Mark Twain on the Whiskeyphobia Movement
In the April 4, 1874 edition of The Illustrated Police News, editors published an article entitled “Mark Twain on the Whiskeyphobia Movement.” The article begins with an explanation of the importance of understanding when or when not to cross a line, especially amongst those who are fighting for a certain cause. In this case, the cause in question is this so-called “whiskeyphobia movement.” During this time, a group of American women protested alcohol use in America. Unsatisfied with the alcohol use throughout the nation, these women began to protest at bars and public spaces, often times ridiculing drinkers and chastising them. The author writes, “The crusade against spirit-drinking in which so many American women are now engaged might have had excellent results if it had been conducted with quiet earnestness, and without cant and bluster” (The Illustrated Police News). The nature of these protests, according to the author, is where the women went wrong in their efforts to raise awareness and support for their cause.
The article also cites a letter from Mark Twain which was published in the Standard in which the American author describes “how much better it would be ‘if the crusaders were to stay at home and pray for the rumseller, and for his adoption of a better way of life; or, if the crusaders even assembled together in a church and offered up such a prayer with a united voice, and it accomplished a victory.’” These women, while making their voices heard, have done so in such a way that the rest of the American population has labeled them a “nuisance.” While the author of the article is clearly very opposed to the women’s protests, Mark Twain’s views referenced at the end of the article really surprised me. Although he is cited criticizing the outlandish behavior of the protesting women, it is also stated that he “draws from this moment the deduction that women should have votes, and so be enabled to record their opinions lawfully”. Mark Twain is therefore not in support of the protest methods the American women utilized to make their voices heard, but does indeed believe that these women deserve the right to vote and participate in legal matters.
The article also cites a letter from Mark Twain which was published in the Standard in which the American author describes “how much better it would be ‘if the crusaders were to stay at home and pray for the rumseller, and for his adoption of a better way of life; or, if the crusaders even assembled together in a church and offered up such a prayer with a united voice, and it accomplished a victory.’” These women, while making their voices heard, have done so in such a way that the rest of the American population has labeled them a “nuisance.” While the author of the article is clearly very opposed to the women’s protests, Mark Twain’s views referenced at the end of the article really surprised me. Although he is cited criticizing the outlandish behavior of the protesting women, it is also stated that he “draws from this moment the deduction that women should have votes, and so be enabled to record their opinions lawfully”. Mark Twain is therefore not in support of the protest methods the American women utilized to make their voices heard, but does indeed believe that these women deserve the right to vote and participate in legal matters.
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