  LEGISLATION AND PETITION."The law of the wise is a fountain of life."—Prov. xiii., 14. a s "all roads lead to Rome," so the legality of temperance measures is reached through legislation; and many times has the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, with memorial, petition, and protest, marched over the roads leading to the legislative halls of municipality, state, and nation, asking for the enacting of new laws or the better enforcement of old ones. This policy was inaugurated at the first convention, in the memorial prepared for presentation to President Grant and Governor Dix, and has been continued with varying success through the subsequent years. At the second annual convention a memorial was prepared for congress and the state legislature, from the last of which a single article is quoted, viz.: "That no license to sell intoxicating drinks in any place be issued except when a majority of women residents, as well as men, above the age of twenty-one years, desire such license granted." This memorial enrolled 6,328 names, and was presented to the legislature by Mrs. Allen Butler and Mrs. Mary T. Burt. Had the request been granted at that time, and its enforcement continued, the license question would now be solved. April 12, 1882, the first petition to the state legislature for a prohibitory constitutional amendment was presented by Mrs. As early as 1877 a memorial had been prepared relative to temperance teaching in the public schools, but not until 1884 was the law secured. After the annual convention of 1883 this work was prosecuted with vigor. Public meetings were held and petitions circulated in its behalf. These petitions recorded 57,419 names. February 5, 1884, the bill passed the senate, twenty-two voting for and two against it; March 3 it passed the assembly, the vote being ninety-eight to two; March 10, 1884, Grover Cleveland, then governor of the State of New York, signed the same, and it thus became a law of the state. The text of the law is as follows: AN ACT relating to the Study of Physiology and Hygiene in the Public Schools. SECTION I. Provision shall be made by the proper local school authorities for instructing all pupils in all schools supported by public money, or under state control, in physiology and hygiene, with special reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants, and narcotics upon the human system. SEC. 2. No certificate shall be granted any person to teach in the public schools of the State of New York, after the first day of January, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, who has not passed a satisfactory examination in physiology and hygiene, with special reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants, and narcotics upon the human system. In 1883 the second petition for a prohibitory constitutional amendment was presented to the senate and assembly. It was defeated in the house by a vote of forty-two to fifty-four, and in the senate by a vote of thirteen to eighteen. Yet these figures show that the prohibition tide is rising. In 1886 measures were taken toward securing a law prohibiting the sale of intoxicants upon fair grounds. Mrs. H. Roscoe Edgett, of Fairport, the superintendent of the department, was indefatigable in her efforts to secure the law, but it was not until February 29, 1888, that the following was enrolled on the statute-books of the state: It shall not be lawful for any person to sell, have for sale, give away, or have in his possession for the purpose of selling or giving away, on the grounds or premises on or in which any state, county, town, or other agricultural or horticultural fair is being held, any strong or spirituous liquors, wine, ale, beer, or fermented cider; and it shall not be lawful for any person to sell or give away strong or spirituous liquors, wines, ales, beer, or fermented cider at any place within two hundred yards of the grounds or premises on or in which any state, county, town, or any other agricultural or horticultural fair is being held. This act shall not be applicable to the city of New York. Until 1887 the laws of the state were such that a child ten years old could consent to her own ruin, and the despoiler of her virtue go unpunished. In April of that year the penal code was amended, raising the age of consent to sixteen years, as follows: ... Any person who takes or detains a female under sixteen years of age for the purpose of prostitution, ... is guilty of abduction, punishable by imprisonment for not more than five years, or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or both. Following closely upon this was the passage of the police matron law, in 1888, which provided for the appointment of police matrons in all cities of more than 25,000 inhabitants, and the designating of separate houses of detention for female delinquents. In securing this law the Woman's Christian Temperance Union co-operated with other societies. In 1891 an amendment to this law was secured, mainly through the efforts of Mrs. H.K.N. Goff, of Brooklyn, making the appointment of police SECTION I. The mayor of every city in this state according to the last state or national census containing a population of 25,000 or over, excepting the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and in the cities of New York and Brooklyn the boards of commissioners of police of said cities respectively, shall, within three months after the passage of this act, designate one or more station-houses within their respective cities for the detention and confinement of all women under arrest in said cities.... Through the efforts of Mrs. Helen L. Bullock, of Elmira, the following narcotic law was secured in 1889: LAWS OF NEW YORK—CHAPTER 170. An act to amend Section 291 of the Penal Code, relating to Children; became a law, with the approval of the Governor, April 22, 1889. