Organized Temperance Work is of recent date, and may justly be claimed,
as one of the fruits of the Christian civilization of the Nineteenth
century.
The first society was formed in Moroe, Saratoga county, N. Y., in the
beginning of the nineteenth century, by two earnest men--a Christian
minister and a Christian physician.
From this little beginning, a blessed tidal wave of influence has swept
around the world, and Temperance organizations may now be found in
every civilized and semi-civilized country on the globe.
One of the most singular facts in the history of this reform is, that
more than fifty years of earnest effort was put forth by men, before
women began to take very much actual interest in the work. The Good
Templars were the first to open their doors, and invite, and secure
their co-operation. But it was not till that mighty Spiritual cyclone
that we call “the Crusade” swept over the land, that any large number
of women came aggressively into the work.
With the power of this Pentecostal baptism upon them, and the heroism
of a divine faith to sustain them, they were almost irresistible.
Timid women, unused to missionary work, went out as flaming heralds
of the Cross, carrying the gospel of the Son of God into the saloons,
and down into the slums of vice. And these ministrations were attended
with wonderful power and success. Whole towns were cleared of the
liquor traffic in a few days; hundreds of men who had been in the trade
for years, closed their saloons, and renounced the business forever;
thousands signed the pledge; many who were going down rapidly to ruin,
reformed, and became champions of the cause; women unschooled in
oratory, spoke with tongues of fire, moving the masses by their burning
words of eloquence, and stirring society to its very depths.
As to what the result might have been, had the women continued on these
lines of work, we dare not speculate. But this we do know, that just
in proportion as they have had power with God, they have had power
with men; and just to the extent that they have wandered away from the
Divine source of strength, and “put their trust in princes and in the
son of man, in whom there is no help,” to just that extent they have
failed to secure unity and success.
The brilliant dash of the Crusade, that so discomfited the enemy all
along the lines, was followed by organization.
The new society, which was called the Woman’s National Christian
Temperance Union, was organized in Cleveland, Ohio, in November, 1874,
by representatives from most of the Northern and some of the Southern
States.
The growth of the society was unprecedentedly large. Branch unions
were formed in all the large towns and cities, and in many of the
villages of the land.
Soon the work extended beyond our own lines, and a Canadian Woman’s
Temperance Union, and a British Woman’s Temperance Association were
effected, which have extended the work to India, Africa and the Islands
of the sea, so that wherever the English language is spoken, the names
of these societies are a household word.
In the early years of the work, there was entire unity in the plans of
these societies, which was one of the marks of its Divine origin. They
all worked after the pattern shown them on the mount of faith.
Another evidence that the pattern was of Heavenly origin, is the fact
that it was complete in outline, and that they were enabled to take
such a wide view of the field, and grasp with such masterly hands, the
instrumentalities to be used.
WORK AMONG THE CHILDREN.
In the very beginning, the importance of pledging and training the
young was emphasized. This work has been pushed with great zeal and
energy, till it has extended far beyond their own lines.
The society has, perhaps, fewer children directly under its training,
but they are more carefully taught.
Regular training schools with every facility for scientific teaching,
have taken the place of oral lessons and pledge signing, so common in
the beginning when the children gathered by hundreds. And they have
pushed the work beyond their own lines, out into the Sabbath schools,
and into the Public schools and colleges.
A wonderful impulse was given to this thorough, systematic training,
by the publication of Dr. Richardson’s Lesson Book, and Julia Colman’s
Alcohol and Hygiene, by the National Temperance Publishing Society of
New York. So that in reviewing the past, it is safe to say that the
general work has been greatly advanced.
TEMPERANCE LITERATURE.
As an important auxiliary in efforts to reach all classes, especially
those who do not attend religious and Temperance meetings, the
distribution of Temperance literature has been most helpful. The work
from the very first has been pushed with zeal and persistence, and has
gone steadily on, till the volume of literature produced and circulated
gratuitously, is enormous. Instructive tracts and Temperance hand-bills
are being distributed by _millions_.
Many of them are of high order, and contain the most reliable
scientific information. These tracts may be found at railroad stations,
post-offices, and work-shops, and at other points where men congregate;
and, like the leaven the woman hid in the meal, is rapidly leavening
the whole lump.
