TEMPERANCE REFORM. 



657 



of intemperance. There was abundant need ; for ! 

 though, from an early period in the history of the ' 

 country, legislation had been directed to restricting the 

 sale of intoxicating drinks, the evil had increased till 

 it reached a portentous height. Strong drink was 

 thought indispensable to laboring men. It was essen- 

 tial to reputable hospitality. It was plentifully supplied 

 at weddings and at funerals, and even at ecclesiastical 

 gatherings. Dr. hyuian Bcechcr describes an ordina- j 

 tioii which he attended early in his ministry in Con- j 

 necticut. "The preparation for our creature couifurt, 

 besides food, was a broad sideboard covered with de- 

 canters and bottles, and sugar and pitchers of water. 

 There we found all the various kinds of liquors then in 

 vogue. The drinking was apparently universal. The . 

 preparation was made by the society as a matter of 

 course. When the consociation arrived they always 

 took something to drink round ; also before public 

 services, and always on their return. As they could 

 not all drink at once they were obliged to stand and 

 wait, as people do when they go to mill. There 

 was a decanter of spirits also on the dinner-table to ! 

 help digestion, and gentlemen partook of it during the 

 afternoon and evening as they felt like it, some more 

 and some less ; and the sideboard, with the spillings 

 of water and sugar and liquor, looked and studied like 

 the bar of a very active grog-shop. None of the con- 

 Bociation were drunk, but that there was not at times 

 a very considerable degree of exhilaration I cannot 

 affirm." One or two such scenes were enough to 

 move Dr. Beecher powerfully, and the result was an 

 organization proposed by the General Association for 

 diminishing the use. of spirits and for the reformation 

 of manners. Similar action was taken about the same 

 time by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 

 Church; and in 1811 the General Association of Massa- 

 chusetts appointed a committee to co-operate with tlie 

 committees of the Connecticut Association and the! 

 Presbyterian Assembly. Nothing more was proposed 

 at this time than to restrain the exctssive use of ardent 

 spirits. 



In 1813 the "Massachusetts Temperance Society" 

 was formedyorganized at first as the "Massa- 

 chusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemper- 

 ance ; " the name subsequently adopted was indicative 

 of more positive purposes, that were not long in being 

 developed. In 1826 the "American Society for the 

 Promotion of Temperance" was founded at Boston. 

 Dr. Justin Edwards was appointed in 1829 correspond- 

 ing secretary of this society, and travelled extensively, 

 advocating total abstinence ami forming State and local 

 societies. This society later adopted the name. "The 

 American Temperance Union," and has since been 

 reorganized as the "National Temperance and Publi- 

 cation Society." The first national temperance con- 

 vention, held in 1833, resolved "That the traffic in 

 ardent spirits as a drink, and the use of it as such, are. 

 morally irrnng, and ought to be abandoned throughout 

 the world." But the movement had by this time ac- 



5uircd a momentum that made an advance necessary, 

 n 1836 the national convention declared for totr.l ab- 

 Ftinence from all intoxicating drinks, and this became 

 a settled "principle" of organized temperance. A 

 powerful effect was produced upon the public mind. 

 As a rule, the ministers of the different denominations 

 and a large proportion of the communicants in the 

 churches became pledged " teetotallers." Society took 

 on a new face, and over a large part of the country the 

 volume of the liquor traffic was materially diminished. 

 Up to this time the effort had been to prevent the 

 formation of the drinking habit, by getting the young 

 pledged against it. It was assumed that drunkards 

 were irreclaimable. But in 1840 six men of intem- 

 perate habits in Baltimore signed a total abstinence 

 pledge and founded the "Washington Temperance 

 Society." The " Washingtonian " movement spread 

 rapidly over the country, and it has been computed 

 that 150,000 intemperate men were led to abandon 



their cups. It was asserted, however, by observers of 

 the movement that to a painful extent the reformation 

 proved but temporary and was followed by relapses. 

 More recent efforts in this direction have taken the 

 form of what is termed " Gospel Temperance." in 

 which it is sought to strengthen the moral appeal by 

 the awakening of religious motives. In 1842 the order 

 of the "Sons of Temperance" was formed, and in 

 1852 the order of "Good Templars," societies that 

 have branched extensively and have had numerous 

 imitators, in which the temperance principle is sup- 

 posed to be reinforced by the machinery of lodges, 

 pass-words, grips, and regalia, with pledges of mutual 

 assistance. 



But while very great and gratifying success had been 

 pained, it was painfully evident that it was incomplete. 

 There were still drunkards, there were still moderate 

 drinkers who. in the general opinion of temperance 

 men, were drunkards in the making, and there seemed 

 to be no hope of abolishing the evil but by outlawing 

 it. Massachusetts in 183S passed an act prohibiting 

 the sale of liquors in less quantity than 15 gallons, 

 but it was' repealed in 1840. leaving in force the former 

 law lot bidding the sale by unlicensed persons of liquor 

 in less quantity than 28 gallons. Licenses were granted 

 by city governments and by county commissioners. In 

 18431<> a movement began for the election of commis- 

 sioners opposed to license, and thus, without any 

 change of the law, the sale of liquor became illegal in 

 all tlie counties and cities of the commonwealth. A 

 strong anti-license feeling was developed in New Eng- 

 land, and rapidly spread through New York, Penn- 

 sylvania, Ohio, and several of the North-western 

 States. But it was found that law, administered by 

 the ordinary judicial processes and the ordinary rules 

 of evidence, was ineffectual to arrest the traffic, and 

 hence was originated a more inquisitorial law, raising 

 l>n sumptions against the accused in view of certain 

 defined circumstances a so-called prohibitory law, 

 armed with heavier penalties. The first prohibitory 

 statute was passed by Maine in 1851. With some 

 modifications it has continued in force to the present 

 time, and is generally approved by the people without 

 distinction of party. Massachusetts followed the ex- 

 ample by a similar act in 18f>2. which was soon repealed. 

 But an act was passed in 1855 which proved impervious 

 to legal criticism, passed the ordeal of the courts, and 

 was declared constitutional by the U. S. Supreme 

 Court. It continued in force 20 years, having been 

 repealed in 1875. A local option law was substituted, 

 under which every city and town (township) votes an- 

 nually for or against license. As a rule a majority of 

 the cities vote for license and a majority of the country 

 towns against it. The result is that the sale is pro- 

 hibited over two-thirds of the State. Between 1850 

 and ]Sf>0 prohibitory laws were passed by New Hamp- 

 shire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Michigan, 

 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin ; also in 

 New York, where, however, it, was declared unconstitu- 

 tional by the Court of Appeals, and a license law was 

 substituted. 



The decade after 1850 was the period of highest 

 success in all branches of temperance effort. The civil 

 var had an unfavorable effect. While on the one hand 

 there was a reaction from the theory and practice of 

 total abstinence, there was on the other so complete 

 absorption in the excitements of the war as to make 

 the people unmindful of the change. The reaction, 

 was promoted by publications questioning the duty of 

 total abstinence from fermented liquors. Foreign im- 

 migration bad its effect, causing a manifest change in 

 the character of our population. The wine of Cali- 

 fornia and the products of foreign and domestic brew- 

 cries powerfully solicited the appetites of the people. 

 j In 1840 the consumption of malt liquors per capita 

 waa 1J gallons; in 1860, 3J gallons; in 1880, 8} gal- 

 lons ; in 1882, 10 gallons. Nevertheless, the friends 

 of abstinence have not been disheartened, but hold 



