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Title: Why and how: a hand-book for the use of the W.C.T. unions in Canada
Author: Addie Chisholm
Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6868]
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WHY AND HOW:
A HAND-BOOK FOR THE USE OF
THE W. C. T. UNIONS IN CANADA.
By MRS. ADDIE CHISHOLM,
PRESIDENT ONTARIO W. C. T. U.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
SUFFERING
CHAPTER II.
AWAKENING
CHAPTER III.
ORGANIZATION AND WORK
CHAPTER IV.
OUR CANADIAN W. C. T. U.
CHAPTER V.
WHY WOMEN SHOULD WORK
CHAPTER VI.
HOW WOMEN MAY WORK
CHAPTER VII.
HOW TO FORM A W. C. T. U.
CHAPTER VIII.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
CHAPTER IX.
YOUNG WOMEN'S WORK
CHAPTER X.
A DREAM
CHAPTER XI.
CONCLUSION
CONSTITUTION
BY-LAWS
ORDER OF BUSINESS
THE TEMPERANCE HAND-BOOK
FOR THE USE OF
THE W. C. T. UNIONS
OF CANADA.
CHAPTER I.
SUFFERING.
It has been said "Woman has a capacity for suffering," and during
all the years of the past, in all countries and among all nations,
woman has been proving this true. Since the dark day when "there
stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother," and there came to that
mother's heart the agony of bereavement, the human disappointment and
pangs, whose torture only the Father God could understand,--from that
day till the present, disappointment, trial and sorrow have entered
largely into the life and experience of women. But of all clouds that
have darkened their lives and among all sharp swords that have
pierced their hearts, the cloud of the liquor traffic has been the
darkest, and its blade the keenest. Myriads of women have looked with
anguish on sacrifices offered and loved ones slain, not to save
humanity or to draw men nearer to God, but destroyed at the hands of
a tyrant as relentless as death, and as pitiless.
In heathen countries, children have been left to float out of
existence, an offering to the gods, while the mother has turned sadly
and sorrowfully away; in Christian countries, children have drifted
with the tide of social customs, or inherited appetites for strong
drink, out of the boundless sea of evil and wretchedness, while women
have wept and wondered, have pondered and prayed.
Mothers have seen their sons, strong and brave in their young
manhood, venture on this stream of rapid currents, have watched them
with sad eyes, and called to them in pleading and terrified tones, as
they were carried on and on by the rushing waters. At last, it was
too late even for mother's love to save, and they were drawn into
that terrible vortex, from which there is so seldom escape,
despairing hands have reached out for help, the cry of the soul has
been an appeal for mercy, and another loved one has gone down a
victim to the nation's greed and a sacrifice to the nation's sin.
Out from a sheltered, sunshiny home has gone the tender, trusting
daughter, in her glad girlhood, her heart all aglow with true
hallowed love for him, by whose side she has chosen to spend the
coming years. The future has looked so bright, as together they have
thought, and planned, and built their airy castles; but the clouds
have come and passed, and come again and more frequently, till, at
length, the young wife has sat continually in their shadow, the
brightness and the sunshine all gone out of her life, as her husband
has yielded to the influence of strong drink. She has realized that
she was a drunkard's wife, her place by a drunkard's side, and, with
white lips and breaking heart, she has moaned out her prayer to God
for deliverance. And who will say that the fond mother, sitting in
the old bright home, has not felt every pang, every blow that reached
the daughter's heart as she saw all that the dear one in loyalty to
her husband would fain have concealed. This experience comes home to
most of us, and we easily recall not one case but many in which wives
and daughters have suffered at the hands of this cruel destroyer.
Homes have been invaded, not with noise of drums and clash of arms,
but silently as by the stealthy step of death. Their purity and peace
have been destroyed, their idols laid in the dust, and the place that
was designed to be a sanctuary for humanity, a rest from the
weariness of life and a refuge from its storms, has become, instead,
a dreary abode of waiting and watching, of enduring and weeping,
often a very Gethsemane to patient loving souls. In time the domestic
life of families is destroyed by this enemy, so strong, cruel and
determined; in many cases, the elegant abode gives place to a poorer
one; the comfortable dwelling is exchanged for all that is
comfortless and forbidding, and there is no longer a home. Cardinal
Manning, in his address at the temperance congress recently held in
England, says: "As the foundation they laid deep in the earth was the
solid basis of social and political peace, so the domestic life of
millions of our people is the foundation of the whole order of our
commonwealth. I charge upon this great traffic nine-tenths of the
misery and the destroyed and wrecked homes of our joyless people."
What is true in England is also true in our young country. The "Boys'
Homes" and "Girls' Homes" in our large cities furnish evidence of our
destroyed homes. It is safe to say that nine-tenths of the inmates of
these institutions are there provided with a home at the expense of
the public, because strong drink has robbed them of the love and care
of father and mother, or both, and taken from their innocent
childhood all the delights and happiness of home life. As women, age
after age, beheld their loved ones thus taken from them, and saw
their homes in the hands of this destroyer, it was not strange that
at last there arose from their hearts a cry almost of despair. It was
a cry that entered into the ear of God and brought a dim sense of
coming help, a consciousness that God knew and cared and had
something better in reserve. The plough of pain had torn up the
fallow soil of woman's heart; the harrow of suffering had mellowed,
and tears of agony, wept for ages, had moistened it; now the seed of
thoughtful and determined purpose was ready to be sown, out of which
was to spring the plentiful harvest of action.
Behind were the long dreary wastes of agony, marked with the myriad
grave mounds of lost loved ones, over which woman's face had bowed
low, while the heart within was breaking; before stretched the wide
unknown, full of possibilities. Should it unfold the same sad story
of patient, passive' suffering, or grow bright with the burnished
armor and glad with the hopeful songs of women gathering to the
battle, filed against the fell destroyer of their hopes? As the
Spirit of God brooded over the primeval void and brought therefrom
order, light, beauty and life, so the spirit of suffering brooded
above the torn and saddened heart of womanhood, till at last the
angel of awakening appeared, and the heart that had dumbly, patiently
endured, stirred to the impulse of defence, and opened to the thought
of freedom. The hour had struck, the call had come. The "arrow had
been hidden in God's quiver," waiting His time. When His ringers
guide to the mark, what can the arrow do but fulfil its mission?
CHAPTER II.
AWAKENING.
In the history of oppressed nations, it has often happened that
years of suffering have but kindled the desire for freedom and kept
it alive, fanned by every fresh act of cruelty and injustice, until,
at last, it has burst forth in a fire, which has destroyed the wrong,
illuminated the right, and the oppressed people have gone free.
In individual lives, there are not wanting those who have come
through the white heat of affliction, purified and made free from the
bitterness and selfishness of earth and crowned with a noble purpose--
to relieve the sufferings of others, to be, in a sense, God's voice,
God's messenger to the helpless, and to be in His hands for the
deliverance of the oppressed and enslaved. So in this temperance
cause. For years women had asked, as Paul had asked, "Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do?" and it had seemed that the answer came only in
the closer pressing to their lips of the cup of suffering. As they
still pleaded, spreading the white wings of prayer over their dear
ones, suddenly there came to them the inspiration, which led to the
crusade, an inspiration from the heart of God.
In years past, indications had not been wanting of some such
possible uprising, as drops precede the full shower, for, in 1856, at
Rockport, Mass., some 200 women had assembled and, proceeding to
several places where intoxicating liquor was sold, had entered and
destroyed the liquor they found. That was an impulse born of
suffering, and finding expression in action impulsive and unusual;
but, not being followed up by organization, it soon ended. In 1869,
in Rutland, Vt., and at Clyde, Ohio, the women organized to suppress
the liquor traffic, visiting saloons, securing pledges, holding
prayer meetings, etc., but the great movement, which has given to
woman new power in this temperance work, and opened up to her new
avenues of usefulness, so long closed, is known as the Woman's
Crusade. It began about the same time in three different places in
the month of December, 1873, Fredonia, N. Y., Hillsboro, Ohio, and
Washington Court House, Ohio, were the first scenes of action. There
the first contests were waged and the first victories won. Timid
Christian women, who had never heard their own voices in public
prayer, were suddenly called to the front and a message given them of
God. Dr. Dio Lewis visited Hillsboro in December, 1873, and there
gave two lectures, one of them a lecture on temperance, in which he
referred to his mother's struggles as a drunkard's wife, doing her
best to support her family, and finally, with a few other praying
women, visiting the saloon-keeper who sold liquor to her husband, and
pleading with him to give up his business, with which request he, at
last, complied. At the close of the lecture, Dr. Lewis called upon
all, who were willing to follow his mother's example, to rise, an
invitation to which about fifty ladies responded. Many gentlemen in
the audience promised to stand by them. A meeting was held the
following morning in the Presbyterian church, at which Mrs. Judge
Thomson was chosen leader. After much prayer and consultation, the
ladies started out in procession, seventy-five in number, and
proceeded, singing the familiar hymn, "Give to the winds thy fears,"
first to the drug stores, and then to the hotels and saloons, which
they fearlessly entered, asking permission to sing and pray. In
nearly every case, the permission was given during that first day,
and a few saloon-keepers yielded to the entreaties of these earnest
Christian women, and promised to give up selling liquor. As the days
went by, the thirteen drinking places of the town were reduced to
three, while in Washington Court House, Ohio, in one week, yielding
to the persistent appeals of the "praying women," all the drinking
places were closed, the three drug stores selling only on
prescription. Here, while the ladies went in bands from place to
place, meeting often with insult and abuse now that the saloon-keepers
had recovered from their first surprise, the gentlemen remained in the
church to pray. As the fresh toll of the bell announced that another
prayer had ascended to heaven in their behalf and for their success
and protection, these women were encouraged and became strong to do
all that they felt had been committed to them. After a time their
approach to a saloon or hotel was the signal for the doors to be
locked and entrance was denied them. Then, outside, on the public
pavement, in the snow of a bitterly cold December, they knelt and
prayed for the saloon-keeper and his family, that he might see his
error and be persuaded to do right, for those who were in the habit of
frequenting that saloon, and for the downfall of the liquor traffic.
It was not very long before the liquor-sellers found that prayer, even
outside their premises and outside of locked doors, was having its
effect, and in order to put a stop to it, they lodged complaints
against the women, the burden of which was that they were obstructing
the highway and interrupting business. Off the sidewalks, therefore,
the women went, and in deeper snows, and with more dauntless faith,
prayed on, singing, occasionally, a song of praise and thanksgiving.
To a few cities belongs the disgrace of imprisoning some of these
noble Christian women, yet in all this, "a form like unto the Son of
Man" was with them, and the unseen presence was their stay. They were
soon released, however, and found that the news of their arrest and
imprisonment had only increased the interest of all and the anxiety
of many concerning this work. Requests for assistance came from other
cities and States, to which the ladies of Hillsboro and other places
responded, till in almost all of the Northern States there was a
common crusade against the liquor traffic. For about six months this
remarkable movement lasted, meeting with varied success and closing
saloons and bars of hotels in 250 towns and villages.
CHAPTER III.
ORGANIZATION AND WORK.
IN THE UNITED STATES.
