The Washington times., 1914-02-10
FORMER MOVEMENTS.

lsOINlVAAAA 4
"I am old enough, you know, to
recall the famous temperance
movements of the past. remember
as a child hearing my father speak
of the great work Of Father Mathew
who spent two years In this country.
1 heard John B. Cough in his vivid
lectures, which aroused tremendous
sentiment and turned countless thou
sands from drink / heard Francis.
Murphy and Neal Dow and Frances
T. willard and others OF the cru
saders, who swayed great audiences
with their passionate denuncfauons
of the evil.
"And. of course, / have been IA
miliar with the past efforts at legal
extinction of the traffic-the sixty
year-old prohibitory law Of Maine,
the statutes OF Kansas and the Da=
kotas, the bitter contest that Kept
Iowa in q ferment for nfteen years.
But the present movement Is un-
like those Of former days. They
were stimulated largely by religious
feeling, although all denominations
were concerned in the work In their
war on the demon rum the cru
saders appealed to religious senu-
menG as well as to self-interest-
But it is no longer a religious ques-
ton, and the agitation Is no longer
led by or greatly strengthened by
the churches There is some great
force behind It which 1 have not
been able to identify or understand
One thing is clear. however: Tho
movement is irresistible. am con-
vinced that this generation VIII see
the liquor traffic submerged and
carried away by tidal wave Of con-
demnatiOn."
We agreed with our friend that the
traffic Is doomed. and there Is 2
good deal Of warrant for his belief
that the end will come within a COM
paratiyely short period. But we dis
sent from the view that the old-dne
religious spirit is absent from the
opposition and that the churches are
less active than in the past
We believe there never was q time
when SO many church adherents
were enlisted against the evil. Tho
Protestant denominations are virtual
" all committed to vigorous opposi-
ton; and while the Catholic Churoh
has placed no official ban upon the
traffic, many Of its priests are avow-
ed champions of the cause which de-
mands its extinction, and the church
embraces growing organizations de-
voted to total abstinence and the
absolute encouragement of the sale
and CONSUMPTION OF nQuOE.
Economic Forces Join Fight.
It Is not unnatural, however, for
many persons to assume that the re-
IIgious element in the ant-nquor
merly. The opposition then was chief
ly religious in nature, and the
churches fought their fight almost
unaided by non-adherents. But now
the fight has broadened, in its IN
spiration and its following. Econon-
&c forces have Joined with religious
conviction The latter element has
gained rather than lost in vigor, but
It no longer has exclusive leadership.
The great new force which the oo-
server discerns behind the present
movement and which Is reinforcing
the religious sentiment so effectually,
comes from many different sources.
II comes from medical colleges and
hospitals, from the operating tables
of surgeons and the laboratories OF
chemists, where cold-blooded men Of
science study the marvellous structure
of the human body and measure with
minute accuracy the deadly effects Of
alcohol in weakening its tissues and
deranging its functions.
Changed Attitude of Thinkers.
It comes from asylums for the in
sane and the feeble minded, from
almshouses and prisons, where ex-
merits analyze the effects Of degen-
eracy and trace the cause in count
less instances to alcoholic eNceSses.
II comes from those who work to
alleviate misery through desertion
courts children'S societies and
charitable organizations, and from
those who study the sunken lives in
the dreadful victims OF vice.
Il comes from publication OF the
reports of county commissioners and
other officials. which show how
large a part of the taxes paid by the
people is absorbed in caring for
criminals and dependents created by
the liquor traffic, and from the tes-
timony OF business men that q de-
crease in the number Of saloons is
invariably followed by an increase in
prosperity.
It comes from the changed atti-
tude of thinking persons toward the
drunkard and the delinquent OF
tainted ancestry, which regards them
as victims of heredity and disease
rather than as wicked vtoiators or
moral law.
Awakened Sentiment.
It comes from railroads, banks,
mercantile houses and industrial es-
Establishments, from every place where
efficiency is demanded. the operation
of which shows that users OF liquor
are untrustwOrthy. inefficient and
source of danger.
1t comes from wider understanding
of eugenics. This is a new science,
and its truths have been eNaggerat-
ed by the misinformed; but 1t has
at least established the principle
that much social degeneration Is due
to alcohol and that the marriage or
those tainted by its poison should De
discouraged.
1t is from these and a thousand
other sources that the new force be-
hind the anti-liquor movement Is de-
rived. 1t is the awakened sentiment
thus informed that has changed the
character of the temperance news
which our friend now finds in the
newspapers.
Closing of Saloons.