The delicate manner in which the habitués of our cafés sip their absinthe is not known, nor the long idling over an empty glass on the terrace of our boulevards. The cocktails themselves are beginning to disappear from their native soil, their skillful preparation requiring too much care. Beer or whisky is drunk, not to kill time, but to satisfy an ungovernable thirst.

In undertaking the warfare against such an enemy two kinds of tactics have been combined. The first undertakes the reformation of the drunkard and the formation in the younger generation of sober habits; the other is especially directed to the suppression or restriction of the traffic in liquor by legal methods, and attacks the saloon as the source of every evil.

Far from being in opposition the two methods complement each other wonderfully. If it can be said that the drinker creates the saloon, and if the first care of the reformer should be a campaign of individual reformation, on the other hand the absolute lack of restraint of the places of temptation seems too severe a test for even the best disposed.

The writer proposes to review successively the two great phases of the antialcoholic war.a

I-SAFETY AND REFORMATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL.

The religious denominations, the temperance societies, and the public schools devote themselves specially to the preservation of the individual, seconded powerfully in their efforts by the necessities of the struggle for existence.

AGENCIES WHICH OPERATE TO SAVE.

The temperance preached in the United States is very different from that championed by its apostles on the European continent. No American is entitled to the right of being called temperate if he uses beer or wine, and still less so if he sells it. Temperance in that country occupies itself exclusively with total abstinence from all sorts of drinks containing alcohol in any degree whatever, fermented or distilled. We are so far from having this one of the rules of our antialcoholic societies that certain ones have been found excessively severe in prohibiting alcohol altogether, and we remember having greatly scandalized the temperance men" in America in letting them know that the president of one of our most important temperance societies is a large proprietor of vineyards and sells, besides, some excellent wines.

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It may be asked if there is not a certain sign of weakness in the pledge of total abstinence to which the adept of temperance of the Anglo-Saxon race flees for refuge, and if the position which discerns strength in moderation is not the better one.

Should this reasoning, recognized to be false as regards the drinking of distilled liquors on account of their terrible property of increasing the desire which they pretend to assuage, apply to fermented drinks? This depends, in the first place, on the temperament of different peoples. The distinctive character of the American is a lack of moderation in everything that he undertakes, good or bad. Moreover, as we have seen, alcohol is particularly attractive and injurious to him. It is thought that for him, under these conditions, it is more profitable and easier to abstain totally than to stop or limit the abuse when it has

A third method has often been pointed out as very efficacious in combatting alcoholism. This is to take away from the saloon all of its attractions by providing better institutions for the needs of rest and recreation of the people, such as cheap dwelling houses, popular universities, libraries, sporting clubs, etc. The Committee of Fifty has made this the object of a special inquiry contained in the fourth volume,"Substitutes for the saloon." This study, which embraces the entire philanthropic field in the United States, exceeds the limit of this sketch,

commenced. Environment and habits play also a great rôle. In France we drink during the meal wine produced on our own soil, clear and light liquids, which are commonly used at the family table with the addition of water. In the United States fermented drinks are generally absent from the meal, and the stranger who for the first time takes a seat at a table in a New York restaurant is astonished to have a glass of water offered as the first mark of hospitality. The explanation of this general abstinence is very simple. The native wine, the greater part of which comes from California, is mediocre, and if it is imported from beyond the sea is too much charged with alcohol. On the other hand, the water is very pure in nearly all the large centers, and this quality, added to the good habit they have of always serving it cool, makes anything else unnecessary.

Moreover, the greater part of the popular restaurants do not care to pay the liquor license, and the customer who wishes to drink beer or wine is obliged to go to a neighboring saloon and there submit to the dangerous contact of the saloon keeper and the drinker of alcohol. They have thus been led to adopt a radical programme for temperance.

Finally, the radicalism of the American apostle of temperance becomes still more comprehensible when it is remembered that the temperance movement was born fifty years ago when whisky was the favorite drink. Despite the progress accomplished since the start, the plan and the banner remain the same.

Rôle of the religious denominations.--If, landing on a Saturday evening at New York, the inquirer into antialcoholism has the curiosity on the following morning to go to a church in the outskirts, Methodist or Presbyterian, the chances are even that he will hear a temperance sermon. If, in the afternoon, he should promenade the length of First, Third, or Ninth avenues, he will infallibly perceive, forming a circle, the Salvation Army; when he draws nearer he hears an orator improvising a public speech, who recounts his conversion to total abstinence. And in the evening, in the most miserable localities-the Bowery, for example-he will see here and there a wooden chapel bearing the inscription, "Christian Temperance Mission," which opens its doors on that evening. There are a great number of people coming and going. They hear a sermon on temperance here also, but one managed with such art that at any hour of the evening, without a single exception, they are sure to hear within five minutes the entire series of customary arguments. At the end of the day the inquirer returns pursuaded that in that country alcoholism has reached immeasurable proportions. The fact is that it is not alcoholism, but the antialcoholic movement, which holds such an exceptional place. The Protestant churches have always been specially devoted to the cause of temperance, possibly because there can always be a certain agreement on that subject between the pastors and the members of the congregation; more probably, however, on account of the apostolic zeal with which they are animated. In the first rank are the Methodist and Presbyterian churches. These two sects exclude from membership the manufacturers and sellers of alcohol and all those who are silent partners and guarantee the establishments or who lease them their locations.