Gradually these active workers in the temperance cause, conscious of
having received a mighty power, a special baptism at the hands of
God, for a special work, began to look for something abiding in
organization when this unusual movement should have ceased, something
in which all Christian women could unite for work in this special
cause. In the winter and spring of 1873-74 this wonderful movement,
known as "The Woman's Crusade," took place. In August of the same
year many of these crusaders were gathered together at Chatauqua, to
spend a few days there in the tented grove, on the occasion of the
First National S. S. Assembly. As they talked over the work done, and
the work which the world still had need of, the thought came to one
of the band of the possibility of uniting all the women of that land
in temperance effort. Acting on this suggestion steps were at once
taken to form such an association. A public meeting was held on the
grounds, afterwards a prayer and a business meeting, at which latter
a committee of organization was formed, and a circular letter
authorized, asking "The Woman's Temperance League" of the North to
hold conventions for the purpose of electing delegates to an
organizing convention, to be held in Cleveland, Ohio, Nov. 18th, 19th
and 20th, 1874. At this convention in November Mrs. Jennie F. Willing
presided, three hundred delegates and visitors were present, and amid
much enthusiasm the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union took
its place with the hosts of the Lord, to lead on to victory. Its
first officers were: President, Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer; Vice-
Presidents, one from every State; Rec. Sec., Mrs. Mary C. Johnson,
N.Y.; Cor. Sec., Miss Frances Willard; Treasurer, Mrs. W. A. Ingham,
Ohio. A constitution and by-laws were adopted, the preamble to which
read as follows:
"The Christian women of this nation, conscious of the increasing
evils, and appalled at the dangers and tendencies of intemperance,
believe it has become their duty, under the providence of God, to
unite their efforts for its extinction."
This is the thought that since then has nerved the W. C. T. U. women
in every city, town and village of the neighboring States,--
"Appalled at the tendencies and dangers of intemperance," to combat
this evil they have given their time and strength, their influence
and their prayers.
For five years Mrs. Wittenmeyer presided over this society of
earnest workers, and during this time contributed greatly to its
success by her wise and loving counsel, endearing herself to the
hearts of all.
In 1879 Miss Frances Willard was chosen president, and under her
able administration and remarkable skill in leadership 100,000 women
organized in unions are now marching onward to the goal of
prohibition, bearing with them the hopes and prayers of many who
would be in that procession if they could. We know that in the houses
of many, even of the liquor sellers, sit pure women whose prayers go
up quietly, but none the less sincerely, and with no less faith than
those of the white ribboned army, for the downfall of the liquor
traffic, and for the triumph of the gospel of peace and goodwill to
man.
It was largely through the effort of the W. C. T. U. women that the
State of Kansas, on Nov. 2nd 1880, adopted the amendment to the
constitution of the state, prohibiting the manufacture or sale of all
intoxicating liquors, except for mechanical or medicinal purposes.
In Ohio, in 1883, the whole campaign for the constitutional
amendment was planned and directed by the president of the W. C. T.
U., Mrs. Mary Woodbridge. In this she was ably assisted by all the W.
C. T. U. women throughout the state. Such was the earnestness and
spirit of sacrifice manifested that when, at one convention, the
question of finance was discussed, it was unanimously decided that
they would _go without gloves_ for a certain time, that they
might have more money for this campaign. It is worth while for us to
observe here that, in this contest, great importance was attached to
the distribution of temperance literature. We are told that leaflets,
cards, and circulars went out "by the bushel." Printed appeals were
sent to all corporations and companies of any size, sermons were
preached on the subject not on Sunday only, but in some places on
every day of the week. On the day of the vote the ladies visited the
polls, furnishing lunches to all, and gave out the ballots for the
amendment. Over $20,000 was raised in that State during that year for
the work undertaken by the W.C.T.U. Although they were not successful
in gaining the amendment, the returns show that in many counties
fraudulent count had been made, and it is believed by those in a
position to know that an honest count would have carried the
amendment by a large majority. As it was it received 323,167 votes,
while the license amendment received but 98,050. A majority of any
votes cast at the general election was necessary for adoption. In
Florida the passage of the Local Option Bill was due, as one of their
legislators testifies, to the influence of the W.C.T.U.
For five years the women of Iowa, under the leadership of Mrs. J,
Ellen Foster, had planned, pleaded and petitioned against the
licensed system of that state. On the 27th June, 1882, the people
adopted the constitutional prohibition amendment by a majority of
29,759, the Supreme Court however declared that on account of some
irregularity in the legislative steps of the passage of the
amendment, it was of no effect and void. In March 1884, however, the
Iowa Legislature passed a prohibiting law, which came into force on
July 4th of the same year. And so another victory has been gained by
the temperance women of the United States, and prohibition has been
secured to another important state of the Union.
For years the N.W.C.T.U. has been pressing for the insertion of one
temperance lesson per quarter in the International series of Sabbath-
school lessons, but without success.
At the recent I.S.S. Convention, which met in Louisville, Ky.,
yielding to the appeal so eloquently urged by Miss Willard, the
convention recommended that the committee on preparation of lessons
be instructed to include the quarterly temperance lesson in their
series.
Temperance text books have been added to the books of the public
schools in Michigan, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. This has
been done under the management of Mrs. Mary Hunt, aided by the
presidents of the different State Unions. This victory was the result
of a systematic plan laid down by the N.W.C.T.U., the principal
points of which are mentioned.
The N.W.C.T.U. has also established at Chicago, a national organ,
"The Union Signal," edited by Mrs. Mary B. Willard, which is
considered to be one of the best conducted papers known. These are
some of the successes gained by this society of active Christian
women, the contemplation of which led J. B. Gough to declare that
"after forty years of observation, he believed the W.C.T.U, was doing
more real, solid work, than all other temperance societies combined."
The work of the N.W.C.T.U. is classed as follows, each department
being under the control of an active lady superintendent:--
Heredity and Hygiene.
Scientific Temperance Instruction.
Sunday-school Work.
Juvenile Work.
Free Kindergartens.
Temperance Literature.
Suppression of Impure Literature.
Relation of Intemperance to Capital and Labor.
Influencing the press--"Signal Service" work.
Conference with Influential Bodies.
Inducing Physicians not to Prescribe Alcoholic Stimulants.
Efforts to Overthrow the Tobacco Habit.
Suppression of the Social Evil.
Evangelistic.
Prison and Police Stations.
Work among Railroad Employees, Soldiers and Sailors.
Use of the Unfermented Juice of the Grape at the Lord's Table.
Young Woman's Work.
Parlor Meetings.
Kitchen Gardens.
Flower Mission.
State and County Fairs.
Legislature and Petitions.
Franchise.
Southern Work.
Work among Foreigners.
Work on the Pacific Coast.
Work among the Colored People of the North.
National Organization.
IN GREAT BRITAIN.
The influence of the "Woman's Crusade," and subsequently of the
N.W.C.T.U., spread rapidly to other countries and led to the
foundation of Women's Christian Temperance Unions in Great Britain,
Canada, Australia, India and Japan.
In Dundee, Scotland, the first British W.C.T.U. was formed. As the
news of the whiskey war in America reached the women of that city,
they, too, resolved to do something in this work. Under the
leadership of Mrs. M. E. Parker, they obtained, in six days, the
names of 9,800 women of the city to a petition, asking that no fresh
licenses be granted and that many be withdrawn. Marching in
procession to the Court House, they presented their petition, a scene
never before witnessed in Great Britain. Four hundred members were
immediately enrolled as members of a working society, and the
influence of the Dundee W.C.T.U. was felt far and near. Afterwards, a
British Woman's Temperance Association was formed, of which Mrs.
Parker was president. This Association now has, in England, 195
branches, with a membership of more than 10,000; in Scotland, fifty
branches; in Ireland, about the same number, and a few also in Wales.
Their work has been to use their influence in every possible way, in
favor of temperance, with the medical profession, with Parliament,
corporations and companies, and with ministers of religion. In 1883,
they presented a petition in favor of Sunday closing, containing
184,000 signatures. They have issued a cookery book, and a number of
miscellaneous books and papers. Mrs. Lucas, sister of Hon. John
Bright, has been president of this society for the past few years,
and her stirring appeals to the women of England, have roused many to
a sense of their responsibility, and kept them thoroughly alive and
earnest in the work. Mrs. Lucas' meetings, public as well as others,
are always well attended, and the greatest interest is manifested by
her audiences in the subject which she presents with much tenderness
and power. Other lady speakers, from the ranks of the W.C.T.U. in
England, do good service in addressing meetings, both public and
private, and the urgent invitations for help in forming societies are
so numerous, that the constant demand is for more workers. One of the
great needs of the Association has been (as the secretary stated from
year to year) a paid organizer, whose time should be at the disposal
of the society to visit the various branches and places where new
Unions might be formed.
The officers of this Association are in part:--President, Mrs.
Lucas, No. 7 Charlotte street, Bradford Square, London, Eng.;
Secretary, Mrs. Bradley, 16 Memorial Hall, Farringdon. W. London.
Besides this society there are other associations in England
composed of women only, who are doing good work for temperance,
notably "The Liverpool Ladies' Temperance Association" organized in
1864. The special object of this society is "To reclaim women of
every grade of society, who have fallen into habits of intemperance,
and to prevent those from falling who are already in circumstances of
danger, by visitation, watchful care, and by every means which can be
devised; also to spread Temperance principles in every possible way."
They have six or more Missionaries constantly at work, and a "General
Superintendent, who acts as secretary, and, with the assistance of
ladies of the Committee, takes charge of special cases, which from
the social position of the parties, require to be carefully and
delicately dealt with." This society is doing its work more quietly,
perhaps, than many others, but a work very much needed, and a service
requiring much thought and patience, Christian sympathy and tact.
President, Mrs. D. Parrel, 24 Waverley Road, Sefton Park, Liverpool,
Eng.; Secretary, Mrs. H. Spring, Office--No. 2 Y.M.C.A. Buildings, 60
Mount Pleasant, Liverpool.
The Woman's Union of the Church of England Temperance Society, with
Rev. Canon Ellison as President, is also in a flourishing condition.
Eighty-five branches have been formed, also a "Servants' Branch," a
"Branch for young women engaged in houses of business," and a "Branch
for girls at restaurants and railway refreshment bars."
Drawing-room meetings have been held with great success, some in the
mansion of the Duke and Duchess of Westminster, and in the drawing-rooms
of Lord and Lady Brabazon.
The Working Women's Teetotal League, which has also been in
operation for about eight years, has for its object to spread
teetotalism amongst working-class women. Many thousands of pledges
have been taken, and benefit societies have been formed under the
guidance and supervision of this society.
The Manchester W.C.T. Association is also doing a good work among
the young, and in rescuing women from the thraldom of drink.
The large and crowded cities of Great Britain present opportunities
and demands for work of this nature, with which our younger country
is not so familiar, but the motto of the B.W.T. Association bears a
message to us equally strong "The Master is come and calleth for thee."
CHAPTER IV.
OUR CANADIAN W.C.T.U.
_History and Present Condition._
ONTARIO.
The first union in Canada, of which we have any record, was formed
in Owen Sound, Ont. In the spring of 1874, shortly after the first
note of the crusade had been sounded, a few earnest Christian ladies
of that place, stirred by the report of what God was doing through
their sisters in the Western States, meet to devise some plan, by
which they could do something if not to prevent, at least to lessen
the evils of intemperance in their town. At this meeting, held on the
20th of May, a W.C.T.U. was organized under the presidency of Mrs.
Doyle. The first work done by this Union was the general circulation
of the pledge, and petitioning the council against granting saloon
licenses, also asking that the number of tavern licenses be lessened,
which request was granted. Petitions were also sent to the
legislature at Toronto, asking for amendments to the license act, and
the resolution to submit the Dunkin act to the people of that county
was the result of the persistent efforts of the W.C.T.U. In the
campaign for this purpose these ladies nobly assisted and stood side
by side with other and older temperance organizations laboring for
the general good.
Picton Union was formed in the autumn of the same year, and the
ladies of that Union aided largely in securing the passage of the
Dunkin act in that county (P. E.). From this time unions were formed
here and there, but there was no bond of union, no provincial society
for Ontario until, in 1877, October 23rd and 24th, a conference of
the existing unions was held in Toronto, and it was there decided to
organize a Provincial Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Delegates
were present from twenty-five unions, more than two-thirds of the
local unions thus showing their interest in the object for which they
had met. At this conference Mrs. Letitia Youmans presided, and at its
close the officers elected were: President, Mrs. L. Youmans; Vice-
presidents, one from each county; Cor. Sec., Miss Phelps, St.
