Year: 1874




Constitutional Convention, made the fol-
lowing well-timed remarks:


When l consented to speak upon this
occasion it was with the distinct under
standing that I should not be expected
to speak more than ten or fifteen min
utes That is the limit of our convention
rule, and I do not like to violate it. Long
sermons, long speeches, and long bills
are Improbable, and sometimes very in
convenient l shall therefore be brief,
and possibly pretty dull, and the more
so because | am somewhat rusty in the
modern history and literature of this
subject. Society is in


HAND TO HAND sTUGGLE


with this arch enemy of mankind 1
remember when thirty years ago or more
when the Washingtonian host swept over
the land. Later the eloquence of Cough
stirred the hearts and aroused the svm-
pathies Of men. But from all these in
fuences men relapsed, until the great
arch enemy has again got into the
ascendency. Now there is another war
fare, and it has assumed a novel shape.
Women, armed with spafr-forbearan
having ceased to be virtue-women of
all classes of society have joined hands,
and are trouping forth from their homes
of comfort, and from their novels of pow
erty, armed with the sword of the Lord
and of Gideon, and clothed with purity
and faith, have entered into the contest.
God grant it may be successful. Amen,
amen.


"FEMALE COMMUNISM"


This movement has been described as
fanatical, as a development of female
communism. 1t has been sacrilegiously
compared to the poisoning of Socrates,
to the Murder of Marcus Aurelius, even
to the crucifxion of the Lord Jesus
Christ. But the questions arise: Are
women justified in the measures they
have adopted? Are they going forth on
a legal warfare against crime? Or are
they going on an illegal crusade against
legal traffic? I believe the criticism
upon their acts cannot be justified. I
will enumerate some of the reasons why,
in my judgment, the women of this coun-
try-yes, both men and women-are JUS
titled in the cause and the course they
have undertaken.


l. The lowest consideration which can
be enumerated is that of pure economy !;
an appeal to our common and natural
avarice. We American croakers are con-
tinually complaining about our burdens
of taxation. One of the greatest sources
of this burden is this terrible traffic. If
the wages of industry now wasted and
consumed in riotous living were devoted
to the support of home and the increase
of its happiness, our reformatory institu-
tions would not be filled as they now are,
and you and l (men) would find our
grievous burdens materially hghtened.
Thus l have considered the lowest argu-
ment to which an appeal can be made.


GENERAL HUMAN HAPPINESS.


2. Another view may be taken-that
of general human happiness. Without
bread, man cannot be happy; without
cheap bread mankind cannot attain it's
highest happiness. 1t is want that brings
greatest sorrow to the family circle
Now, apply this principle in hand, and
where lies the verdict? The verdict is
that if these millions of bushels of cere-
ais now devoted to the purpose of de-
struction were devoted to the sustenance
of the thousands of wretched and starry
ing beings now without sufficient food,
the highest happiness would be brought
to multitudes of the homes where sorrow
now prevails.


Another weighty consideration as to
the propriety of the conduct of our fair
country women is that annually 100000
SOUS are SlTlCh0n uOWH III our ldlu Dy
this fell-monster. When 5000 men lay
dead on the field of Waterloo, all Europe
was in mourning. When 10000 slain in
our late war were laying upon the battle
field, America was filled with grief. And
yet 900 men go trooping down to
death yearly from this cause. In view
of these things, appeal to those who are
jeering and sneering to say if the women
are, not justified in what they are doing
These victims are, many of them, men of
fine abilities and good heart, and shall
not women be permitted to rescue them
from fell destruction? Mol says our
friend who spoke in Chillicothe to a
crowd of philosophers from the saloons,
This female communism, he says, may
result in the overthrow of the Protestant
Church.


WHY THE WOMEN ARE MOST INTERESTED.


But there are other considerations
which appeal more strongly to our head
and heart. In an eminent degree are
women interested in staying this tide of
death. Their sympathies are capable of
being aroused. Women of Cincinnati,
you can bear ME witness that if there is
one thing more than another calculated
to lacerate the heart, it is when one of
our fair daughters, having plighted her
faith to him with whom her happiness
and life are linked, finds that he has
fallen victim to this great crime. There
is no escape, except that afforded by law,
from him who has become the embruten-
ed sot that humanity abhors. And yet
he was one of those on whom the hope
of many were laid. Then are the women
of America not interested, and shall not
her more fortunate sisters be allowed to
lend their sympathy and aid to her who