WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION. 



in the State treasury should be placed in banks 

 and draw interest. At the November election 

 the Democratic party found itself in the majority 

 for the first time in recent years. Its entire 

 State ticket was elected, the vote for Governor 

 being as follows : Peck, 160,388 ; Hoard, 132 - 

 068: Alexander, 11.246; May, 5,447. The Leg- 

 islature chosen was as follows: Senate, Demo- 

 crats 18, Republicans 15 ; House, Democrats 66, 

 Republicans 33, Union Labor 1. One Republi- 

 can and 8 Democratic members of Congress were 

 chosen a gain of 6 seats by the Democrats. 



WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 

 UNION. On Dec. 23, 1873, the Woman's Cru- 

 sade began in Hillsborough, Ohio. This move- 

 ment was brought about through Dr. Dio Lewis, 

 of Boston, who had delivered a temperance lect- 

 ure in the town hall the previous evening, dur- 

 ing which he related the sorrowful experiences 

 of his mother, who, years before, because of the 

 drinking habits of her husband, had been led to 

 visit the place where he obtained his drink, and 

 there plead and pray till the place was closed. 

 Dr. Lewis then said : " Ladies, you might do the 

 same thing in Hillsborough, if you had the same 

 faith." At the suggestion of some one in the 

 audience, he asked how many ladies were ready 

 for such a service. Fifty or more rose in re- 

 sponse, and he then asked how many of the men 

 would stand by if such a work were attempted" by 

 the women, and sixty or seventy responded. 



Mrs. Eliza Trimble Thompson, only daughter 

 of Gov. Trimble, of Ohio, was chosen as the lead- 

 er, although she was not present. But her little 

 boy was, and with childish eagerness he ran to 

 tell his mother of the new duties laid upon her. 

 At nine o'clock the following morning, accord- 

 ing to appointment, the women met in the old 

 Presbyterian church. Mrs. Thompson read the 

 146th Psalm, and, after prayer and singing of the 

 old hymn 



Give to the winds thy fears, 

 Hope and be undismayed ; 

 God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears, 



He shall lift up thy head, 

 they went forth on their mission. 



The movement lasted about two months, with 

 varying results. In Ohio the saloons were closed 

 in more than 250 towns and villages. When 

 the uprising had to some extent subsided, these 

 bands of women began to form themselves into 

 societies under different names, that they might, 

 in the more systematic way of appointing com- 

 mittees, continue to visit the saloons. Gradu- 

 ally the thought of a national organization took 

 form, and a call was issued for a national con- 

 vention to meet in Cleveland, Ohio, Nov. 17 and 

 18, 1874. Here the National Woman's Christian 

 Temperance Union was organized, a constitu- 

 tion adopted, officers elected, a plan of work in- 

 augurated, and measures taken to secure united 

 effort among women throughout the country. 



At the first convention seventeen States were 

 represented ; fifteen years later it has an organ- 

 ization in every State and Territory and in the 

 District of Columbia, and has local unions in 

 about 10,000 towns and cities. Its membership 

 (returns being incomplete) is nearly 200,000; its 

 following, including honorary members and the 

 children in the juvenile societies, is probably over 

 half a million. It is the largest society in the 



world that is n.mp.,M-d . \. lu.ively of women 

 and conducted mtin-ly hy them. 

 Its object is to educate the jroung in temper- 



""< and prohibition principle. ,, reform Uw 

 drinking olaane, ami ; itire i.n.hii.i. 



tion of the traffic in intoxicating lj,,ii,,r* as bev- 

 erages. Its work is comprised under tl,< 

 al divisions of preventive, educational . 

 istic social, and 1,-al. I'ndrr I 

 classification there are about 40 different 

 ments. each of which is in the siM-cial eh 

 one woman, called a superintendent, \vl, 

 duty it is to secure the appointment of ; , 

 intendent for the same work in each Si., 

 Territorial organization, and hers, in tun 

 cure in each district, county, or local uni. 

 woman to fill the same office and attend to the 

 work of the department in her own locality. | n 

 this way a chain of superintendents is made, and 

 the work is so apportioned to each that one can 

 not trench upon the ground of another, whii,- 

 there is no danger of duplicating the work. Tin- 

 leading departments are : 



Organization, embracing the work of organiz- 

 ing the children, young people, colored ; 

 and the foreign born. 



Health, aiming to teach the study of sanita- 

 tion, with a view to the best methods of living. 



Heredity, aiming to teach the power and force 

 of heredity in individuals and races, and its re- 

 lation to healthy and diseased conditions. 



Scientific Instruction aims to secure such leg- 

 islation as shall make the study of the nature 

 and effect of alcohol upon the human 

 compulsory in our public schools. 



The Department of Sunday-school work aims, 

 through lessons regularly prepared, to give to 

 the young student of the Bible, in his formative 

 years, the " thus saith the Lord " regarding 

 moral responsibility as applied to the individual 

 and the State. 



The Department of Temperance Literature 

 furnishes the printed argument for total absti- 

 nence for the individual and for State and na- 

 tional prohibition. This work is done by the 

 preparation and circulation of books, papers, 

 leaflets, etc. It also furnishes courses of topical 

 study for making local meetings interesting and 

 profitable and the members thoroughly educated 

 in all branches of the temperance reform. 



The Press Department aims to provide tin- 

 press, both religious and secular, with the latest 

 and most important news concerning the work of 

 the union ; to bring constantly before the rending 

 public facts, illustrations, and'statistics. helpful in 

 educating the public mind and conscience along 

 this line of reform ; and to correct, in th 

 columns whence they emanate, inaccurate state- 

 ments with regard to the principles, methods, 

 and leadership of the union. To accomplish 

 this, the national superintendent sends out two 

 weekly bulletins, one to religious pap. rs and an- 

 other for general distribution. Particular atten- 

 tion is paid to the metropolitan and Ml 

 press, to "patent outsides," and to the p' 

 capital cities during legislative sessions. 



The growing tendency among boys and young 

 men to the use of tobacco, opium, and otm 

 narcotics led the union to incorporate among it 

 departments that of narcotics. This ha* tod t 

 a study of the subject in its relation to the body 



