66 Life and Sport on the Pacific Slope 



bitterly that if he had been vouchsafed a glimpse 

 of the future, his daughter would have gone penni- 

 less to the man of her choice. The daughter, with 

 her husband's consent, in accordance, perhaps, with 

 his wishes, returned her fortune to the father — and 

 he accepted it. 



The women of the West have undertaken one 

 colossal labour. They have not sprinkled the 

 demon Drink with their tears; they have fought 

 him tooth and nail. For many years it seemed 

 to me that the advocates of Temperance, a synonym 

 in the West for Total Abstinence, were far too 

 radical in their proposed reforms. Myself a mod- 

 erate drinker, believing then (as I believe now) 

 that a glass of wine with one's dinner is far more 

 wholesome than a cup of strong tea or coffee, and 

 infinitely less injurious than the lime-saturated 

 water of the Pacific Slope, I could find no words 

 strong enough to condemn those who, styling them- 

 selves temperate, proved in debate to be the exact 

 opposite. Since then I have learned to look at the 

 matter from the woman's point of view. I must 

 admit, very reluctantly, that nothing short of the 

 knife will cut out this cancer. I hold no brief 

 for the W.C.T.U., I pronounce Prohibition a sorry 

 plank in any political platform, but I do believe 

 that working amongst individuals^ fathers, hus- 

 bands, and brothers, the women are justified in 

 demanding total abstinence; they are not likely 

 to obtain it. It seems almost impossible for the 

 average man of the West to confine himself to a 

 pint of light claret a day. The experiment has 

 been tried again and again ; it has always failed. 