Catharines; Rec. Sec., Miss Alien, Kingston; Treasurer Mrs. Judge
Jones, Brantford. For five years Mrs. Youmans was the beloved
president of this provincial union, during which time she travelled
extensively through Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces (as
well as in the United States), organizing unions, and doing very much
by her earnest and eloquent addresses to convince the public mind of
the unrighteousness of the liquor traffic, and the necessity for its
overthrow.
During the last few years Ontario has shared in the general growth
of temperance sentiment, and in common with other temperance
organizations the W.C.T.U. has received an increase in membership,
and has obtained a surer, warmer place in the hearts of the people.
Recently, owing, no doubt, to the agitation of the Scott Act contest
in many counties, and owing, too, to the earnestness and energy of
many of the county superintendents of the Provincial Union, the
number of societies has been more than doubled. The Ontario
Provincial Union now comprises ninety-six unions, with a membership
of about 2,600. The attention of this Provincial Union has been
largely directed to the importance of introducing scientific
instruction in our public schools. Dr. Richardson's "Temperance
Lesson Book," and other text books on this subject, have been widely
circulated in teachers' conventions and elsewhere; petitions have
been presented to school boards, literature on the subject has been
widely distributed, and during the spring months, while the Hon.
Minister of Education was visiting the public schools at different
points, he was waited upon in many places by deputations from the
W.C.T. Unions, asking that temperance text books be introduced into
the schools of Ontario.
The committee to whose care this branch of the work is committed,
also had an interview with Hon. Mr. Ross, Minister of Education, and
presented a petition from the W.C.T. Unions, and other temperance
societies, asking that scientific instruction in temperance be given
to the children of the public schools. The Hon. Minister informed the
deputation that a book on "Physiology and Hygiene," having special
reference to the effect of alcohol on the human system, was now in
course of preparation, and would be introduced in the course of study
for next year.
Medical conventions and assemblies have been approached, and
correspondence had with synods, conferences and assemblies, on the
medical uses of alcohol, and the use of the unfermented juice of the
grape at the Lord's table. Many thousands of tracts have been sent
out from the literature department of this Union (which department is
just in its infancy), and a large number of newspapers supplied
regularly with temperance items.
General Officers of the Ontario W.C.T.U.--President, Mrs. A.
Chisholm, 218 Albert Street, Ottawa; Ex-President, Mrs. Letitia
Youmans, Picton; First Vice-President, Mrs. Tilton, Ottawa; Second
Vice-President, Mrs. Cowan, Toronto; Recording Secretary, Miss
Orchard, Galt; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Fawcett, Maple;
Treasurer, Mrs. Brethour, Milton.
Three Y.W.C.T. Unions in Ontario, at Hamilton, Ottawa, and Essex
Centre, are doing good work in this temperance warfare. "Boys' night
schools," "girls' sewing schools," and "bands of hope" are
successfully carried on under their supervision. There are eleven
departments of work in connection with this provincial union,
corresponding to some of those so successfully controlled by the N.
W. C. T. U.
Plan of Work and Lecture Department, Mrs. Tilton, Convener.
Literature, Mrs. Pratt, Convener, Hamilton.
Prison and Jail Work, Mrs. Rutherford, Convener, Toronto.
Legislative, Mrs. Youmans, Picton.
Press, Miss M. Phelps, Convener, St. Catharines.
Unfermented Wine at the Lord's table. Miss Wilmot, Convener, Milton.
County Fairs.
S. S. Temperance Work and Juvenile Unions, Mrs. Andrews, Convener.
Presenting Claims of Temperance to Influential Bodies, Mrs. M.
Fawcett, Maple.
Scientific Instruction in Temperance, Miss Orchard, Owen Sound.
Y.W.C.T.U. Work, Miss Scott, Ottawa.
QUEBEC.
In the year 1877, a W.C.T.U. was organized at Stanstead, P.Q., by
Mrs. Charles W. Pierce, of Boston, who, for a few months, also filled
the office of president. This Union was composed of members from
three villages, viz.: Stanstead Plain, Rock Island, P.Q., and Derby
Line, Vermont. Public meetings were held from time to time by this
Union, prominent lecturers engaged, and a lively interest in
temperance matters was manifested by the general public. Very much of
the success of this Union is due to the counsel and instruction given
by Miss Willard during her visit to Stanstead in 1878.
The next Union formed was the Huntingdon Union, but it was not until
the winter of 1882-83 that the W.C.T.U. work may be said to have
gained a foothold in this Province. During this winter, Mrs. Youmans
visited many places in the Province by invitation of the late Rev.
Thomas Gales and prominent Christian ladies, giving public addresses
and urging the ladies to more active work in this particular branch
of Christian endeavor. The result of her labors was the formation of
sixteen Unions and a general quickening and awakening to temperance
truth.
These Unions were soon at work. The education of the children in
temperance principles received their special attention. Public
temperance meetings were promoted, literature distributed, free
reading rooms established, petitions circulated against license,
temperance picnics, cottage and other meetings held, and a great
amount of individual work done that has greatly aided and
strengthened the cause of temperance in the Province. A Y.W.C.T.U.
was formed at Point St. Charles, which is engaged in active work and
will be found to be a social power whose weight and influence for
good cannot well be estimated.
On the 16th and 17th October, 1883, a meeting of delegates from
local Unions was held in Montreal for the purpose of organizing a
Provincial Union for the Province of Quebec. Thirty-five delegates
were present; encouraging reports were given from the different
Unions represented, showing a total membership of about 1,000, and a
Provincial Union was at once organized with the following officers:--
President, Mrs. Middleton, Quebec; first Vice-President, Mrs. Dunkin,
Knowlton; second Vice-President, Mrs. Walker, Montreal; Corresponding
Secretary. Miss Lamb, Quebec; Recording Secretary, Mrs. R. W.
McLachlan, Montreal; Treasurer, Mrs. A. M. McKenzie Forbes, Montreal.
In the organization of this Provincial Union, Mrs. E. McLaughlin, of
Boston, Miss Anna Gordon (Miss Willard's secretary) and Mrs. S. W.
Foster, of Knowlton, rendered valuable assistance.
The departments of work arranged by this Provincial Union, are as
follows:--
Heredity and Hygiene, Mrs. D. V. Lucas, Supt., Montreal.
Scientific Work, Mrs. Norton, Montreal.
Juvenile and S.S. Work, Miss Rhynas, Montreal.
Temperance Literature, and Influencing the Press, Mrs. Jack,
Chateauguay Basin.
Evangelistic Work, Miss Knowles, East Farnham.
Prison and Police Work, Mrs. Dean, Quebec.
Work among Intemperate Women, Mrs. Barker, Knowlton.
Social Work, Mrs. C. T. Williams, Montreal.
Legislation, Mrs. Geggie, Quebec.
Each County Vice-President is, to a certain extent, responsible for
the work in her county, and in this Province as well as in Ontario,
they have proved themselves to be a band of faithful and efficient
workers. In the short time which has elapsed since the formation of
the Provincial W.C.T.U., and the election of county vice-president,
with the assistance of their president, twenty new Unions have been
added, making, in all, thirty-seven Unions, with a total membership
of about 2,300. Of this number, more than 1,300 are in the City of
Montreal. In this particular Union the fee is optional, which may
account, in some measure, for the seeming disproportion in members.
THE MARITIME PROVINCES.
The first local union in the Province of New Brunswick was organized
in the town of Moncton, in December, 1875, Mrs. (Rev.) J. E. Brown
being president. Work among the children has largely engaged the
attention of this society, while they have been faithful and
persevering in their efforts to educate the public mind by means of
lectures and distribution of temperance literature. They have also
visited those engaged in selling liquors, and have reasoned with
them, to some purpose, on the unrighteousness of their course.
Unions were formed shortly after in St. John, Fredericton, Portland,
Carleton and St. Stephen's. In all these places much work has been
done, and general temperance sentiment very materially advanced.
In October, 1879, in compliance with a call issued by the
Fredericton Union, the delegates of the local Unions in that Province
met to form a Provincial Union. Twenty delegates and visitors were
present, representing five Unions, and the Prov. Union was at once
organized, the following officers being elected:
President, Mrs. Dunham, Portland, N.B.; Vice-Presidents, Mrs.,
March, St. John, Mrs. McWilliams, Carleton, Mrs. Cunard, Portland,
Mrs. Philips, Fredericton, Mrs. Wade, Woodstock; Secretary, Mrs.
Steadman, Fredericton; Treasurer, Miss Lockhart, St. John; Auditor,
Miss Carr, Carleton.
Since that time the work in this Province has gone steadily forward,
some new Unions have been added, and a deeper interest in temperance
shown, by many who were formerly indifferent.
In September, 1883, the Annual Meeting of this Provincial Union was
again held in Fredericton, at which, invited delegates from N.S. and
P.E.I. were present. Here it was decided that for the best interests
of the Union work in those Eastern Provinces, the organization should
be made Maritime instead of Provincial, representing Nova Scotia and
Prince Edward's Island, as well as New Brunswick. This was done, and
the following officers were elected:
President, Mrs. Dr. Todd, St. Stephen. Vice-Presidents, one from
each Local Union. Secretary, Miss Ella L. Thorne, Fredericton, N.B.;
Assistant Secretary, Mrs. Denistadt, Moncton, N.B.; Auditor, Mrs. W.
W. Turnbull, St John, N.B.; Treasurer, Miss Jane Lockhart, St. John,
N.B.
There are ten Unions in these Provinces. The exact number of members
is not furnished, but if we may judge by the work accomplished, there
must be very many workers in behalf of this cause in these Eastern
Provinces.
The lines of work followed have been similar to those laid down by
the other Provincial Unions. The ladies of St John Union have,
however, with the assistance of other Unions, and private
subscriptions, erected a drinking fountain in their city at a cost of
about $850. This is the first fountain erected by W.C.T.U. in Canada.
The Portland Union has built a hall for its own use, where all Union
meetings are held.
Coffee houses and temperance hotels have been established, libraries
have been opened, and much attention paid to the scientific
instruction in temperance to the children of the public schools.
The Provincial Union of British Columbia was formed in 1883, and
comprised two local Unions, one in Victoria, organized at the same
time as Provincial, and the other in New Westminster. Total
membership 120. In addition to the branches of work undertaken by the
other provincial Unions, this society has declared in favor of the
ballot for women.
President, Mrs., (Rev.) Pollard, Victoria, B.C., Cor. Sec. Mrs. D.
A. Jenkins, Victoria, B.C.
In Manitoba two local Unions have been organized. One in Winnipeg,
Mrs. Monk, president, Mrs. Somerset, Secretary; and one Union in
Brandon, President, Mrs. Davidson; Secretary, Mrs. Bliss. These are
just beginning the good work, but at the end of another year, will
have, doubtless, a record to give of many useful measures planned and
executed, by means of which reformatory, educational, preventive and
legislative work will have been effectually accomplished. Our
Canadian women gratefully acknowledge the aid given us by many of our
sisters across the border, who have greatly assisted us from time to
time with wise counsel and stirring words of appeal. Especially do
they remember the inspiration and fresh courage that came to them
with the presence and influence of Miss Willard. The formation of the
Dominion Union was largely due to her counsel, and to her visit and
eloquent addresses we owe the British Columbia Union, provincial and
local. Mrs. Emily McLaughlin has also won the hearts of all with whom
she came in contact during her visits in Canada, and a large
accession to the membership of the Unions has always followed her
powerful and persuasive utterances.
THE DOMINION W.C.T.U.
For some months previous to the meeting of the Ontario Provincial
Union in October, 1883, a correspondence had been carried on between
some of the leading temperance women in the different Provinces,
regarding the advisability of forming a Dominion Union. All were in
favor of taking this step if any additional good could be gained, or
if it would be of benefit to any. With this feeling, and acting upon
the advice of Miss Willard, president of the N.W.C.T.U., who was
present at the meeting, the Ontario convention appointed a committee
consisting of Mrs. Chisholm and Mrs. Strachan, to confer with the
executive of the Quebec Provincial Union, for the purpose of forming
a Dominion Union, At the interview with the Quebec Provincial
Executive, it was stated that from private letters received from
other Provinces, there would be no difficulty in the way of
organizing the proposed Union. It was also suggested that, in the
event of such organization, no meeting should be called before 1885,
as some of the Provincial Unions had so recently been formed, and
would need all the thought and care that could be given them for a
time, at least.
