W.C.T.U.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 390, 26 August 1911, Page 5

W.C.T.U.

"FOR GOD, HOME AND

HUMANITY'.'

A good gathering of the ladies interested in the above organisation met on Thursday afternoon at 3p.m. in ths Congregational Church for the purpose of establishing a fully constituted branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union in Te Kuiti. An interesting paper, written by Miss Anderson Hughes, was read,

which set forth the of the movement, explaining how it was i inaugurated, some forty years ago, by one Christian woman —a Mrs Lewis, of the United States, whose husband was a drunkard. By the efforts of this woman a bsnd of such "suffering sisters" was soon formed, which made determined and successful advances against the local liquor traffic. Indeed, so effective became the prayers, pleading and persuasions of the new Society, that before very long they closed every saloon in the State. Under the guiding genius of the

revered Francies Willard, the Society H& was properly consolidated and organised into the W.C.T.U. So great has been the development of the Union, that to-day it is the strongest and most influential women's movement in the world with over a million members furthering temperance reform and purity in sixty-nine different countries. The W.C.T.U. is especially esteemed in the United States, where it has played a large part in leading over thirty million people to prohibit the liquor traffic. The motto of the Society is "For God, Home and Humanity," and the distinctive badge, a little white bow. After the paper had been appreciated, the selection of officers was proceeded with, resulting as follows: —President, Mrs Cobb; Vice-presi-dent, Mrs White and Miss H. Armstrong; Secretary, MrsLawrie; Treasurer, Mrs Nicholis; Librarian, Mrs Morgan.It was decided that inquiries be made about obtaining the services of a maori lady worker, to attend, in the interests of prohibition reform, the forthcoming ''big" meeting to be held in Te Kuiti, and also to arrange for a visit from the N.Z. lady oragniser. Literature is to be obtained for distribution, regular meetings to be held fortnightly and a thorough canvass made for the still further increase of the membership roll.