The Methodist Church goes still further and makes total abstinence a religious precept, the violation of which entails a reprimand from the pastor the first time and at the third offense a dismissal from the church, at least unless there is sincere repentance."

• Unsuccessful attempts were made about the year 1850 to organize in the United States temperance societies of the French type of to-day.

Book of the discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, article 248. Minutes of the Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, 1877, page 558.

Carrying the consequences of their doctrine into the domain of politics, the pastors of these churches, with a freedom of speech which would be startling in other countries, but which the American people find perfectly natural, never lose an occasion to affirm officially their sympathy with the Prohibition party and make it the duty of their followers to support it. We see further how they are obeyed. It is no longer rare to hear them from their pulpits inveigh against some license law or some violation of a prohibitory law by the constituted authorities.

As to the Catholic Church, its great number of Irish members and emigrants of the poorer classes imposes on it the duty of occupying itself especially with the question of temperance. It has performed its task with zeal and success, and if it can still be said that out of every two drunkards and every two saloon keepers in the United States one is a Catholic, the proportion of its apostles of temperance is at least as great. The Catholic hierarchy keeps its place at the head of the movement. Such men as Mgr. Ireland and Mgr. Keane are the personalities most in evidence. Abstainers from the first (Mgr. Keane having had for godfather in the temperance crusade Father Mathew himself), they never miss an opportunity to descend from their pulpits in order to mount the platform at popular meetings, side by side with the ministers of other denominations. According to the memoirs of Abbe Maignien, who was for thirty years superior of the great seminary at Baltimore, it was not always so. Formerly the priests abstaining formed the exception. Nevertheless the priests of those days were good, coming for the most part from the Emerald Isle, that blessed country where Saint Columba, establishing the rules for his monasteries, punished with 30 disciplinary stripes a simple infraction of routine and with 5 only a case of notorious drunkenness.

To-day the priests not having made the vow of total abstinence are the exception in the United States. The very great influence of the Catholic priest over the faithful, which a profound faith and Irish traditions have consecrated, renders such examples fruitful.

The church in America has felt called upon on different occasions to formulate officially its doctrine regarding temperance. While recommending the practice of abstinence as a virtue, it divides itself clearly from its Protestant sisters, Methodists and Presbyterians on the question of precept, and establishes a fundamental distinction between "the abuse of intoxicating drinks, which is a sin, and their moderate use, which is not, at least until it becomes of such a nature that it verges on abuse."

The saloons, on the contrary, are looked upon with the greatest distrust on account of the temptations which they provoke. "If the sale of drinks with an alcoholic base is not in itself a sin, it leads the saloon keeper fatally toward it; who, unless he is careful, encourages habits of intemperance among his customers." b

It is therefore against saloon keepers that all the severity of the church is directed. A certain number of bishops, following the lead of Mgr. Watterson, bishop of Columbus, Ohio, even went to the point some years ago of refusing

The general assembly of the Methodist Church at Chicago in 1900 renewed "the forbidding to Christians to support the political parties which adopt the principle of license and refuse to enter into open hostility to the saloons."

The United Presbyterians in their session of May, 1900, declared that legal authority given to the liquor traffic is a sin against God, a crime against man, and affirmed that parties affiliated with such politics had no right to the votes of Christians.

Inserted at the close of the proceedings of the ninth diocesan synod, at Baltimore, September 24, 1886; abstracts of Mgr. Roosevelt Bailey,

them admission to religious and charitable associations, among others the society of St. Vincent de Paul. This decision was not reached without active protestations, and although the nuncio, Mgr. Satolli, felt it his duty to confirm this decision, some prelates, like Mgr. Spalding and Mgr. Ryan, at the head of the episcopacy, have always refused to subscribe to it. Little by little, however, the Catholic societies of the territory in question have themselves rallied to the side of severity; and to-day the clause providing for the exclusion of saloon keepers is found in most of their statutes.

Temperance societies.-The apostolate of temperance draws inspiration from the churches; it carries on its work chiefly through the temperance societies. If one opens the directory of a large town' at the heading “Temperance," he is astonished at the number of these societies holding meetings, having organs, and sometimes having a permanent office in the town. In 1902 one could count 77 periodicals devoted to temperance, of which 24 were weeklies, and besides innumerable local associations, there were half a score of national federations. ❝ It is necessary to distinguish among the associations to promote temperance, first, the temperance societies properly so-called, which devote themselves to the individual propaganda, and, second, those having a political character, which aim to see that the laws are executed, or to carry measures of reform with more rigorous provisions. The study of these latter will of course find its proper place in connection with legislation.