After some questions and explanations, with a little discussion, it
was decided that a Dominion Union be organized. A constitution was
drawn up, similar to the one in use by the N.W.C.T.U., of the United
States, and the following officers elected: President, Mrs. L.
Youmans, Picton, Ont.; Vice-Presidents, Mrs. A. C. Chisholm, Ottawa,
Ont.; Mrs. Middleton, Quebec; Mrs. Dr. Todd, Fredericton, N.B.; Mrs.
Rev. Pollard, Victoria, B.C.; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Major
Tilton, Ottawa, Ont.; Recording Secretary, Miss Renaud, Montreal,
P.Q.; Treasurer, Mrs. Judge Steadman, Fredericton, N. B.
The aim of this Union will be to unite more closely in their work,
the Christian temperance women of the different Provinces, and to
devise plans for the general good, these to be largely carried out by
the Provincial Unions. Its first meeting will be held during the
session of Parliament at Ottawa in 1885.
CHAPTER V.
WHY WOMEN SHOULD WORK.
1. _For their own sakes._--In the years that are passed women
have been to a great extent, "run in moulds like candles," and have
been "long threes or short sixes," just as society chose to make
them. Occasionally, one and another have refused to be run in the old
mould, but seeing the need to be so great, and the workers so few,
have stepped outside the narrow circle set round them, and with their
faith and courage and persistent loving labor, have brought a new
inspiration to the world's workers, and a new hope to the world's
weary ones.
This W.T.C.U. work opens up to women avenues of usefulness that for
their own sakes they ought not to hesitate to enter. Thus engaged the
circle widens and widens until the possibilities of usefulness are
almost limitless. As the boundaries are set further on the thought
and sympathy of women reach out gradually to their limit, broader
views of life and of humanity are taken on, and a deep, great love
for all God's suffering ones is added to the love of the heart for
family and kindred. In this work is found something of real
"fellowship with God," and we are enabled to understand something of
His great love, even for the unlovable, and to rejoice as in the
"presence of the angels of God," over His repentant, returning
children.
2. _For their Sisters' Sake._--It is a sad fact that we gather
from the statistics and police returns of the large cities of England
in relation to the drinking habits of English women. Referring to it
the Archbishop of Canterbury calls it "The very dark shadow dogging
the steps of the Church of England Society." "If," said His Grace,
"drinking is introduced among the women of our middle or still higher
classes, by means of grocers' licences, we need not think it will
confine itself wholly to them. No, depend upon it, if any practice of
women's drinking comes into use, we shall see it in its most open and
shameless form." Those of us who have tried to do any work among
drinking women, must admit the painful truth that a small number of
such, comparatively, are ever recovered from the habit of drinking,
and a very small proportion are rescued from the haunts of vice. When
we think of this, and think too, of the hereditary taint, the craving
for drink, transmitted from these mothers to their children, and of
the lives of sin which, too often, follow, we do not wonder at the
alarm expressed in the recent report of the House of Lords' Committee
on Intemperance in these words, "Intemperance among women is
increasing on a scale so vast, and at a rate of progression so rapid,
as to constitute a new _reproach_ and _danger."_ While this
is true of England, and while we grieve over the drinking habits of
women in other countries, have we not reason to fear that our
Canadian women are not free from this vice. Every district visitor
knows, every city missionary is conscious of the fact, that the
poverty, the distress in so many homes is not solely because "Father
drinks," but often because "Mother sells everything for whiskey." And
the drinking among women is not confined to the class mentioned, for
can you not think of ladies of wealth and position in your community,
whose names are always spoken in a sort of twilight tone and with a
little sigh? Do you not know that while ladies go from our large
cities to "spend months abroad," in some cases, these months are
spent in inebriate asylums, while their friends fondly hope they may
return cured? There are homes where the father dare not allow his
daughters to attend an evening party, for fear that they may disgrace
the family by taking too much wine, and acting in a silly manner.
While we know these things to be true, we can not put them from us
with a sense of freedom from responsibility. Let us then for our own
sakes individually, in order that we may be made unselfish and
loving, and more like the Divine Christ, step forward into this work.
And for the sake of women, our sisters, let us come out of the narrow
path of custom; let us brave opposition or ridicule, which is harder
to bear, and be true-hearted and whole-hearted in this temperance work.
3. _For the Children's Sake._--To women is largely committed
the care of children in those first years of their lives when
impressions for good or evil are readily received, and habits easily
formed, and during this time principles may be firmly imbedded in the
fresh soil that may grow to be a hedge against evil, a barrier
between them and wrong in the coming years. Mothers have a great
responsibility in this matter, and one from which they may not
escape. If our children see the wine-glass on the home table, in the
side-board, at our evening parties, will they not think wine-drinking
right and safe, and will there be any fear in their hearts of that
which at the last stingeth like a serpent and biteth like an adder?
"The hardest blow I ever received," said a devoted mother, occupying
a high social position in our land, "was when my eldest boy turned to
me in answer to my expostulation with him about taking too much wine,
and said, 'Mother, you know I learned to drink at home.'" So many
have said, "If I had only known then what I know now, how different
my home would have been, I would not now have to reproach myself for
the wrongdoing of husband or of sons." Recently a member of one of
our Christian churches, a lady of wealth and refinement, whose home
was a home of luxury, and on whose hospitable board the wine-glass
was placed as a matter of custom, during the long years of married
life, was called to pass through a very painful experience, a very
Gethsemane. Her eldest son had grown to be "a little wild," would go
from home occasionally for a day or two, causing his parents great
anxiety concerning him. On this occasion nearly a week had passed
since they had seen him, when a message came to the mother from one
of the city policemen. She hurried with the messenger to the gaol,
there to meet her darling boy, the one in whom her fondest hopes had
been centred, and for whom her brightest dreams had been so many
times thought out, the boy she ceased not thinking of other than
true, loving and pure,--to find him battered, bruised, and bleeding,
with clothes disordered and torn, a sad example of the transformation
which strong drink can produce. Some one writes, "It is sad to be
disappointed in those we love," but who can tell the agony of that
mother's heart as she looked at her shattered idol, and cried out,
"My son, why will you drink and break my heart?" I shall not soon
forget his reply, "Because you gave it to me at home," nor can I
forget that mother's face as there came over her soul the awful
realization of all that the thoughtlessness of custom had done for
her boy. As we passed out she said, "No more wine at our table, God
helping me," but while children still at home may be kept, it is too
late for the eldest born. To day he is a wanderer from home, and
mother, and God. While human hearts and human prayers follow him,
God's mercy alone can reach and save.
4. _For the safely of Home._--Home is emphatically the kingdom
of woman. Here she is queen, and can order all its belongings as she
deems best. To a very great degree its inmates are _subjects_ of
her kingdom, and acknowledge her sway. The cases are few, perhaps,
where her wishes are not respected, her right acceded to in all home
arrangements. But to ensure a perfect home it is necessary that
purity and peace should guard the threshold, that nothing unholy may
enter, and that the noise of the world's strife pass not through.
Here there should be rest and peace. The liquor traffic is the avowed
enemy of the home. While this exists not one home is absolutely safe,
not one household is quite free from danger. This enemy does not
scruple to enter the rightful kingdom of woman to rob, murder, and to
destroy, and to lay in ruins all that before was bright and
beautiful. The strong man is made helpless under its influence, all
loveliness withers at its touch, the darkness of its shadow shuts out
the sunlight, and its breath of death is over all. While this is true
we ought surely to act as if we believed it to be true, and do all in
our power to bar the door against this destroyer. As women to whom
God has given reason, intelligence, the blessings of a Christian
education and much influence in our homes, we dare not bow down
longer to a custom so fraught with evil and so ruinous in its
effects. A bird will be quick to discover the approach of the
serpent, and will spread its wings over the nest to protect its
nestlings, and shall we not shield the dear ones in the home nest
from the approach of this serpent, whose nature it is to kill and to
destroy?
5. _For the sake of Society._--While woman is queen of the home
realm, she also reigns in society,--society which is made up from the
homes of our land, If all homes were peaceful and pure, society would
have no evils, there would be less necessity to warn and protect the
innocent, and our newspapers would need small space to tell of moral
wrecks, despair, murder and suicide. But until that time shall come,
there is need for the influence of true, earnest women to so mould
society that men and women shall be made nobler and better for being
in their presence. The influence of such women is like the gentle
dew, refreshing and enriching tender plant and opening flower; her
example is as the sunlight, warming the heart and quickening the life
to nobler deeds and guiding the wandering feet heavenward.
All over our country, homes are constantly sending out their young
men into business, into society, and the home life is exchanged for
something new, Day by day we are meeting these, receiving them into
our homes, making them welcome to our parlors. What shall our
influence be upon them? A young man comes to a city with good
recommendations; he has high hopes, gets into a good business, is
made much of in society. He is a pure man, such as mothers would
choose as companion for their sons and daughters. How many hopes and
prayers have come with him from the home hearth, and how glad and
proud his best friends are to know that he is doing well. As he
spends his evenings in our homes, those evenings that would otherwise
be very dreary, what will the home do for him? Shall women, who rule
society, use their influence to disappoint all the bright home
dreaming, to check all his high aspirations, and to make it very easy
for him to become a victim to this appetite for drink? Not that this
is ever intentionally done, but the history of many men, given years
after in many of our Gospel temperance meetings, proves that this is
terribly true.
"I never offer anything to any one fond of liquor, not even on New
Year's day," said a lady, "but none of _our_ young men are." Are
we correct in saying that of any circle in society where wine is
tasted, "none of our young men are." Women do not know, even the
mothers in the same home do not know what young men know of each
other. We do not see how the glass of wine at the evening party,
where he can take a little, not too much, is followed later in the
evening and till the daylight hours, by glass after glass of stronger
liquor, taken amid far different surroundings.
Many young men date their downfall from the first evening spent in
society in a strange city, for while they could resist the
temptations of young men companions, they have not been able to
refuse the wine-glass at the hand of their hostess.
In view of all these facts, so sad, so pitiful, ought we not for our
own sake, for the sake of innocent children in our homes, for the
sake of other women's children and other homes, and for the sake of
society at large, in order to lead men and women, as best we may,
towards all that is pure and holy, and away from all that is debasing
and evil, ought we not to give our influence and our active help to
this temperance work?
CHAPTER VI.
HOW WOMEN MAY WORK.
Every human being has influence, and we may not know the effect of
our words or of our silence. The fact being generally known that one
is a member of the W.C.T.U. has sometimes a great influence. Recently
one of our temperance workers spent a few weeks at the sea-side. She
had no occasion to speak of her temperance principles, but as the
little white envelopes marked W.C.T.U. went out from the office of
the hotel from time to time, it soon became known that she was a
temperance woman. Mrs. ---- one morning was very much interested to
hear as she passed a bathing house near her own, "Here, take some
brandy before Mrs. ---- comes down," and the reply, "Mamma, she don't
take any, and the bathing don't make her sick." It was thought a
necessary preventive in this case, but there was a silent influence
that conveyed its disapproval. Yet there are many ways in which women
may exert more than a silent influence in this work.