FRIENDLY INNS.
The need of a safe place of resort for the thousands, who during the
Crusade were led by Divine power to abandon their cups, was deeply
felt, and many of the Unions undertook to meet the demand.
They were well patronized by the classes for whom they were intended,
and by others who felt an interest in such generous enterprises.
But owing to the labor involved, and the responsibility incurred,
many societies, after a few years, turned the work over to private
parties, who assumed all risk, and gradually these Friendly Inns became
Temperance Restaurants, and Hotels for the accommodation of the general
public, and a more respectable class of customers. There are but few of
these institutions now, directly under the control of the society which
inaugurated the work in this country so grandly.
THE PRESS.
The change in the attitude of the Press has been most favorable.
Before the Crusade, it was difficult to secure entrance for Temperance
literature, into the secular newspapers of the country, and little
was found in the religious journals. But the Crusade movement was so
unusual and exciting, and the people were so anxious to secure the
latest information, that correspondents were kept in the field, that
the latest news might be furnished.
That the Press has maintained a more independent attitude towards the
liquor traffic since the Crusade than ever before, cannot be denied.
The friends of Temperance have a fair field; the newspapers of the
country are as accessible to them as to the friends of the trade, and
their contributions more often appear. Large numbers of papers have
conceded a column weekly to the local unions, and they are edited by
members of the society, while the regular Temperance papers have been
much better sustained.
On the other hand, liquor-dealers have established their own organs,
and the pen-fight, all along the lines, waxes fiercer and hotter as the
years go by.
The religious press is outspoken, and may be relied on in the coming
contest, as a mighty power. The secular press, though divided, will
grandly reinforce the work, as the question of the total prohibition of
the liquor traffic comes more and more to the front.
YOUNG WOMEN’S WORK.
The organization of Young Women’s Unions has not been general. But
large numbers have come into the work as co-laborers with their older
sisters, and a more decided temperance sentiment has obtained among
them.
PRISON VISITATION.
The sick, and those in prison, have been visited; and many in jails,
for crimes committed under the influence of drink, have signed the
pledge, and been redeemed inside prison walls.
GOSPEL TEMPERANCE MEETINGS.
During the early days of the Crusade, while the breath of a Divine
inspiration was upon them, the women inaugurated Gospel Temperance
Meetings.
Their watch-fires, kindled in almost every village, glinted with light
the darkest caverns of sin and degradation; and thousands, lost in the
mazes of drunkenness, guided by their beacon fires, found their way to
the cross of Christ, and to a new and redeemed life.
In no work has God’s power been more clearly displayed than in these
meetings held by the women in the early years of their work.
These meetings had so much of Christ’s gospel in them, and were so
effectual in saving the ungospeled masses, that the name of Gospel
Temperance Meetings was given them--a name that has become a household
word among all Temperance workers in all lands.
The rude halls and mission chapels, where the workers held their
meetings, seemed favored places of Heaven, where God let down His
ladder, for the swift feet of the angels of mercy and forgiveness.
Thousands were redeemed, not only from drunkenness, but from all their
vile and sinful habits.
If we could turn over the pages of the Book of Life, we would find
opposite many a name unknown to fame, the words of Jesus, in letters
of living light, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of
these, ye have done it unto Me.”
During the first three or four years of the work, these meetings for
the reformation and salvation of the drinking classes, were most
earnest and successful. During one year special reports showed that
over _fifteen thousand_ had been saved through these Gospel Temperance
Meetings.
The Woman’s Temperance Union was born of prayer, and must be sustained
by prayer. When we substitute any other agency for prayer we will be
shorn of our strength, and fall apart. Nothing but the Divine grace
that comes in answer to much prayer can cement, in strong, enduring
bonds, human hearts for such work as this.
As they gather about the cross to pray, they are drawn nearer to the
Master, and nearer to each other. The reflex influence upon the workers
themselves, has been a most blessed result.
But as the years have gone by, the character of the work has somewhat
changed. Gospel Temperance Meetings are still held, and drinking men
brought in and saved; but the meetings are not so frequent, and are not
so largely attended by crowds from the slums.
