The Use and Need of the Life of Carrie A. Nation [45]
about suing me for
slander, until after the dives were closed. Then I began to hear that
Sam Griffin was going to sue me for slander, because I said he took bribes.
The papers were served on me, but I was not at all alarmed, for I thought
it would give me an opportunity to bring out the facts of the case. I
knew little about the tricks of lawyers, and the unfair rulings of judges.
I will here speak of the attitude of some of the W. C. T. U. concerning
the smashing. Most of this grand body of grand women endorsed
me from the first. A few weeks after the Kiowa raid, I held a convention
in Medicine Lodge. I got letters from various W. C. T. U. workers
of the state that they would hold my convention for me. I said: "No,
I will hold my own convention."
Up to this time, no one had ever offered to hold my convention,
and I fully understood, although I did not say anything, that the W. C.
T. U. did not want it to go out that they endorsed me in my work at
Kiowa. The state president came to my home the first day of the convention.
I believe this was done, thinking I would ask her to preside at
the meeting, or convention. I was glad to see her and asked her to conduct
a parliamentary drill. She came to me privately and asked me to
state to the convention that the W. C. T. U. knew nothing about the
smashing at Kiowa and was not responsible for this act of mine. I did
so, saying the "honor of smashing the saloons at Kiowa would have to
be ascribed to myself alone, as the W. C. T. U. did not wish any of it. So
far as Sister Hutchinson, who is, and has been the president for some time,
is concerned, I believe her to be a conscientious woman, and whose heart
is in the right place. She and I have been the best of friends and love
each other, and she has often defended me and spoken well of my work.
But I think the W. C. T. U. would be much more effective under her
management, if she had understood that Stanley, the republican governor,
wished to handicap her in her prohibition work when he appointed
her husband as physician in the reformatory at Hutchinson, Kansas. Be
it said to the credit of this christian physician he never used alcohol in
his practice. And perhaps other bearings have prevented her from seeing
that the republican pressure has injured our work more than anything
else in Kansas. Many of the wives of these political wire-pullers
are prominent in the Union. A W. C. T. U. must of necessity be a
prohibitionist,
for her pledge is a prohibition pledge, not a temperance one.
The Free Methodists, although few in number, and considered a church
of but small influence, have been a great power in reform. They were
the abolitionists of negro slavery to a man, and now they are the
abolitionists of the liquor curse to a man. They were also my friends
in this smashing. Father Wright and Bro. Atwood were at the convention
I speak of. Father Wright, who has been an old soldier for the
defence of Truth for many years said to me: "Never mind, Sister Nation,
when they see the way the cat jumps, you will have plenty of friends."
The ministers were also my friends and approved of the smashing. Bro.
McClain, of the Christian church, was at the convention, and he was
trying to apologize for the smashing and defend me at the same time,
he said: "We all make mistakes and crooked paths, and Sister Nation
we all know, tries to do right, and even if she did some crooked things,
all the rest of us do the same thing."
I appreciated his motive, but for the sake of others, I replied: "I
could not see that the term 'crooked' should be used. I rolled up the
rocks as STRAIGHT as I could, I placed them straight in the box, hitched
up my horse straight, drove straight to Kiowa, walked straight in the
saloon, threw straight and broke them up in the straightest manner, drove
home straight and I did not make a crooked step in smashing." This
of course was pleasantry, but it was the way I took to justify myself, as
but few seemed to see the merit or result of this crusade.
I never explained to
slander, until after the dives were closed. Then I began to hear that
Sam Griffin was going to sue me for slander, because I said he took bribes.
The papers were served on me, but I was not at all alarmed, for I thought
it would give me an opportunity to bring out the facts of the case. I
knew little about the tricks of lawyers, and the unfair rulings of judges.
I will here speak of the attitude of some of the W. C. T. U. concerning
the smashing. Most of this grand body of grand women endorsed
me from the first. A few weeks after the Kiowa raid, I held a convention
in Medicine Lodge. I got letters from various W. C. T. U. workers
of the state that they would hold my convention for me. I said: "No,
I will hold my own convention."
Up to this time, no one had ever offered to hold my convention,
and I fully understood, although I did not say anything, that the W. C.
T. U. did not want it to go out that they endorsed me in my work at
Kiowa. The state president came to my home the first day of the convention.
I believe this was done, thinking I would ask her to preside at
the meeting, or convention. I was glad to see her and asked her to conduct
a parliamentary drill. She came to me privately and asked me to
state to the convention that the W. C. T. U. knew nothing about the
smashing at Kiowa and was not responsible for this act of mine. I did
so, saying the "honor of smashing the saloons at Kiowa would have to
be ascribed to myself alone, as the W. C. T. U. did not wish any of it. So
far as Sister Hutchinson, who is, and has been the president for some time,
is concerned, I believe her to be a conscientious woman, and whose heart
is in the right place. She and I have been the best of friends and love
each other, and she has often defended me and spoken well of my work.
But I think the W. C. T. U. would be much more effective under her
management, if she had understood that Stanley, the republican governor,
wished to handicap her in her prohibition work when he appointed
her husband as physician in the reformatory at Hutchinson, Kansas. Be
it said to the credit of this christian physician he never used alcohol in
his practice. And perhaps other bearings have prevented her from seeing
that the republican pressure has injured our work more than anything
else in Kansas. Many of the wives of these political wire-pullers
are prominent in the Union. A W. C. T. U. must of necessity be a
prohibitionist,
for her pledge is a prohibition pledge, not a temperance one.
The Free Methodists, although few in number, and considered a church
of but small influence, have been a great power in reform. They were
the abolitionists of negro slavery to a man, and now they are the
abolitionists of the liquor curse to a man. They were also my friends
in this smashing. Father Wright and Bro. Atwood were at the convention
I speak of. Father Wright, who has been an old soldier for the
defence of Truth for many years said to me: "Never mind, Sister Nation,
when they see the way the cat jumps, you will have plenty of friends."
The ministers were also my friends and approved of the smashing. Bro.
McClain, of the Christian church, was at the convention, and he was
trying to apologize for the smashing and defend me at the same time,
he said: "We all make mistakes and crooked paths, and Sister Nation
we all know, tries to do right, and even if she did some crooked things,
all the rest of us do the same thing."
I appreciated his motive, but for the sake of others, I replied: "I
could not see that the term 'crooked' should be used. I rolled up the
rocks as STRAIGHT as I could, I placed them straight in the box, hitched
up my horse straight, drove straight to Kiowa, walked straight in the
saloon, threw straight and broke them up in the straightest manner, drove
home straight and I did not make a crooked step in smashing." This
of course was pleasantry, but it was the way I took to justify myself, as
but few seemed to see the merit or result of this crusade.
I never explained to