1. _In the Home._--The time has gone by, when it was thought
absolutely necessary to have the brandy bottle on the sideboard and
in the kitchen, and when it was thought to be flying in the face of
Providence if one made a voyage or took a journey without this
companion. Years ago even temperance people dare not exercise quite
enough faith and common sense to enable them to put this thing quite
out of their homes, so for every ailment, for spleen and spasms, for
tooth ache and toe ache, for head ache and heart ache, this wonderful
remedy was used. This greater than all quack medicines, for
_some_ of these do stop at _some_ point in their healing power,
but this was thought to be _never failing_ in its virtue to
alleviate, if not to cure. Women in the last few years have been wiser
than the doctors, for while they looked only at alleviation of pain,
wives and mothers began to look beyond that, at the probable
acquirement of the taste for drink, and now this prescription is
becoming less frequent. Let the women of Canada banish this liquor
from their sideboards and kitchens, and from their medicine chests.
Let it be given as medicine, only as a last resort, and by the advice
of a careful physician. Let temperance papers be taken in the home,
that young and old may see and know all that is going on in the world
in relation to temperance. We have our political papers, our church
papers, our fashion magazines, let us have, too, our temperance
papers, books and magazines.
Encourage the children to become members of a Band of Hope, and, if
possible, go with them occasionally to their meetings, thus showing
your interest in their particular work.
We are glad to think the custom of supplying farm hands with beer is
not prevalent in this country, but there may be places here and there
where this has been customary. Here farmer's wives may provide a
substitute in oatmeal drink, cold tea or coffee. These are a few of
the many ways in which women may work for temperance in the home.
2. _In Society_--To exercise an influence for good it is not
necessary that we should always sit pledge books in hand, and talk on
the subject of temperance, but while this question occupies such a
large share of public attention as at the present time, there will be
few communities where it will not form one of the topics of
conversation. Then a quiet declaration of principles is the stand we
must take. If we wear the white ribbon, the badge of our Union, it
will often save us annoyance, and help us when necessary to speak the
whole truth. It very often happens that our position is assailed, and
then we should be able to give a reason for the stand we take. To
this end our women should read and search out for themselves
arguments based on scientific investigation, with which to meet
opposition. We need to inform ourselves, not only as to the evil
effects of alcohol on the human system, but how it produces this
effect, the waste to the country in drink, difference between
communities where prohibition is in force, and where licence reigns,
&c. In giving and attending entertainments, parties, &c., be
outspoken in your disapproval of wine drinking. This is no longer
running the risk of being singular in society, for some of the
highest dignitaries of this land and other lands have banished strong
drink in every form from their tables and entertainments. Mr. Moody
said recently, "Eight years ago it was difficult for me to mix in
English society without being constantly pressed to drink wine. Now,
I may say, broadly, I am never asked to touch it, and at many places
where I go, it is not even on the table." Much of this change has
been brought about by the influence of English ladies of rank, and by
their warm espousal of the cause of the Blue Ribbon Army.
Some of our ladies do not receive much company in this way, and have
not this opportunity for helping on the right, but in quiet visits to
and fro, their influence may accomplish much. To speak of a good
temperance book to a friend, a book which we have just read, and in
which we have been interested, to offer to lend it, saying you are
sure she will be as interested in it as you have been,--this is not
much, perhaps, but it is the sowing of the seed, which may produce
fruit, such as we have not faith to think of, in the days to come.
3. _In the School._--We have faith to believe that the schools
will yet constitute one wing of this great temperance army, for we
can never succeed fully without them. The voters of the present day
may place a law upon the statute book, and temperance men and women
will do their best for its enforcement, and find it a task beset with
more or less difficulty. But the boys and girls in our public schools
will be the masses of to-morrow. Let them be taught _now_ the
nature and effects of alcohol on the human system, and to-morrow they
will vote intelligently on this question, and will stand by the laws
they have made.
Many of our best women are engaged in teaching these boys and girls,
and thus have a grand opportunity for good work in the temperance
cause. If a text book on this subject be not in use, there are still
ways in which a conscientious teacher, thoroughly alive to its
importance, may convey to the minds of her pupils much of the truth
about alcohol. She may procure Dr. Richardson's Lesson Book, or Dr.
Ridge's Primer, so largely in use in the schools of England, Dr.
Steele's Physiology and Hygiene, or the book authorized by the
Educational Department of Ontario, now in course of preparation, and
from any of these prepare a lesson, occasionally, for her scholars.
Different phases of the temperance question might be put before them,
in a very simple form, as subjects for their compositions.
Recitations, with this end in view, might be had from time to time.
In the town of Pembroke, Ont., one of the public school teachers has
enrolled all the children willing to join, in a Band of Hope, with
the name "Pembroke Public School Prohibition Army." The W.C.T.U. of
that place contributed a very handsome banner to be carried by the
little ones in their occasional processions, and to have in their
place of meeting.
Then women will have influence with school boards and trustees in
many places, and may, by a simple request, gain their consent that
temperance lessons be given by the teachers. Sometimes a general
petition may be necessary, (always to be signed by a majority of
_voters_) and this may be successfully arranged by women. Where
the school is a denominational institution, it is wise also to
approach the synod or conference to which it belongs. By patient and
never tiring effort in city and country the schools will one day
rally as a body to our help in this work.
5. _In the Union._--It has been said so often by busy women
whose hearts were nevertheless with the temperance work, "I will
contribute to the funds of the Union, but it would be of no use for
me to join, for I could not find time to attend the meetings." Yet,
after all, it is better to join, better to be known as a
_member,_ if you go only once in three months to a meeting. It
is better for the Union, better for yourself, and better for your
influence at home and in society. And let the members of the Union
feel that the meeting is in part theirs, and that they are
responsible for its success as they would be for the success of a
party given in their own house.
In both cases there are many circumstances which we must control or
make the best of, and Christian politeness should never be absent.
Outside of the meetings there is a wide field not only for general
temperance work, but of special work for the Union. As we pay our
social visits we may talk of the interesting meetings of the
W.C.T.U., or of any special work we have in hand, inviting our
friends to come and visit the Union, even if they do not wish to
become members. Let this be done in an offhand way, and not in this
style, "Now I've come to tell you how wicked you are to drink wine,
and I want you to sign the pledge and join the Union." People cannot
be scolded or driven into a new faith, but must be won by patience
and love.
The Loan Library of the Union ought to be kept in constant
circulation among those who are not members, as well as among
ourselves. Mrs. S.M.I. Henry's "Voice of the Home," and "Mabel's
Work," have exerted an influence for good over the women of our
country, and in one community the reading of these books led to the
formation of a W.C.T.U. which has done good work, and rendered
valuable assistance in the Scott Act contest. The circulation of
works of this kind with those of a more solid nature will secure
deeper thought on this subject, and a stronger desire to unite with
the women of our land in their efforts to banish the liquor traffic.
We can also be loyal to the Union, and to every member individually.
While we see each other's infirmities more plainly perhaps than we
see our own, let us cover them carefully, as far as we may, from
those not in sympathy with us, and let the letters W.C.T.U. be indeed
a bond of union.
6. _By the Pen._--A W.C.T.U. paper or periodical in Canada is
one of our great wants, perhaps the greatest. We have gifted ones in
our societies, who have it in their power to make its pages
interesting and instructive, but we lack the necessary funds. The
little "Telephone," the organ of the W.C.T.U. of the Maritime
Provinces, which has recently made its appearance, is a credit to
that society, as well as to its editor and publisher, Mrs. Cowil, a
woman self-taught in the art of printing, and full of faith and
courage in their new enterprise. All over our land there are women
ready with their pen, whose message has been long delayed, and whose
thoughts we need. While, as yet, we have no paper of our own, the
best papers of our Provinces will open their columns for the
contributions of thoughtful writers on this temperance question, and
we should take advantage of this in order to bring our W.C.T.U. work
more prominently before the public, and to help on the cause of truth
and right. In each county there might be found, at least, one woman
who would write for the papers of that county, or send selections
concerning the work, better if one such be found in each union. Very
often incidents occur in the reformatory phase of the work the
publication of which may have a greater effect on the public mind
than the closest reasoning. If our women will only use their pens in
these cases it will tell for good. Then, too, privately, we may do
much. A little note to this one, a friendly letter to another, a few
lines of encouragement to a weak one, a warning of love to another,
these stay by one when the sound of words has passed away, and who
may estimate the result? The most quiet and retiring may do, those
who for many reasons feel themselves shut out from anything more
public.
7. _On the Platform._--This is what our Canadian women shrink
from. One of our most distinguished clergymen recently said, "It is
not because our ladies have less talent than those of other lands,
that they do not come to the platform, but because they have so
little confidence in themselves." While this may be so there is still
another reason. We know that in this country there exists a prejudice
against women speakers, stronger than even in England, and certainly
greater than obtains in the United States. This knowledge has
deterred many from yielding to the conviction of duty. Dear sisters,
this should not be. The first commission given to women was from the
risen Saviour, "Go and tell the brethren." If to-day there are those
among our number who have received a message from the Divine One, if
to them the command has come to tell of the love of God to suffering
humanity, are they doing well who refuse? If we have something to say
let us say it in the fear of God, whether man will "hear or forbear."
As county superintendents or vice-presidents there is scope for the
exercise of this gift. All our counties need to be thoroughly
canvassed, and in many places addresses given on this subject, in
order that people may be roused to their duty, and that new unions
may be established. There are few of us that may be called to leave
our homes for the public platform, but there is often a necessity at
our very doors, and if the opportunity, the need come to us let us
with faithful earnestness and prayerful faith give to others our best
thoughts and our wisest counsel in relation to this great subject
before us.
CHAPTER VII.
HOW TO FORM A W.C.T.U.
There are, at least, a few earnest Christian women in every
community who are thoroughly convinced of the great benefit such a
society would be to the place in which they live. In many of the
counties of Ontario and Quebec, a vice-president or superintendent is
appointed for county work. It would be advisable to correspond with
her on this subject, and an invitation given her to meet the ladies
with a view to organization. In some counties no vice-president has
been appointed, but, because it has not yet been done, let not ladies
be deterred from having a W.C.T.U. Send to the Provincial
Corresponding Secretary for constitutions and plans of work, and then
ask your pastors to announce that a meeting for the organization of a
W.C.T.U. will be held at time and place designated. It is well to see
the pastors of different churches, and solicit their aid in this
undertaking. And it is also wise to spend some time in interviewing
ladies of the different congregations so that there may be a general
interest. A notice similar to the following may be inserted in the
daily paper, as well as announced from the pulpit, a week previous to
the meeting.
"A meeting of ladies in favour of the temperance cause will be held in
---- on ---- at ---- o'clock, when the advisability of organizing a
"Woman's Christian Temperance Union" will be considered. Nearly 5,000
Christian women of Canada are banded together in W.C.T. Unions, for
the protection of their homes, and for the good of society. The
influence and help of the ladies of ---- is needed. Mrs. ---- of ----
authorized by the Prov. W.C.T.U. will address the meeting, on the
history, aims and methods of this work. The presence of pastors is
cordially invited, and all ladies are earnestly requested to attend."
If no such speaker is expected this part will, of course, be omitted.
One of our strongest Unions was organized by a Christian lady of the
town, who had heard and read and thought much of the work of Women's
Christian Temperance Unions. Before the time arrives ask your pastors
to share with each other in the opening exercises, but if none are to
be present arrange with one of your number accustomed to such
exercises, to open the meeting. Have some one ready to lead the
singing, let a suitable portion of Scripture be read, Crusade, Psalm
1461(1), Parable of the "Good Samaritan," or other fitting selection,
prayer offered, asking the ladies to repeat the Lord's Prayer, with
the leader at the close. One of the ladies will then move that Mrs.
---- be chairman of this meeting. This will be seconded and put to
vote, and the chairman will take her place. A temporary secretary will
be elected in a similar manner, who will keep the minutes of the
meeting. In the event of no speaker from a distance being present, the
chairman or some lady who has prepared it will state the object of the
W.C.T.U. its history and its work, giving an outline of the different
departments with their work. Items may be given from recent issues of
the newspapers showing the alarming prevalence of intemperance and the
necessity for all to use their influence and talent in opposing it.
After this has been done, a few minutes may be given to answering
any questions that may be asked, in order that all may see clearly
what they are doing. In this way the doleful experience may be
avoided, "Yes, we were organized, but we do not know what to do."