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: SECTION I. Section 291 of the Penal Code is hereby amended so as to read as follows: A person who sells, pays for, or furnishes any cigar, cigarette, or tobacco in any of its forms to any child, actually or apparently under the age of sixteen years, is guilty of a misdemeanor. SEC. 2. This act shall take effect immediately. In 1890 it was amended, attaching a penalty for its violation, as follows: AN ACT to amend Section 291 of the Penal Code, relating to Children; approved by the Governor, May 24, 1890. SECTION I. Section 291 of the Penal Code is hereby amended by adding thereto the following subdivision: 7. No child, actually or apparently under sixteen years of age, shall smoke or in any way use any cigar, cigarette, or tobacco in any form whatsoever, in any public street, place, or resort. A violation of this subdivision SEC. 2. This act shall take effect on the first day of September, eighteen hundred and ninety. In 1891 an effort was made to introduce the English system of barmaids into the saloons of New York City. This no sooner became known to the members of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union than an effort was made to secure a law prohibiting the movement. This was effected by the passage of the following act, April 25, 1892: AN ACT forbidding the hiring of Barmaids. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: SECTION I. No female shall be hired as barmaid, or to compound or dispense intoxicating beverages in any place where the same are sold or offered for sale. SEC. 2. A person who hires, or causes to be hired, any female as barmaid, or to compound or dispense intoxicating beverages in any place where the same are sold or offered for sale, is guilty of a misdemeanor. SEC. 3. This act shall take effect immediately. Thus, at its very inception, legislative enactment prevented the introduction into this state of a most demoralizing phase of the saloon business. In the same year and month a law forbidding the opening of the New York State exhibit at the Columbian Exhibition was passed, thus placing New York State on record as favoring the sanctity of the Sabbath. AN ACT in relation to the Exhibit of the State of New York at the World's Columbian Exhibition.... The exhibit of the State of New York at such exhibition shall not be open to the public on Sunday, and the general managers herein provided for shall take such steps as may be necessary to carry this provision into effect. The following protests were presented to the legislature, receiving such consideration that the subjects had no hearing: AGAINST THE ENACTMENT OF A LAW LICENSING VICE. To the Senate and Assembly of the State of New York: WHEREAS, It has come to our knowledge that a bill providing for the regulation and licensing of vice in the cities and towns of the State of New York will be introduced in the legislature, and that one of the provisions of the bill is the compulsory medical examination of women who are inmates of the establishments named therein, we respectfully submit the following in relation to it: It puts a premium on the social evil. It makes this terrible vice a branch of municipal government, and the state a partner in it. It inflicts the degradation of compulsory medical examination upon women, and lets their paramours go free. It is an outrage upon womanhood, and means the practical slavery of an unfortunate class of women. We realize all the shame of the bill, and feel its introduction in the legislature to be an insult to the great State of New York. We emphatically PROTEST against its consideration, and appeal to you to use your influence and, if necessary, your votes against this dreadful and infamous bill. AGAINST THE EXCISE BILL OF THE STATE LIQUOR DEALERS' ASSOCIATION. WHEREAS, A bill prepared by the State Liquor Dealers' Association is before your honorable body, which provides for a Sunday license law (which means unrestrained liquor on the Sabbath); for special licenses for certain saloons in certain localities in cities; for the sale of wine and beer after one o'clock in the morning at public balls and entertainments given by any incorporated association; abolishes the requirement of real estate security on license bonds (thus striking a blow at the civil damage act); and makes it a misdemeanor for any person to enter a saloon during the hours when it is supposed to be closed in obedience to the law: Now, therefore, as every one of the above provisions is a direct blow at public morality, at law and order, at the peace and happiness of the home and family, and as this bill means for the state more drunkenness, more crimes and outrages of every sort, more poverty, more suffering, more darkened lives and ruined homes, we, the undersigned, citizens of ——, county of ——, most emphatically protest against its passage, and we call upon you, our representatives, to use your influence and vote against it. The years 1891 and 1892 were not only marked by legislative work, but by petition work as well. Two successive legislatures had voted to submit to the people a prohibitory constitutional amendment, the vote to be taken in April, 1892. In anticipation of this event, petitions were circulated throughout the state in behalf at this cause, the grand total of 109,057 names being secured. Through the failure of the legislature to pass an enabling act to provide for the expense of the election, the amendment was never submitted. Not discouraged by this apparent fruitless expenditure of time and strength, during the winter and spring of 1893-94 petition work was again resumed, the constitutional convention in session at Albany from May until September being the objective point. Two petitions were circulated at this time, one for an amendment to the constitution providing for the prohibition of the liquor traffic; the other for the full enfranchisement of women. Through winter's cold and summer's heat this work went bravely on, and 37,624 names were secured to the prohibition petition, and 36,086 to the one asking for woman's enfranchisement. These petitions were pasted on cloth, in a double row of names, and measured, when done, 475 yards. Mrs. Graham, who had them in charge, after pasting, arranged them in four large rolls and tied each with a white satin ribbon. June 28, 1894, they were presented to the constitutional convention, producing a profound impression by their magnitude. Mrs. Burt and Mrs. Thus in brief the legislative and petition work is reported, but it only vaguely represents the expenditure of time and strength devoted to this work. Truly it may be said of the women of New York State, "Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all." leaf Georgeanna Gardenier Mrs. Georgeanna M. Gardenier |
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