Bible Readings, and Consecration meetings, have become more frequent,
and the workers themselves are seeking teaching. At the seventh annual
meeting of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, held at Washington,
D. C., October, 1881, there were present 216 delegates, representing
twenty-seven States, besides the District of Columbia and the Territory
of Dakota.
The Treasurer’s exhibit showed $2,557.69 received and disbursed; and
the Corresponding Secretary’s report showed a vast amount of work
accomplished.
But, as large as the work may appear, we may not conceal from ourselves
the fact that we have only touched the rim of the womanhood of this
country, as yet. Millions of women are idle and indifferent, and
thousands are under the power of the habit, or in the liquor business.
Unity of plans by which these masses could be reached, would greatly
advance the Temperance cause.
One of the great needs of the country, and of this cause, is good,
sober, intelligent mothers, who, with strong hands, would mould society
in its beginnings.
If we would have good government in the country, we must have good
government in the homes where government begins.
Women are the governors of the race for the first and best half of
human life. They are the character builders for the future generations,
and we shall have won a great victory for the cause when we may count
the mothers of the land on the side of the Temperance host, and their
home teaching backs up legal enactments.
PROHIBITORY LEGISLATION.
We can no longer admit of compromise measures in dealing with the
liquor traffic. The whole iniquitous business is wrong; a sin against
God, a cruel crime against society, that no amount of revenue can
condone. To admit that crime legalized is no longer crime, is absurd.
The moral code is written not only in the Book of God, but on human
hearts. Every fibre of soul and body is under laws that, violated, must
meet the penalty, no matter how men legislate. And there is not one
sentence in the whole moral code that does not fall upon the liquor
traffic and traffickers in heavy condemnation. We must adjudge this
crime as we would other crimes.
There is no ground to justify compromises. As well might we advocate a
law making it _optional_ with the people whether crime such as theft,
or murder, or arson, should be committed under protection of law.
There is not a principle involved in English common law that is not
violated by the emissaries of the liquor traffic. Human comfort and
happiness, the safety of life and property, and the perpetuity of
government, are involved.
As Temperance sentiment has increased, the demand for Prohibitory
legislation has become more and more imperative, and the most radical
measures are brought forward.
Prohibition by constitutional amendment has become the rallying cry in
nearly every State. The people propose to take the matter into their
own hands, and divest it of all political complications, and settle it
on its own merits, by an exercise of their constitutional rights.
This seems the easiest, quickest, and most permanent plan that has
ever been brought forward, and is in perfect harmony with our American
institutions.
A decision by a majority of the legal voters of the State, in favor of
putting Prohibition down in the bed-rock of State law, would carry the
necessary public sentiment for the enforcement of the law.
The example of President and Mrs. Hayes in banishing liquor from the
White House during one Presidential term, was most praiseworthy. And
the beautiful tribute of the Woman’s Temperance Union, was a suitable
recognition of the heroic stand for Truth and Temperance, made by
Mrs. Lucy W. Hayes. And the fact that during President Hayes’ term of
office the unused wine glasses gathered dust in the cellar, while the
Bible was in constant use in the parlor, will stand out as a gem in
history, long after the liquor traffic of the Republic is overthrown,
and _Prohibition written on the door-post of the White House, and over
the portals of the Capitol buildings_.
“The crisis presses on us,
Face to face, with us it stands,
With lips of solemn question,
Like the Sphynx of Egypt’s sands;
To-day we fashion destiny--
The web of fate we spin,
To-day forever choose we,
Or holiness or sin.
By the future that’s before us--
By all the lights that cast
Their dim and flickering beams across
The darkness of the past,
And by the blessed thoughts of Him
Who for our ransom died;
Oh, my country! oh, my brothers!
Choose ye the righteous side.”
FOOTNOTES
[1] When the praying band went out for saloon visitation, the
_brothers_ remained in the College building in prayer-meeting, and at
the close of every prayer, the College-bell was tolled.
Transcriber note
Spelling and punctuation errors have been corrected.
Italic text has been enclosed in underscores.
Smallcap text has been capitalised.