Some one will then offer a resolution that a W.C.T.U. be organized.
This motion will be seconded and put to vote by the chairman. We have
been accustomed to vote by the uplifted hand, while our American
sisters vote "Yea" and "No." The sound of the human voice is helpful,
and voting in this way may be more satisfactory. Then read the
constitution, by-laws, and pledge. Explain fully the membership fee
of 50 cents per year or 12 1/2 cents per quarter, half of which goes
to the Provincial Union. Explain that the committees of Provincial
Union being all at work, money is needed to pay necessary expenses of
these and of the general officers, some of whom give the most of
their time, without remuneration, to this work. Explain, too, that an
organizer is needed to whom we can pay a salary, who will organize
new unions, and visit all unions regularly. If 6 1/4 cents per member
is sent quarterly to our Provincial Unions, it will provide the means
for thus enlarging the work.
Take time to answer all questions on these points. Some may object
to taking the pledge, as their physicians sometimes prescribe it as
medicine. We pledge ourselves not to use it as a "beverage" only.
Some may be obliged to administer it to others as medicine. This does
not violate the pledge. Other objections may be stated and met.
When constitution, etc., have been adopted by the meeting, send out
ladies, previously requested so to act, and provided with pencils and
paper, to solicit members. Should any be unprepared, the fee may be
paid another time, and may be made payable quarterly or yearly.
The election of permanent officers is next in order. If it is
thought best, a committee on nominations may be appointed by the
chair, said committee to represent the different churches, and who
shall report at some near day fixed by the meeting. It may be
desirable, however, to proceed at once to ballot for officers, and by
this method a truer expression of opinion is generally reached.
The president duly elected then takes the chair, and vice-presidents
are elected. These should be one from each church in the place.
Then the secretaries, recording and corresponding, and treasurer are
elected, also superintendents or committees of the different
departments which may be thought advisable. It has been found to work
well where the vice-presidents, one from each church, are made
conveners of these committees, or superintendents. These conveners of
committees or superintendents of departments with the general
officers constitute the executive. In a small place it may be as well
to transact all business in an open meeting of the union. Our ladies
are supposed to be loyal to the W.C.T.U., and will not make public
matters intended _only for the Union._
The place of next meeting will now be determined and announced. A
meeting of the executive committee will also be appointed by the
president, to confer upon the details of the work. A very good quorum
for the executive and for the union, consists of such members as
shall be present at any regular or special meeting, due notice having
been given of such meeting. A motion will now be made to adjourn, and
carried. The President says, "The meeting is adjourned to meet"--
naming time and place.
The doxology may be sung or a short prayer offered at the close.
COMMITTEES AND THEIR WORK.
Executive Committee will plan the general work of the Union, and
attend to any special business that may be brought before them by the
corresponding secretary. This committee will meet weekly, and report
through their chairman to the Union.
Committee on Finance may be composed of ladies and gentlemen, who
will devise ways and means for raising funds for the general work.
The finance card and envelope is one of the best methods by which to
educate the people to _systematic_ giving.
PLEDGES FOR TEMPERANCE WORK.
Dear Friend.--The evils of intemperance are sufficiently startling
to cause every good man and woman to seek for their removal. Many
homes are ruined by it; many children robbed; many men and women
reduced to drunkenness and death; even those not yet touched by it
are not sure that they shall remain exempt. It threatens every child,
every home, every youth, every man.
The Women's Christian Temperance Union, mothers and sisters, to whom
home means so much, have banded themselves together to do what they
can to oppose it. We do our work among the children, by teaching,
distributing temperance literature, etc. We seek out the intemperate
and ask them to reform, assisting them with pecuniary aid when
necessary. We use our influence to purify the homes and to put away
social drinking customs.
We are willing to work. Will you not help us with your means?
Please mark with an X upon the sum you will give EACH month of the
coming year. Be it little or much, it will aid us. And we do wish,
that every woman to whom this appeal is made, would become a member
of our W.C.T.U., and encourage us by coming into our meetings.
Please write your name.
Residence.
FIFTY CENTS A YEAR AND SIGNATURE TO OUR PLEDGE CONSTITUTE MEMBERSHIP.
As the months come round, take the envelope bearing the name of that
month, put in the amount pledged, and deposit it as directed by the
person circulating these cards.
If you have neglected any month the empty envelope will remind you
of it. Don't destroy it--use it--put in the money and deposit it.
The LORD loveth a cheerful giver.
Committee on Literature will secure suitable temperance literature,
and distribute it in hotels, cars, reading-rooms, depots, stores,
restaurants, at public meetings, from house to house, etc.
Committee on Juvenile work should be composed largely of young
ladies enthusiastic in their work. There should be a representative
secured, if possible, from every Sabbath and day school. They will
organize Bands of Hope and circulate the pledges (triple, if
possible), in the Sunday Schools. They will also see to the
introduction of temperance books into Sunday School Libraries.
Committee on Public Meetings and Entertainments will arrange for
lectures, readings, concerts, temperance mass meetings and gospel
temperance meetings on Sabbath afternoons, mothers' meetings, cottage
prayer meetings, etc. At very many of these meetings it is desirable
to have the pledge circulated.
Committee on New Members will endeavor to secure new members for the
Union, and will also visit those who may have been absent for some
time.
Committee on Benevolent work will look after the poor of the town,
especially after those families suffering from the effects of
intemperance. Where there are purely benevolent societies in the
town, the work of this committee will be only supplementary.
Press Committee will select extracts from temperance books and
papers, to be published regularly in the columns of the local papers,
also to specially report the work of the W.C.T.U. both local and
general. If the committee cannot itself reach the newspaper, perhaps
it can through the aid of some influential _honorary member._
Committee on Scientific Instruction in Temperance will visit school
directors, and authorities in public and private schools, and urge
the introduction of Dr. Richardson's lesson book, or the new
temperance lesson book to be issued by the Education Department of
Ontario. Suitable literature on the subject might be judiciously used
on these visits. An informal social reception of teachers in the town
might be held or arranged for by this committee where the subject
might be discussed.
Committee to secure the unfermented juice of the grape at the Lord's
Table will visit not only the pastors, but influential leading
members of the different churches, not to argue the matter, but to
ask, as the N.W.C.T.U. does, that "in deference to the Golden Rule,
and the Pauline doctrine of regard for the weaker brother, the
fermented wine be no longer used." Suitable literature on this
subject, as on all others, may be had from our Literature Department.
Committee on Coffee and Reading Rooms will, if desirable, provide a
place of this kind, putting it in charge of a suitable person.
Other committees may be added as the work demands. Let each
committee read up and thoroughly understand their subject, the
convener especially should know _just what she wants,_ as she
goes about this branch of the work, and be able to tell _just why
it is needed._ This will, in the first place, be a gain.
Politicians, potentates, and preachers will not be able to put us off
or confuse us by asking many questions in connection with the work
that we are unable to give.
CHAPTER VIII.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
Q.--Why should our Union be auxiliary to the Provincial Union?
A.--We are convinced that the affiliation fee and the reasons for
requiring it have not been properly understood by our Unions. They
have said, Why should we pay 6-1/4 cents per member, quarterly, into
the Provincial Union fund. We answer, Because without it the
Provincial Union could not exist.
Q.--Why should it exist?
A.--Because there is strength in united effort. If local Unions here
and there in isolated places exert an influence for good, a large
band of workers sending their representatives to a central place to
consult together and devise method? for the extension of the work
throughout the Province will certainly wield a greater power, and do
more good. All our church organizations, our various charitable and
reform associations are based on this principle, and the wisest
politicians assure us that system and organization is worth more to
their party than argument or brilliant speeches. Union is strength.
As the delegates from local Unions come together to discuss matters
of interest pertaining to the work, to devise plans and to compare
notes, a new confidence is gained, a more enlarged view is had of the
temperance field, and a more intelligent understanding of the general
need. Then, too, it is impossible for the workers thus to come
together without realizing the benefit that results from the
interchange of thought and ideas, and from the influence of mind on
mind, and the inspiration thus received is imparted by them to the
home Unions, and all are helped.
Q.--What is done with the money?
A.--In 1883, $95 were paid into the Provincial Treasury of Ontario
Unions, by local Unions, as affiliation fees, which sum covered
merely the postage account of general officers and expenses of
committees. All other expenses of travel and of the convention, about
$200, were met by collections at the convention, and by special
contributions, Mr. Gordon of Ottawa sending a cheque for $50.
We need also an _organizer,_ who shall be able to give her
whole time and thought to Union work, who shall organize new Unions,
and visit all regularly. These needs cannot be met without money, but
if our thousands of temperance women in Canada will make this a
personal matter to see that 6-1/4 cents are sent each quarter to the
Provincial Union, we shall soon be in a position to employ an
organizer, and thus do better work.
Q.--How shall we distribute Literature?
A.--Divide the place into districts, each lady or two ladies taking
a district. Have these districts as small as possible. The visitors
will visit every house in their district regularly, leaving suitable
literature, as they will soon ascertain something of the tastes and
needs of those whom they visit. Sometimes the pledge book may be
presented and members solicited for the Union. A book from the Loan
Library of the Union may often be lent where a leaflet might not be
appreciated.
Another way is to send through the post office to those whom you
wish to reach.
Sometimes, our ladies have stood at the entrance to factories,
foundries and large establishments giving a leaflet to each man as he
came out. "Advantages of Temperance" is a very good small leaflet to
be given in this way.
On all our fair grounds there should be a stand of temperance
literature.
In hospitals much of this work should be done. Many have leisure
there, recovering from illness, that they never find outside its
walls, the heart is softened and ready for the dropping of the seed,
and the door stands open for the entrance of right influences and
loving sympathy. In gaols, in depots, barbers' shops, post offices,
steamboats, anywhere we may obtain permission let it be done, if
possible, by our ladies themselves.
In Sabbath School Libraries ask permission for the Union to send a
few good temperance stories, or, better still, let a suggestion be
offered to the librarian or committee on new books to purchase some
temperance books as additions.
Q--How shall we raise money for our work?
A.--First with the "Finance Card." Take a Union of 20 members, their
membership fee brings them in $10, of this $5 goes to the Provincial
Union, so they have only $5 left. They will want more. Now let each
member take ten finance cards, and from among her friends and
acquaintances ask ten to contribute something monthly to the funds of
the Union, suppose it be only 5 cents each per month, that will be
from ten persons 50 cents per month, or $6 per year. If each one of
the twenty members should get no more than this, they have then
$120.00 per year coming in for their work. It needs a little thought
and attention, but it pays.
Apron socials are popular and generally help to increase the funds,
as there is always a demand for useful aprons.
Pound socials have been successful also. To this each person
contributes a pound of something useful, all of which is sold by
auction during the evening, causing a good deal of amusement.
An evening with a celebrated author is very much in vogue now, and
is helpful in many ways. For instance, an evening with Dickens is
observed in the following way: A number will personate the leading
characters in any of Dickens' works, talking only in language and
tone suited to the character, the invited guests ascertaining from
his acquaintance with Dickens just where they belong. This can be
done with or without costumes. Light refreshments are served by the
Dickensites during the evening. The usual fee taken at the door. New
England Kitchens may be made to bring in something to the funds. Here
you will need several old-fashioned dressers, the shelves furnished
with rows of plates, the more old-fashioned the better, and
everything to make it look like a real New England Kitchen.
Refreshments will be doughnuts, pumpkin pie, brown bread, pork and
beans, and such like. It would pay to have it in a city for two or
three days, open at the dinner hour.
Floral Festivals pay very well in the early spring, before people
generally are supplied with plants. Let the room be nicely decorated
with evergreens, flags and bunting, small booths arranged similarly
trimmed, in which the flowers and plants shall be placed, some music
furnished, 10 cents admission charged, refreshments and plants extra.
The plants can be bought by the 100 at a very cheap rate.
If at all possible, let all our social entertainments be opened with
prayer.
