The Story of a Dark Plot | Page 3

they were told the signing of this petition
was in no way equivalent to voting against the Scott Act, nor would
they be bound to vote against that Act if an election was brought about.
Many names were appended to the petition, the desired election took
place, and very hard did the liquor men work to obtain a result that
should favor their cause.
However, not all the faithful work was on their side. A few temperance
speakers came from distant places, and held many interesting meetings
in different parts of the county, but perhaps the most efficient work was
done by people living in the county, who in many cases seemed to
possess greater influence than strangers could exert. Mr. J. W.
Alexander, at that time Principal of the Sutton Model School, added
more recruits to the ranks of earnest workers by organizing a number of
his pupils with a few other young people into a band which, under the
name of the "Young People's Temperance Crusaders," did good work
during the ensuing weeks. Older workers were admitted into the society
as honorary members, and the officers were chosen from among these.
One of the honorary members was Mr. W. W. Smith, who was also one
of the Committee appointed to accompany the younger members and
aid them in their meetings, and no one worked harder to retain the Scott
Act than he. He took an active part in nearly every Crusade meeting,
and on evenings, when the Crusaders were not thus employed, held
other temperance meetings, thus occupying nearly every night during

three or four weeks in the heat of the campaign. Not content with this,
he worked and argued by day as well, and, associating his work with
prayer, did not cease from his efforts until, on June 16th, 1893, the
polls were closed and the victory for God and the temperance cause
was won. The hotel-keepers and their confederates had gained that for
which their petition has asked, but plainly they were far from satisfied
with the result of the contest, and many were the curses pronounced
upon Mr. Smith as one of the most active opposers of their cherished
plans. Now the vote against them was greater than ever before, yet they
were not content to abide by the voice of the people which they had
seemed so anxious to obtain, but practiced the illegal sale of alcoholic
drinks until nearly, if not quite, every hotel-keeper in the County of
Brome was known to be boldly and frequently breaking the law. A
great cry of the liquor men while attempting to repeal this law had been
"The Scott Act is all right if you would only enforce it; we don't want a
law which is not carried out," and it was now the wish of those who had
sustained the Act to prevent any further complaints like this. Therefore,
on the evening of Feb. 26th, 1894, a public meeting was held in Sutton
to discuss the circumstances and form plans for work, and at the close a
society was organized to secure the enforcement of the Scott Act in the
township of Sutton. Mr. Smith, who had been instrumental in bringing
about this conference, was a member of the Executive Committee of
the Society.
One of the leading temperance organizations of Canada is that known
as the Dominion Alliance, which is divided and sub-divided into
provincial and county branches. When, on April 25, 1894, the Brome
County Branch of the Alliance held its annual meeting for the election
of officers, Mr. Smith was chosen its President for the ensuing year.
Here was field for increased usefulness, and he took up his work with a
zeal that soon won the disapproval both of the liquor party and a certain
class of so-called temperance people whose principal work for the
cause usually lies in criticism of the work of others.
Soon a public meeting of the Alliance was announced by the new
President to be held at Sutton, and a large number of people gathered in
the hall on the evening appointed. Many speakers addressed the

audience, and told in no uncertain words that the law must be enforced
and offenders must be punished. It had not been deemed best to
prosecute the liquor sellers without first giving them a fair and public
warning, and therefore this meeting had been called; but now that they
were notified of the intentions of the temperance people, if detected in
dealing out the liquid poison, they had only themselves to blame. True
to these announcements, Mr. Smith and others proceeded at once to
obtain satisfactory evidence of the traffic in strong drink which was
known to be taking place in the various hotels. This was by no means a
slight task, for