The temperance societies properly so called comprise denominational societies, secret societies, and a great association of women, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, or, more briefly, the W. C. T. U. There are besides a certain number of school children's societies, employees' associations, and sailors' or soldiers' unions, which are either associated with the first or are too much scattered to receive attention. Finally, there is another new federation with a somewhat sensational title, the "Blue Button Army," whose object is only to give play to certain unemployed forms of activity, and whose members are in reality recruited from the ranks of the preceding societies. We will limit ourselves to speaking of the first group.

The common character of all the associations is the obligation imposed upon their members to take the pedge of total abstinence. The form, the ceremonies, and the length of time in force of this pledge vary according to the nature of the society. In general, the members are required to sign a formula something like the following: “I solemnly promise, with the help of God, to abstain from all distilled and fermented beverages, and in particular from wine, beer, and cider, and to use all my efforts to discourage their use and to prevent traffic in them."

Among the church societies the most important is the federation of Catholic societies, the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America (C. T. A. U. of A.), which comprises 1,000 societies and has 89,000 members. I was enabled to substantiate the fact of its vitality at the annual congress held in August last at Dubuque, Iowa. Three hundred and fifty delegates, priests, and laymen were present, under the direction of Mgrs. Ireland, Keane, and the archbishop of Cincinnati. The annual report showed an increase of about 4,000 members over the preceding year, and an increase of about 38,000 members in eight years.

A central bureau of publicity and information, organized at New York under the name of the "National Temperance Society and Publication House," under the direction of Rev. J. Dunn, renders invaluable service.

We shall mention farther on the societies of school children. With regard to those of soldiers and sailors, found everywhere, they are specially the care of the great and beneficent Y. M. C. A., or form a special branch of the W. C. T. U., Sailors' Homes, etc. It seems that this special mission has done a great deal of good.

The dominant trait of the Catholic temperance society, which constitutes both its strength and its weakness, is its parochial and intensely religious character. Its grouping about the parish has the advantage of assuring recruits, but the influence of the priest, the statutory spiritual director, does not hesitate to exclude from the pale of the society those Catholics who are not judged sufficiently fervent, and the temperance society becomes a brotherhood.

There are few Methodist or Presbyterian societies (with the exception of the Sunday school societies); and this is not to be wondered at when it is known that temperance is an inherent part of the worship of these sects.

On the contrary, it would seem very natural to find temperance societies among the adherents of the Episcopal Church; there are, in fact, a few. For originality of methods I would point out the Church Temperance Society. Rev. Mr. Graham, who is the soul of the society, has undertaken to install in the streets of New York fountains of ice water, where the poor people can refresh themselves in the summer season; he has also installed on the public streets wagons from which are sold temperance drinks and good food at low rates. But the most original scheme is the organization of a wagon service for the transportation of hot coffee to firemen at the scene of a conflagration, and to the cabmen who spend the night waiting till the balls are over. This last service is paid for by a contribution of 10 cents for each person invited, which is requested of the persons giving the ball, who have never yet refused.

The secret societies were formerly very numerous and very important. There were as many as six federations. The greater part of these are dying out, or have become societies in which the mutual-aid feature is predominant. The only society worthy of attention which has avoided that stumbling block is the international federation of Good Templars. Very unequally divided throughout the Union, with their principal lodge at Milwaukee, Wis., it is difficult to determine their total number in the United States. The official statistics of the supreme lodge stated the number on May 1, 1902, as being 57,503 members, about 5,646 less than the preceding year. a

It might be asked what secret a temperance society would have to keep. I asked this question of Mr. Mann, past grand master of the order.

"Its aim," he replied, "is simply to attract toward temperance people of the ordinary class, especially young people. We pique their curiosity by the mys tery which surrounds us, and which consists of a simple password, and we satisfy their liking for show and ceremonies by the decorations with which we adorn them and by the rites of initiation. We finally gratify their ambition for diplomas by establishing various grades and by having them pass examinations in temperance."

Perhaps it is not unnecessary to add that these secret societies are not hostile to the religious idea, but that on the contrary they firmly sustain it.

Women's Christian Temperance Union (W. C. T. U.).—This association outranks all the others by its importance and vitality, and will detain us longer. For one who has studied the American woman it is not surprising that this is Through her personality, overflowing with energy and activity, the American woman appears to the eyes of the foreigner as the most remarkable product of the civilization beyond the sea.

SO.

It is rare, outside of the moneyed aristocracy, to find an unemployed woman. A certain number earn their living without being compelled to do so, because their conscience tells them it is their duty to make themselves useful. Among those who remain at home, a great number apply themselves to litera

a Proceedings of the fourteenth congress, held at Stockholm, July 8-16, 1902.