Q.--How shall we help in Scott Act work?
A.--Most of all by the faithful distribution of temperance
literature, and by providing funds for its purchase. By educating the
children in regard to it, giving them at their Band of Hope meetings,
in simple language, the reasons why every one should work and vote
against it. Many a father has been won by his child.
By selecting articles on the subject, and having them inserted in
the daily papers.
By praying for its success in your church prayer meetings, and
encouraging others to do the same. By prayer as a Union, and by
private prayer. By looking after every branch of the temperance work
more closely, so that every influence may be brought to bear on all
classes and conditions of society.
Q.--Can ladies be received into our society without signing the
pledge?
A.--The suggestion has been made that such be received as "associate
members" or "well-wishers" having every privilege except the vote.
Q.--When scientific temperance instruction is introduced into the
public schools, what remains for the committee on that subject to do?
A.--To see that the _law_ is _enforced._ The schools should be visited
at the hour when this study is on the programme. Conscientious teachers
will welcome your presence.
Q.--Should the executive of a local Union arrange and finally decide
matters without consulting the Union?
A.--The report of the meetings of the executive should be read at
each regular meeting of the Union. Every member has a right to
object, or to ask for explanations and the report will be amended,
received or rejected as the Union shall determine.
Q.--Shall accounts be paid without the sanction of the Union?
A.--Certainly not.
CHAPTER IX.
YOUNG WOMEN'S WORK.
It is very important that the interest and sympathy and active help
of our young ladies be secured in this work.
There is in the heart of every human being a yearning for something
higher and better. Coupled with this yearning in the heart of woman
is the desire to do for others. Ever since the days when a woman
washed the feet of the Holy One with her tears, when the fever healed
patient arose and "ministered to them," when the Marys prepared sweet
spices and ointment for Him they loved, ever since that time have
women delighted in service for others, and thus, in the highest,
broadest forms of Christian philanthroxphy, they may come to be more
like the loving Christ who went about doing good. We covet for
humanity the influence of our young ladies, for in the home and in
society this influence is needed on the side of all that is good and
pure. Then, we would for their own sakes, enlist them in temperance
work, because, engaged in this or similar service they gain for
themselves a breadth, an expansion of views, and a truer thought of
life. Many have not given the subject a serious thought: they
graduate from our seminaries and colleges where every hour has
brought its work and every power has been in action, they come back
into quiet homes, and "What shall I do now?" is the question
presented to their minds. Society soon fills in their time with
imperious but frivolous demands, and while the mothers enter into
this Christian work, young ladies soon come to think it is not for
them. In time they drift into wifehood and into positions of
responsibility of training bodies and souls, with no decided
principles in relation to this question, and no intelligence as to
the evil effects of this great scourge of intemperance. How sad it is
to hear such an expression as this, "Oh, I rather like a man when he
has had just enough liquor to be jolly." Yet, that was the remark of
a fashionable young lady not long ago. Her listener was a young man
who took strong drink, and for whom his friends were anxious, but in
his heart there was no respect for this foolish, thoughtless speech,
and his dry "Ah, do you?" savored just a little of contempt for her,
and pity for himself.
Take a different scene. Recently, I spent a day with a few Christian
women, most of whom were young ladies, members of the Y.W.C.T.U. It
was delightful afterwards to remember that on that occasion no word
of faultfinding or of gossip was spoken, no frivolous or
_fashionable_ talk, but the hours sped by on wings as they
talked of earnest work done, narrated incidents and planned for the
future. These were young ladies _in society,_ bright and happy
in their experience, not those to whom disappointment has come in
some form or other, and to whom the world offers no attractions. I
recall the words of one who was talking earnestly of a scheme to
raise money for their work. "But the best of all is," said she, "in
this way we can get Mr. ---- to work with us, and if he will only
sign the pledge it will be worth more than all the money we make" Is
not this a lesson to us older workers, who are disappointed sometimes
when what we call large results do not follow our undertakings?
A young lady in the city of ---- joined the Y.W.C.T.U. during the
winter of 1881. At a sleighing party shortly after wine was offered
her. "I cannot take it," she said. "I am a member of the Y.W.C.T.U."
Many were the exclamations, for she was a favorite and an
acknowledged leader among her companions, but she had thought it all
over, and had her reasons ready. "If you won't take wine _we_
won't," said one. "If the ladies don't take it, we won t," said one
of the gentleman, so coffee and hot lemonade were served instead, and
to-day most of that company are taking the safe path, and the
gentlemen are honorary members of the W.C.T.U. When young men come to
see that young ladies expect them to be total abstainers, they will
lift themselves up to a higher plane and to a purer manhood.
Dear, young ladies, will you not give to the temperance cause a
little of the time which sometimes hangs heavily on your hands? Will
you not consecrate to its service a portion of the talent with which
God has endowed you? Will you not join the band of sister-workers,
who are endeavoring to bless and uplift humanity, and by voice, pen,
and influence help to make earth a little more like heaven?
There are, at present, three Y.W.C.T. Unions in the Province of
Ontario, and one in Quebec Province. Hamilton Y.W.C.T.U., the first
organized, is now two years old, and has 50 members besides 65
honorary members. Their work is, first, night schools for boys
employed during the day time; second, sewing schools for poor girls;
third, band of hope; fourth, flower mission. These branches of work
with _occasional_ social entertainments keep them very busy. To
these socials, honorary members and others are invited, papers on the
temperance question are read and discussed, the pledge album
presented, refreshments served, and the result is an increase in
numbers and in interest.
Ottawa Y.W.C.T.U. was organised in October 1884, has 50 members and
30 honorary members. The work of this Union is similar to that of the
Hamilton Union, in addition to that, however, the members of this
Union meet twice in the month in a reading circle for the purpose of
gaining information on the many phases of the temperance question.
Essex Centre Y.W.C.T.U. has been in existence only a few months, but
is doing a fine work among the children.
Point St. Charles Y.W.C.T.U. is in connection with a Young Ladies'
Mission Band of that place. This united society is engaged in active
work, and will be found to be a social power whose weight and
influence for good cannot well be estimated.
These Unions report that boys under 12 years of age attending the
Night Schools and Bands of Hope in connection with these Unions in
some instances have come to the meetings under the influence of
liquor, and nine out of ten attending the Night School, smoke their
cigarettes or chew their tobacco up to the last moment before
entering the room. Our young ladies, however, seem to have had a
magnetism over these boys, their obedience and affection have been
secured, and an interest also in better things, a result which older
hands have tried in vain to accomplish. This is shown in the marked
improvement in manner, cleanliness of person, and the giving up of
tobacco and signing the pledge. The Flower Mission has brought a glow
of pleasure to many a sick face as the little bouquet has been
offered by the young ladies in the hospital wards, in the sick room
of many homes, and sometimes in the jails. Into all these places the
beautiful gifts of God have been taken, each cluster of flowers
bearing with it a floral text of scripture, and the earnest prayer of
glad young hearts, that God would speak through their offering, to
forgive, to comfort, and to save.
Miss Scott, 26 Albert street, Ottawa, is Superintendent of this
Department.
CHAPTER X.
A DREAM.
No. 1.
I went to the regular meeting of a W.C.T.U., called for 3 P.M. I
entered as the clock struck. The room was full of chairs and benches,
a large room with few windows and dark corners. There were three hymn
books on the table, and a dusty Bible. The clock ticked on, five
minutes passed, ten minutes, and one timid woman entered, took no
notice of me, but sat with her eyes fixed on the floor, a sad faced
woman I saw as I looked more closely, a tired, hopeless expression in
the droop of her figure. Five minutes more and two busy women came in
with a rush. "What! _nobody_ here? I wish people would be
punctual," said one, "I can only stay half an hour," "I have another
meeting," said the other. The sad faced woman and I were
_invisible,_ it seemed, as neither by look nor act did they
acknowledge our presence. Then three more strolled in leisurely, one
saying, "Oh, Mrs. A., is this meeting at three or half past? I really
forget the hour." Afterwards a few young ladies came in, and seated
themselves in a row, keeping up a whispered conversation in which the
pronouns he, she, and I, were often heard. At half-past three the
President came in, saying, "I am afraid I am a little late, my watch
does not seem to be quite right." Taking a hymn book, she asked,
"What had we better sing, Mrs. B., have you any choice?" No choice
being signified, the leaves were turned over and over, and "Plunged
in a gulf of dark despair" selected and read. "Will some one start
the tune? Mrs. C. will you?" Mrs. C. looked around, waited a minute,
and then asked, "Is it common or long meter?" Another pause. The
little timid woman began a familiar tune, and had the privilege of
singing the first two lines alone. The hymn finished, the President
said, "As it is so late, we will dispense with the reading of the
Scriptures. I will ask Mrs. A. to lead in prayer," at which Mrs. A.
shook her head. "Mrs. C. then will you?" "Excuse me," said Mrs. C.,
so to the back of her chair the president prayed in a very subdued
tone, and I knew _just when_ she was through by the little
rustle and moving of the chair as she arose. The secretary now read
the minutes, after which the president said, "Those in favor of the
minutes will signify it." Two or three hands went up. The treasurer's
report was then presented, but no action taken on it. Although this
was a large town there seemed to be no committees at work, but each
member had been furnished with a pledge book, in which to obtain
signatures. No one had any success to report, had quite forgotten it,
except the little woman mentioned. She produced her book where the
names of half-a-dozen were scrawled with a good thick pen and plenty
of ink. Her report was received in silence. The president, secretary,
and treasurer talked across the table in very low tones, the rest of
the company whispered a little, finally Mrs. ---- said, looking at
her watch, "My half-hour is more than up, I must go." She walked out,
followed by the young ladies. The low tones at the table ceased, the
books were closed, the ladies put on their extra wrappings and went
home. The little woman and I were left alone. "Will you let me see
your book?" I asked. "Oh yes," said she. "I got some of the young men
boarding with me to sign, and I hope they'll keep it. I pray they
may. I _thought_ the sisters would be glad. I wish I could do
more, but it does not seem worth while for _me_ to come to the
meetings. I cannot talk much, and I have so much to do at home. I can
work quietly there and among my acquaintances." As I passed the young
ladies on the way home, I overheard one say, "I am not going to the
Union meetings any more. Two or three do all the talking, and we
can't hear what they say." That evening, as I heard in my dream, the
president said to her husband, "I think once in two months is often
enough to hold our Union meetings. There seems to be nothing to do."
Then I thought, in my dream, that another year had passed, and I came
again to the same town, and wended my way to the place of meeting
where I had been aforetime. Meeting a gentleman near the door I asked
him if the Union still met there. "Oh," said he, "the W.C.T.U. That
died out months ago. Women don't know very much about business, you
see, it is hard for them to keep together."
_Was it all a dream?_
A DREAM.
No. 2.
A bright spring day I thought it was and I walked to the room of the
Y.M.C.A., where a Union meeting was to be held. It was not quite
three o'clock, but I met three or four ladies going in, who asked me
if I was coming to the meeting, and upon my answering "Yes, if I
may," she said, "Oh, certainly, come right in." One of them placed a
seat for me as I went in, and brought me a hymn book, asking if I was
a stranger in town and if I was a member of any Union. As I said I
was a member of ---- Union, she said, "Oh! then, you must tell us of
the work there." Then moving away, and coming back with a lady, she
introduced her as the president of the Union, and the president
expressed her pleasure at meeting another sister interested in the
work. Looking around the room, I saw a bouquet of flowers on the
table, writing materials and reports. Just then the clock struck
three, the president took her chair, gave out the hymn, "Work for the
Night is Coming,' read the 146th Psalm, and engaged in prayer. The
secretary then read the minutes. As the president asked, "Is there
any objection to the minutes?" one lady said that the first
resolution at last meeting was moved by Mrs. B., instead of Mrs. A.
