Address of the President (1906)

AUTHOR: Stevens, Lillian M. N.

KEYWORDS: animals, food, labor rights, women's rights

SUMMARY (Bryn Skibo, edited Deborah Madsen)

Stevens' presidential address celebrates the various achievements of the WCTU over the years and introduces the different sections (e.g. the Young WCTU, dept of Labor, dept of Mercy, publication of journals), as well as the areas in which they are active (prohibition bills mostly, but also legislation on medical licenses and advertising in magazines). It also states the WCTU’s position in relation to controversial topics (e.g. the sale of liquor to soldiers and Indigenous people, Mormon polygamy, woman’s advancement). Most references to food relate to Temperance issues, such as denying alcohol the status of “food” as a key achievement in the legislation process and the passage of the Pure Food bill of 1906.

Mercy: “It is certainly fitting that the W.C.T.U. should have a department of Mercy to teach kindness to the so-called dumb animals, and it is even more important that every society whose object is the prevention of cruelty to animals should have a Total Abstince Department. Anger, avarice, idiocy, barbarity lead to the abuse of animals, but horses suffer more through abuse by those who drink than from all other causes … George T. Angell, who is an angel of mercy to the dumb animals, had said that this is one of the first things which led him to take an interest in founding societies for the protection of animals. The horse of the drunkard, like his wife and children, is overworked, underfed, poorly housed, neglected and abused” (35).

Co-Operation: Stevens makes a clear distinction between co-operation and affiliation, and clarifies that the WCTU will always prioritize its own aims and never compromise on any of their objectives. “Miss Willard once said, ‘The strength and glory of the W.C.T.U. is its organic independence and separateness from every other form of organization. Entangling alliance would work its downfall and that right speedily.’ It is well for us in our organization work to carefully differentiate between co-operation, merging and affiliation. The W.C.T.U. gladly welcomes the co-operation of any society with similar purposes and aims as our own and when proper occasion presents we should be desirous and willing to co-operate with friendly organizations” (42).