii
directly with chld-life. Why? Becau!
J we have come to realize more and mo-
that the formation of good charact
4 yields better results than the reforms
ton of bad character. Only 1G per ce
Of those who go wrong are ever r
claimed, 50 per cent of all conversio,
are made by the age Of Is, 81 per eel
by the age Of 20, s6 per cent by IL
age Of "a and only per cent after tn;
age. More and more we realize, to
the tremendous responsibility that mu
shortly rest upon these boys and CIR
who are 80 Eight heartedly pursuin
their studies today.
This Is above all an age Of progre
and Of action: we are living at tren
endous pace. but the spirit of the tim
breathes commercdalism, matertalisr
, and deadly irreverance and indiffe