This was corrected and the minutes approved, no other objection being
offered. The treasurer's reports and reports of different committees
were read and adopted. The pledge books produced, and many signatures
had been obtained. The president said, "Let us sing the doxology over
this," and it was sung very heartily. I noticed that all the members
spoke to "Mrs. President," not to each other, and there was no
whispering. The officers at the table spoke so that all could hear. A
short paper was then read on "How we may best help in Scott Act
work." At the invitation of the writer this paper was discussed, some
points objected to, additional methods proposed, and every body was
interested and had learned something. The chairman of the Literature
Committee said she would exchange books in the loan library at the
close of the meeting. Miss S. was asked to prepare a paper for the
next monthly meeting, and after a few words of earnest prayer offered
by a young lady at the request of the president, the meeting
adjourned. The president walked quickly to the door and shook hands
heartily with each member as she passed out, asking kindly after sick
ones and erring ones of the families. "You must come and see me to-
morrow morning, and tell me all about it," I heard her say to a
troubled sister. It was now ten minutes past four o'clock. As I
walked along I overtook the troubled one, and said to her, "You had a
good meeting to-day." Her face brightened as she replied, "Oh, we
always have. I would not like to miss one of our meetings. It always
helps me to go there and hear of the good work being done, and it
makes me stronger to do my share of it. These meetings make you feel
as if somebody cared for you." A group of young ladies were chatting
with some gentlemen at the opposite corner, and I heard a clear,
sweet voice say "We want you both as honorary members of our W.C.T.U.
We are going to have some readings from Dickens and we need your
help; you will join, won't you?" To which the gentlemen replied they
"would be delighted," etc. Then my dream took me to a cozy home where
a young man, just out of his teens, was saying to a lady I had seen
before, "Mother, now the warm weather is coming, and you are not very
strong, you had better give up your meetings." "Oh, no, my son," the
lady said, "there is so much to be done, and it is such a pleasure to
work with our ladies, we must keep right on." In my dream I came
again. This time the Union met in a beautiful room of their own,
furnished as a bright, pleasant parlor, with flowers and pictures and
piano. Their numbers had increased, for the ladies came in groups
till the room was nearly filled. I saw some of the old faces, the
president was the same, a little older in appearance, her walk a
little slower. As she took her place, the sun shone out full in my
face and I awoke.
_Was this, too, only a dream?_
CHAPTER XI.
CONCLUSION.
To every child of God there comes a time, sooner or later, when a
light from heaven having shone round about him, and seeing the great
need of the world, he stands. Paul-like, before God, and asks: "Lord,
what wilt Thou have _me_ to do?" As the answer came in the olden
time, "I will shew him what things he must _suffer,"_ so the
answer comes in these later days, and many of God's dear children
have come to this Christian temperance work through suffering.
As Christian women, we have come down from the mount of
consecration, where we have talked with Jesus, and at its base, have
been met by the demon of Intemperance in every form. Friends have
brought their loved ones to us, beseeching us to cast out the evil
spirit, or, it may be, the monster has come into our homes, and
household treasures here and there lie prostrate and helpless in the
dust before God. With sad, shrinking hearts we look for a moment,
then, with a twofold incentive, we take up our work. For the sake of
our dear Saviour who did so much for us, whose face, sometimes, in
our holiest hours, by faith we see, and whose voice we still hear,
"Lo! I am with you always," and for the sake of the loved and the
lost, or, more happily, the loved and reclaimed, we come to our work.
This work is intensely practical, and brings into requisition all
the forces which go to make up Christian character. It means patient,
persevering, persistent, self-denying labor; it means an intelligent
consecration of time, money and ability which God may have given us,
to be used in the carrying out of the good at which we aim; it means
entering into fellowship with Christ, (in a very feeble sense, it is
true,) in His broad sympathy with humanity, in His sacrificing love;
it means, many times, to have our names cast out as evil, to brave
the sneer and ridicule of fashionable society, to be willing to be
misunderstood by those nearest and dearest to us; to some it means
all this and more; still, with a firm conviction of duty, of being
called of God, we come to this work. It _may_ extend no further
than our own homes, our own circle of friends; but if each build over
against his own house, how strong the walls would be, how quickly
they would rise!
We look out into the night and see here and there a star glimmering
in the darkness, and we say, "How dark the night is; how few stars
are to be seen!" We wait and watch, and soon the clouds are rolled
away; we see the stars one by one coming out from the blackness,
until the blue vault above us is covered with heavenly diamond dust,
and we rejoice in its brilliancy.
So in our work. We see here and there a star coming out of the
darkness; only a few to be seen after all the working and watching.
By-and-by, God, in answer to our prayers, and giving the reward to
faithful toil, shall roll away the clouds and mists that gather so
thickly about our work here. We shall see not only here and there a
star glimmering, but a host of shining ones, that God hath brought
out of the darkness and covered over with an arch of His promises,
where He has written, "They shall be mine in that day when I make up
my jewels.' In that day, when we shall be permitted to see the
polished gems in the keeping of the Holy One, we shall realize that
no work for the Master has been done in vain. Here we toil amid the
damp and fog and darkness, often underground, with no lamp save the
promise of God, which is "a lamp to our feet, and a light to our
path;" there we shall be with Him and behold His glory. Here, the
sadness, the weariness, the discouragement, the "Why, Lord?" and
"How?" there, the "Well done!" "Enter thou!" questions answered,
longings satisfied, eternal rest and peace.
Shall we not, for this joy set before us, consecrate ourselves anew
to this Christian work, that, at the last, as Paul stood in his later
days, we may stand and say, "I have finished my course?" and,
following closely in the footsteps of Jesus, our great Teacher,
giving all the praise and all the glory to Him who is our strength
and our righteousness, we may be able to say, reverently and with
deep humility, "I have finished the work Thou gavest me to do."
CONSTITUTION, BY-LAWS
AND
ORDER OF BUSINESS OF A
WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION.
(LOCAL.)
ARTICLE I.--NAME.
This Association shall be known as the Woman's Christian Temperance
Union of ----, auxiliary to the W.C.T.U. of the Province of ----.
ARTICLE II.--OBJECTS.
The objects of the Union shall be to meet together for prayer and
conference, to educate public sentiment up to the standard of total
abstinence, train the young, save the inebriate, and secure the legal
prohibition and complete banishment of the liquor traffic.
ARTICLE III.
Any woman may become a member of this Association by signing the
Pledge and Constitution, and by the payment of fifty cents per year
into the Treasury.
Any woman, practically a total abstainer, but having an objection to
signing the Pledge, may become an "associate member" of this
Association, by the payment of the regular fee.
Gentlemen may become honorary members of this Association by signing
the pledge and by the payment of the regular fee.
Honorary and Associate members are entitled to all the privileges of
members, except the vote.
PLEDGE.
I hereby promise, God helping me, to abstain from all distilled,
fermented and malt liquors, including wine and cider, as a beverage,
and to employ all proper means to discourage the use of and traffic
in the same.
ARTICLE, IV.--OFFICERS
The officers of this Association shall be a President, Vice-
Presidents, one from each church, when practicable, a Corresponding
Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, and Auditor. These
officers (excepting the Auditor), with the Superintendents of the
different departments, shall constitute the Executive Committee.
ARTICLE V.--AUXILIARYSHIP.
Each Local Union shall pay to the funds of Provincial Union a sum
equal to six and a quarter cents per member, quarterly, this amount
to be taken from the fifty cents membership fee.
ARTICLE VI.--ANNUAL MEETING.
An Annual Meeting shall be held in the month of September of each
year, at which reports of Secretary and Treasurer shall be presented,
which, if possible, shall be published afterwards in the daily
newspapers. At this meeting, officers and committees and
superintendents shall be elected for the ensuing year, and such
services held as may tend to promote the objects of the Association.
BY-LAWS.
ARTICLE I.--DUTIES OF OFFICERS.
Section 1. President.--It shall be the duty of the President to
preside at meetings of the organization, and supervise its general
interests, and she may with any three members of the Union call
special meetings, due notice being given to the members.
Section 2. Vice-Presidents.--It shall be the duty of each Vice-
President to preside in her turn in the absence of the President, and
to enlist women of her own church in the work.
Section 3.--It shall be the duty of the Corresponding Secretary to
conduct the correspondence of the Union, and report to the
Corresponding Secretary of the Provincial Union quarterly, on receipt
of blank forms (having first submitted her report to the local
Union), giving such items of general interest as will enable said
Secretary to judge correctly of the condition of the Union. She shall
also prepare the report for the Annual Meeting of the local Union.
The Corresponding Secretary shall also prepare a short report for
the Provincial Convention in October (first submitting it to the
local Union), and sending it with the delegate to the Annual Meeting,
or forwarding it to the Provincial Secretary two weeks before the
date of meeting.
Section 4.--It shall be the duty of the Recording Secretary to keep
a record of the proceedings of the Union, and notify members and the
public of its meetings.
Section 5.--It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to collect all
membership dues, and to devise ways and means to increase the funds
of the Association. She shall receive and hold all money collected
for the use of the Union, keeping an exact book account and making a
monthly report of the same. She shall pay no bills, except on an
order signed by the President and Recording Secretary. She shall
forward regularly the quarterly fee to the Treasurer of Provincial
Union.
ARTICLE II.--ELECTION OF OFFICERS.
The officers shall be elected by nomination and ballot. Nominations
may be made either by a committee appointed for that purpose, or on
motion of any member.
If there be more than one person nominated for any office, a ballot
shall be taken, tellers having been appointed for that purpose. The
one having a full majority of all the ballots cast shall be declared
elected.
[If there be more than two persons balloted for, and the one having
the highest number of votes, has not a majority of all the votes
given, then the one having the lowest number of votes shall be struck
off before proceeding to the next ballot. More than one name may be
struck off, provided that the sum of all the vote--so struck off is
not equal to, or greater than, the number of votes given to the
lowest remaining one.]
ARTICLE III.--DEPARTMENTS OF WORK.
If the demands of the work justify it there shall be the following
departments of work: Juvenile Work, Temperance Literature,
Influencing the Press, Evangelistic Work, Parlor Meetings, Heredity
and Hygiene, Scientific Temperance Instruction, Kitchen Garden,
Flower Mission, Unfermented Wine, Inducing Physicians not to
Prescribe Alcoholic Stimulants, Relation of Intemperance to Capital
and Labor, Prison and Gaol Work, Young Woman's Work, Work among
Railroad Employees, Work among Soldiers and Sailors, Legislation and
Petitions and such others as the needs of the locality seem to call
for and recommended by the Provincial Union.
ARTICLE IV.--MEETINGS.
The regular meeting of the Union shall be held weekly, fortnightly
or monthly, as the Union may decide. The first meeting in the month
shall be a devotional meeting. If possible, mass meetings shall be
held quarterly.
The Executive and other Committees shall meet as often as may be
deemed advisable.
ARTICLE V.--QUORUM.
A quorum shall consist of such members as shall be present at a
regular or special meeting, due notice of such meeting being given to
the members.
ARTICLE VI.--DELEGATES TO THE PROVINCIAL UNION.
Delegates to the Provincial Union are received on the following
basis: Two for each Union, and one additional delegate for every ten
paying members of each Union. The expenses of general officers for
postage, stationery, etc., shall be borne by the Union. Travelling
expenses of delegates to Annual Convention, shall, where at all
practicable, be borne by the Union sending those delegates.
ORDER OF BUSINESS.
Devotional Exercises.
Reading Minutes of Last Meeting.
Treasurer's Report.
Unfinished Business.
Reception of Communications.
Reports of Committees.
Reading of Paper on Temperance Question
Discussion.
Regular Course of Reading.
Discussion.
Miscellaneous Business.
Adjournment.
[Transcriber's Note: The spelling "philanthrophy" occurs in the
original. Also, in the list of numbered items in chapter 6, the
numbering skips from 3 to 5, but no content seems to be missing.
We have left these as they were in our print copy.]
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Why and how: a hand-book for the use
of the W.C.T. unions in Canada, by Addie Chisholm
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